Chandigarh, 11.04.2025: The Secretary Education, UT Chandigarh, Smt. Prerna Puri, IAS, convened a meeting today with the Principals of all Government Colleges in Chandigarh to discuss the Annual Work Plan for 2025–26, the status of implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, and the best practices being followed in the colleges. All Principals gave detailed presentations on these key areas.
During the deliberations, the Secretary Education UT suggested several important initiatives to further enhance the academic and administrative functioning of the colleges. These included the introduction of vocational and skill-oriented courses with a fixed target number of students, and strengthening alumni networks for institutional development. It was proposed that centralized coaching for competitive examinations under RUSA may be initiated for interested students from all government colleges.
The Secretary emphasized that NEP implementation must be aligned with tangible outcomes, such as the number of APAAR IDs created. Each college should designate five faculty members who are thoroughly trained in NEP 2020; these members would then be responsible for training the rest of the faculty. Additionally, the periodic organization of yoga classes for students and special memorial lectures on current topics was encouraged.
The Secretary also suggested exploring the relevant provisions under UGC 2018 for appointing “Professors of Practice.” The matter of establishing research centers in colleges in collaboration with Panjab University was discussed. The Director, RIE-32, was tasked with developing multiple proposals for conducting proficiency training for teaching, non-teaching staff, and students of schools and colleges, as well as preparing assessment criteria for testing English proficiency among school teachers.
Furthermore, it was proposed that a separate proposal for infrastructure-related projects be initiated and a dedicated meeting with the Engineering and Architecture Department be organized at the earliest to resolve the infrastructural issues faced by different colleges.
It was also decided that a monthly review meeting with all the Principals of Government Colleges will be held on the last Friday of every month to monitor progress and ensure timely implementation of these initiatives.
