Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Wednesday inaugurated a two-day international conference of academic institutions as a precursor to the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, scheduled to take place between January 10-12.
During the inaugural ceremony, Patel launched the second edition of the Student Start-up and Innovation Policy (SSIP 2.0) in the presence of dignitaries from India and around the world.
According to a government publication, the five-year term of the SSIP-1 will end on January 10. Therefore, SSIP 2.0 was unveiled on Wednesday and will remain in effect until March 2027.
The new policy aims to establish an innovation and incubation center in each of the approximately 90 universities in Gujarat.
Other goals of the policy include financial support to school and college students to build prototypes and approvals, financial support for the submission of at least 1,000 intellectual property (IPs), and building a pre-incubation support system in 500 institutions and universities.
The policy also focuses on scaling nearly 1,500 student startups and incubating 500 startups through iHub, a state government initiative, the release said.
The Union’s Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, was supposed to inaugurate the mega event, focusing on discussions on the implementation of the National Education Policy, 2020, but he was unable to attend due to unforeseen circumstances.
The two-day conference will be held here in Science City.
According to the state government, approximately 120 panel speakers, including 40 from abroad, will share their experiences in 21 different sessions during this two-day seminar.
Australia, Canada, Norway, UK and France have joined as partner countries for this conference, while the British Council, Australia India Business Exchange and Institute of International Education are among the key institutions to join as international participants.
More than 2,000 MoUs will be signed between various government agencies, universities and institutions during the event, the release said.
In his inaugural address, Gujarat Education Minister Jitu Vaghani announced that the state government plans to centralize the placement process and also plans to establish a central data center to “provide equal opportunities to students living in remote areas”.
On the occasion, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that the new national education policy will ensure “good governance in the education sector”.
Patel told the public that Gujarat has nearly 91 universities and more than 2,800 educational institutions.
The state government has always promoted research and development activities in educational institutions, as provided for in the NEP, he said.
During the two-day event, speakers from around the world will discuss topics such as multidisciplinary and holistic education, internationalization of education, skills development and employability, digital empowerment, global university rankings and inclusive education for children with special needs among others.
As part of the conference, a vice-chancellor conclave is scheduled for January 6 to build “world-class universities.”
