‘Quality education need of hour, not quantity’

SHILLONG: The need to have quality education rather than quantity was stressed at a workshop at St Edmund’s College on Saturday.
Addressing the gathering, Prof. K.V. Nagaraj, Head, Department of Mass Communication, Mizoram University, said that there should be an introspective view into the challenges to the current educational system and added that when people talk about quality education, how can it be quantified? 
Dwelling further on the topic, “Higher Education: Reshaping the Learning Space”, organized in collaboration with St Edmund’s Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC), Nagaraj stressed on reformation in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) and compared and contrasted the state of education in institutes abroad with those in India. 
Highlighting the reality that “we are a nation of talkers more than doers and that there is a lack of a world class media institute in the country, Nagaraj said the aim of educational reforms should be drawn towards the betterment of the academic institutions and the society in turn.
As the quality education is the by-product of a free market, Nagaraj said that there should not be any interference from external agencies. 
“There is an urgency in reconciling education with technology to avoid a dichotomy which may be created between the digital haves and have-nots”, he said.
He pointed out the need to create a Knowledge Society which can only be formed if there are vital components, Education, Research and Innovation.
He said teachers and students must become partners in knowledge creation, and education must meet the needs of the employment market through interdisciplinary studies.
Further, fund flow to educational institutes should increase to provide better research facilities.
Others who spoke included Dr Sylvanus Lamare, principal, Bro Simon Coelho, Secretary Governing Body, Prof. Gideon Kharkongor, IQAC Coordinator, Prof Manotosh Chakravarty, HOD English department among others. 
The new college website which is managed by the computer science department was also launched by the Principal.