V-Cs meet kicks off today

BHUBANESWAR: The East Zone Vice- Chancellors’ Conference of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) is all set to kick off on Friday here. Hosted by KIIT University, the Conference will be attended by VCs from universities of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Orissa, and East Uttar Pradesh. The conference will look at the existing gaps in the higher education system and come out with resolutions to be adopted by stakeholders such as the governments, Chancellors, VCs and other functionaries. The conference, with the theme “Bridging the Gaps in Higher Education”  will debate on improving quality of teachers, creating a model consortium of the universities, use of IT in academics and governance and financial management. The meet will be inaugurated by Higher Education Minister Badri Narayan Patra while Prof Trilochan Pradhan will be the chief guest for the valedictory session.  “The conference has stupendous significance as the VCs who are expected to participate in the deliberation are the leaders of the higher education. We are expecting meaningful dialogues and deliberations among the intellectuals which will certainly go a long way in carving out a niche and open the new vistas in the arena of Higher Education,” AIU secretary- general ADN Bajpai said.