National Institution of Technology, Meghalaya, is the only new such institute to get its BTech degrees approved by National Board of Accreditation
The National Board of Accreditation (NBA) has underscored the need for technological institutes to hone emotional intelligence, a ‘must-have’ skill that will ride artificial intelligence (AI) and automation in the days to come.
Speaking at the eighth convocation of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Meghalaya, NBA Chairman K.K. Aggarwal said emotional intelligence skills would globally see a six-fold increase in response to the growth of AI and automaton. But the demand for emotional intelligence in India would increase at least eight times in the next three to five years.
“Getting yourselves trained in emotional intelligence skills will be a worthwhile investment for assured returns,” he told the faculty members and 214 students who were conferred PhD, MTech, MSc and BTech degrees on NIT, Meghalaya’s temporary Shillong campus on October 1.
The NIT is expected to shift to its permanent complex at Sohra, one of the world’s wettest places, by 2022. Sohra, more popular to the world beyond as Cherrapunjee, is about 55 km from Shillong.
Micro-innovation
Dr. Aggarwal warned that the big data-powered wave of innovation would “sweep us off our feet” and would be very different from the first three waves – agriculture, industry and service. “A lot of old jobs will go up in smoke and new ones of which we do not even know today will emerge. Micro-innovation will be the new global norm, bringing in winners whose names we don’t know today,” he stated.
Together with AI and automaton, micro-innovation would change the landscape of life and business and the new skill-sets would be required amidst the uncertainty. “One of these skill-sets has to do with developing our human side, more precisely our emotional intelligence,” he added.
NIT Meghalaya Director Bibhuti Bhusan Biswal said his institute was adjudicated the best in the Northeast by the Centre for Education Growth and Research besides becoming the first among India’s new NITs to get its BTech degrees accredited by the NBA.
“Whether it is the placement of students, quality of faculty or attracting sponsored research projects, NIT Meghalaya has been consistently improving every year. From the 100th position in 2017 in the national ranking for engineering category, we are now 59th. But our journey has just begun ahead of shifting to our permanent complex,” he told The Hindu.
Minister for Education, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan appreciated NIT Meghalaya for taking the lead in implementing the New Education Policy 2020. “The NEP concentrates more on the fundamental ideas and concepts for analytical and critical learning for acquiring specific skills,” he noted in a message to the institute.
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