IIM Ahmedabad
With the Centre approving an IIM in Guwahati – the second in the Northeast and the 22nd in the country – Assam will have another flagship institution. Institutions such as these can go a long way in bringing in long-term transformation in the educational spheres. Education holds the key to overall, inclusive progress and no amount of investment can be too high to make the Northeast’s educational scenario at par with the advanced regions of the country.
The IIM will add to the cluster of higher educational institutes comprising IIT, National Law University, AIIMS, and the proposed Forensic University in and around the city. Having a large number of premier institutes in and around the city has put it in a position to emerge as a hub of quality higher education in the years ahead.
Having said this, it is also equally imperative that other parts of the State, too, have their share of development in the educational spheres. This is essential for ensuring a more balanced development across the State. Since the State is in need of many different higher institutes of learning, the government can facilitate setting up those to meet the goal of regional aspirations and balanced development.
Of late, there has been a lot of talk about transforming Assam into an educational hub in eastern India. But the path for the desired transformation will be an arduous one and overcoming the challenges will require a vision backed by sincerity, perseverance and hard work. As of now, hardly any of the State’s universities figures among the country’s top hundred and that itself indicates where the lacunae lie.
As every great thing begins from scratch, it would also be interesting to know what the government is planning to revamp the public school education system, which is in complete disarray largely because of the lack of adequate government attention. We also need to ponder why we are not able to produce successful candidates in all-India recruitment examinations, especially the prestigious IAS and allied services, on a regular basis.
More than loud utterances, a sincere and long-term approach taking into account the ground reality is what we need. The Chief Minister had, a couple of years back, set a rather ambitious goal of propelling 50 percent of the State’s universities into the top hundred varsities of the country. A varsity, in order to rank among the best, will have to be mindful of achieving excellence on many fronts.
A wide gamut of issues, such as curricular aspects, teaching-learning and evaluation, research, consultancy and extension, infrastructure and learning resources, student support and progression, governance and leadership, and innovative practices will serve as the basis for assessing an institution’s worth as a leader in the academic domain.