Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan chaired the 13th Meeting of the Council of National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (NITSER) in New Delhi yesterday. During the meeting, Mr Pradhan reviewed presentations on elevating academic and research standards, enhancing governance efficiency and further boosting innovation and entrepreneurship at National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and Indian Institutes of Engineering Science and Technology (IIESTs).

The Minister stressed that the curricula provided in these institutes must be aligned with national priorities and should be industry-centric. He also suggested that the institutes create an industry-led curriculum committee for developing a curriculum based on emerging job roles and 21st century requirements. He further said that NITs and IIESTs are poised to serve as vibrant hubs of applied education, research, innovation and future-ready workforce development. The Minister stated that the country’s premier technological institutions must also come under an accreditation framework.

During the meeting, the council focused on reforms of institutes, specialised PG/M. Tech programmes, building robust innovation ecosystems and encouraging the use of Bharatiya Bhashas while adopting artificial intelligence for multilingual learning.