The Principal Secretary, Higher Education, Rohit Kansal on Sunday said that the education system has to reorient itself to impart skills to students that are in consonance with modern-day requirements.

Speaking at the opening of the 2-day National Conference on ‘Integrated Approach in Science and Technology for Sustainable Future (IAST-SF 2022)’, Kansal maintained that the lower-level cognitive jobs that are repetitive in nature had turned obsolete and were being replaced by jobs that required a different set of skills.

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He called for moulding the educational curriculum to impart the skills that are needed in the workplace of the future.

The conference is being organized in hybrid mode and has received papers and presentations from scholars across 20 states and UTs besides participation from 5 foreign countries. Besides papers from renowned scientists, the conference would also provide a unique opportunity to a number of students to pitch up their startup ideas in a special session on Monday.

Speaking on the age of technology and innovation, Kansal said that the challenge for scientists is to amalgamate technology with sustainability. The Principal Secretary further remarked that science and technology has an added challenge of creating a fair, just, and equitable world order. He said that technology with the disparity in terms of environmental or human hazards is not recommended anymore.

He asked for creating solutions that are based on justice, parity, and sustainability to benefit not just 1.4 billion Indians but the 7 billion people inhabiting the planet.

He stated that India needs to become a US $10 trillion economy in the next decade and a half, grow by 8-9% annually and create 10-12 million jobs annually. He said that education, skills, and innovation were critical determinants to the success of this endeavour.

He cited the example of the use of drone technology in agriculture and public health, electric mobility, and decentralized clean energy as some of the ways forward.

He announced that MAM College Jammu would be developed as an innovation hub and given support under NEP 2020.

In her keynote address, Dr Sulekha Chattopadhyay, Senior Analyst, California Public Utility Commission said that we have to break this huge problem of environmental degradation into smaller ones to tackle one by one. She said that by addressing the transportation system she wants to contribute her bit.

She said that electric vehicles are future transportation solutions and have great commercial value in terms of their sale and least maintenance requirements. She said that India by virtue of its greater size and longer coastline has an enhanced potential both in terms of solar and wind power.

Principal MAM College, Prof GS Rakwal said that he would encourage the use of innovative and unique features of scientific knowledge to effect change in the way people use resources and technology.