Uttarakhand has always enjoyed an excellent reputation as an educational hub for the whole of North India, but it is showing signs of erosion as far as higher education is concerned, he said while addressing a conference of VCs at Raj Bhawan here.
Exhorting them to raise the standard of higher education, Paul said, it is the responsibility of the VCs to think in terms of mentoring students so that the state and the country can reap the benefits of youth power and demographic dividend.
He told the VCs to exercise greater supervision and control over colleges affiliated to their respective universities and also the quality of teaching and research on their campuses.
"Without any original research either by the faculty or students, universities tend to lose their character of higher learning and are merely reduced to the level of a small college," Paul said.
He also reiterated his advice to VCs for being innovative and turning university campuses into smart ones by reducing electricity consumption, planting trees, which capture maximum carbon, engage in efficient and effective garbage disposal, water conservation and harvesting.
"Such measures do not require heavy capital expenditure, but can be a significant step towards achieving the goal of smart campuses," he said.
Deploring that only three Universities namely Kumaon, Sanskrit and GB Pant had so far held their convocations, Paul said, holding convocation should be an annual and prestigious feature for each University.
Even the Sanskrit University which teaches astrology should take up research and find out the basis for this ancient Indian science and its principles, he said.