Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal inaugurated ATAL Online Faculty Development Programme on ‘Molecular Manufacturing’
Bathinda: In a further push to faculty development and training across the country, the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), on Monday, organised joint Inaugural Ceremony of 46 online AICTE Training and Learning (ATAL) Academy Faculty Development Programmes (FDPs) in the presence of the chief guest Hon’ble Education Minister, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. One out of these 46 FDPs+ is being organized by Central University of Punjab Bathinda (CUPB) on the topic of ‘Molecular Manufacturing’ from 23 to 27th November. Prof. Raghavendra P. Tiwari, Vice Chancellor, CUPB, graced the ceremony as a distinguished speaker along with other selected eminent academicians of the country.
While addressing the participants, Union Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ mentioned that “Employability of engineers became a major issue over time, as the industry finds that the students come totally unprepared for their needs. AICTE has taken a noble initiative of bridging this gap by training faculty members which in turn will guide students in new emerging areas. He added, in these testing times, AICTE provided an impetus to conduct online ATAL faculty development programs so that no faculty members may lose out training due to the pandemic situation,”
Dr. Ravindra Kumar Soni, Director, ATAL Academies said, “The ATAL FDPs are a part of various quality initiatives taken by AICTE to promote technical education in the country, which includes an enhanced impetus on career development of faculty teaching in colleges across the country.”
Prof. Anil D Sahasrabuddhe, Chairman, AICTE, said that under the Atal Learning and Training Program, teachers of AICTI-affiliated institutions are being taught and trained in new disciplines in areas related to Artificial Intelligence, Block Chain, Robotics, Quantum Computing, Data Sciences, Cyber Security, Three D Printing and Design AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality). He informed that 499 FDPs have been organized in this episode and 46 FDP programs are being inaugurated today. He asserted that this will not only promote the professional practices relevant to technical education but also motivates the faculty to achieve competitive teaching and learning environment, thus channelizing development with respect to academic qualifications and personal matters.
Prof. Raghavendra P. Tiwari, Vice Chancellor, CUPB, in his address stated that ATAL FDPs is a unique initiative by ATAL Academy that not only provides an opportunity for teachers & students of Technical Universities to upgrade their technical skills but also offers a platform to faculty & students of Traditional Universities to learn about new technologies and develop their competencies. He highlighted that these programmes have the potential to be converted into 2 Credit MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) and could help in realizing the vision of NEP-2020 to provide wider educational opportunities of multi=-disciplinary studies.
Prof. Tiwari informed that, in this ATAL FDP Series, CUPB Dept. of Chemistry is conducting an FDP Programme on ‘Molecular Manufacturing’ where we have received overwhelming response from teachers from across the country. He encouraged participants to actively participate in these FDPs.
Other distinguished speakers of this Joint Inaugural Ceremony who shared their thoughts were Prof Rajive Kumar, Member Secretary, AICTE., Prof M.P. Poonia VCM AICTE; Dr. Narasimha Sarma Director, IIIT Trichy; Prof. Ajit K. Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Roorkee; Dr. Manoj Singh Gaur, Director, IIT Jammu; and Dr Girdhari Lal Garg, Assistant Director, ATAL CELL.
This Joint Inaugural Ceremony was attended by faculty, research scholars and students from various institutions across the country.