Prez to meet IIT heads tomorrow

President Pranab Mukherjee will meet IIT heads here tomorrow to discuss a national framework on ranking of institutes and enabling students from northeast do a part of their programme from IITs and other premier institutes and earn credit points.
The conference with the Chairmen, Board of Governors and Directors of IITs at Rashtrapati Bhawan would be the first such initiative by the President, who is the Visitor of these premier institutes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and HRD Minister Smriti Irani will be present at the conference.
Giving impetus to research and innovation, use of technology in pedagogy and online learning, deepening of engagement of IITs with community and resource mobilisation as well as alumni participation will also be discussed.

Ahead of the conference, vice chancellors of central universities and IIT directors met here today to draft a framework on ranking and evolve a consensus, HRD Ministry sources said.
The President has time and again regretted the absence of the IITs among the top institutions in the global ranking list.

The conference is expected to discuss a strategy to enable students from northeast earn credit points from the IITs and IISERs while completing a part of their course there.
The idea is in keeping with the Prime Minister's emphasis on creating a pool of students who are ready to drive the economy, sources said.

Emphasis would also be laid on seeking IITs' expertise in training teachers and streamlining the entire training programme.