Vision document recommends steps to foster transdisciplinarity in technical education

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan formally releases the draft document at Udyama 1.0, the industry-academia government conclave

Fostering transdisciplinarity in technical education, equipping students with future skills, and inculcating a start-up culture were among the key proposals in the vision document compiled at Udyama 1.0, the industry-academia government conclave on technical education that concluded in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan formally released the draft document at the valedictory session chaired by Higher Education Minister R. Bindu.

The proposals include steps to integrate various disciplines including engineering and technology, architecture, design, management, arts, humanities, and social sciences. It also highlights the need to ensure student readiness for Industry X.0, which essentially refers to an industrial ecosystem where businesses utilise advanced digital technologies.

The conclave also mooted establishing incubation centres and promoting socially relevant and market-driven research solutions. Establishing national and international partnerships for education, faculty exchange programmes, student mobility and industrial collaborations are other lead pointers of the vision document. It also calls to ensure digital proficiency among students to create lifelong learners.

Delegates at the four-day conclave also highlighted the need for regular curriculum revisions coupled with periodic faculty training programmes, semester-long internships and to establish mini-industrial estates on campuses that could provide adequate internship opportunities to students.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister emphasised the need to enhance academic quality by integrating scientific and technological expertise with industrial knowledge.

V.K. Prasanth, MLA, Principal Secretary (Higher Education) Ishita Roy, Chief Minister’s scientific adviser M. Chandradathan, Director of Collegiate Education Sudhir K., Director of Technical Education Shalij P.R. and Vice-President and Delivery Centre Head of Kerala Dinesh P. Thampi also spoke on the occasion.