SMU Pro Chancellor Dr. K. Ramnarayan takes office calls on Governor of Sikkim; Ministers for Health and Education
Dr. Ramnarayan highlights multi-dimensional contributions of SMU, CRH, SMIMS & SMIT to Sikkim and the North East region.
Dr. K. Ramnarayan, Pro Chancellor, Sikkim Manipal University (SMU), called on the Governor of Sikkim & Chancellor, SMU, Ganga Prasad at Raj Bhavan on 25th May 2022.
He was accompanied by the Vice-Chancellor, SMU, Dr. (Veteran Lt. Gen) Rajan S Grewal and Dr. Sandeep Kashyap. Liaison Officer, SMU. During the meeting, the discussions centred on the significant contributions of SMU & its institutes, colleges and departments focused campaigns in Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan targeted on Sikkim & North-East region, in consonance with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Governor was also apprised on Atal Incubation Centre: SMU Technology Business Incubator (AIC-SMUTBI)’s commendable achievements in supporting startups and entrepreneur ecosystem in the State and the North East region since its inception in the year 2018.
It is the first highly acclaimed Atal Incubation Centre in North-East India and is located inside the campus of Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology (SMIT), under SMU in Majhitar, East Sikkim. The incubator nurtures and incubates early stage entrepreneurial ventures based on Technology and Innovation by providing infrastructure, mentorship and Seed grants to promising young entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams of starting their own venture.
The Governor was informed that so far, 71 startups from the region have been supported to enable them as sustainable ventures.
The Governor emphasised on the need to increase impetus on promoting innovation, research and skill development in the true spirit of Atma Nirbhar Bharat; to mentor faculty members in achieving excellence in higher education and strive to train the students in building bridges with the society. He also presented a ‘Om Thanka’ as a token of remembrance from Raj Bhavan to the Pro Chancellor.
During his 3-days visit to SMU, Dr. Ramnarayan also called on Kunga Nima Lepcha, Minister, Education, Government of Sikkim and deliberated on various progressive educational strategies and noteworthy initiatives taken by SMU and its constituents in giving impetus to leverage NEP 2020, by offering large number of value-added, multi-disciplinary courses, programmes, capsules & electives, in the best interests of the aspirational students of Sikkim and the North East region.
During his meeting with Dr. MK Sharma, Minister, Department of Health, Government of Sikkim, Dr. Ramnarayan highlighted the 150 free beds reserved in Central Referral Hospital (CRH) under SMU for the BPL & economically deprived populace of the State and the region. Dr. (Lt. Gen.) Rajan S, Grewal, Vice Chancellor, SMU briefed the Hon’ble Minister on the various healthcare outreach campaigns through multi-specialty medical camps in rural areas with health promotions and counselling activities.
He proposed adoption of certain Primary and Community health Centres by CRH and Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences (SMIMS) in consonance with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India and National Medical Commission (NMC) guidelines. Modalities for training and skill development capsule courses in emergency management, life support and intensive care for GDMOs & Government paramedical staff of Sikkim by SMIMS & CRH was also discussed with the Health Minister.
Earlier, the Pro Chancellor conducted a highly educative and contemporary Faculty Development Programme (FDP) workshop on Assessment & Evaluation of Students at SMIMS. This was conducted under the aegis of the SMU Staff and Faculty Development Council (SFCDC).
Formative Assessment is one of the key features in the assessment methods prescribed by NEP. Dr. Ramnarayan lucidly walked the participants through the “10 maxims of Formative Assessment.”
The key take home message was using assessment as a teaching learning tool instead of evaluation and that is possible because a teacher besides their competencies is also a loving and caring being.
In his address to the faculty, Dr. Ramnarayan motivated them to rededicate to continue to provide high quality multi-specialty healthcare to the citizens of the State and contemporary value added education to the students of the State and the region with emphasis on core values & human approach, to make them future ready in their chosen careers and vocations. A similar exercise is also being conducted at SMIT.
Dr K Ramnarayan is a Professor of Pathology, erstwhile Vice Chancellor of Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal and Chairman of Manipal University of Jaipur, is an academician who has dedicated his active career to academia, research and empowering human resource by capacity development in the area of education and professional and personal development.
A Fellow of the FAIMER Fellowship program, USA he is has published in many scientific journals with high impact factor in the field of education. He has conducted over 600 such workshops and trainings in the past three decades both online and offline, in India and abroad.
His workshops are found in YouTube, and his primary focus is to improve engagement of students to improve learning and empower teachers to build capacity for improved teaching learning experience across the globe.