Guwahati: Professor T. G. Sitharam, a former director of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati took over as chairman of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
After former UGC Chairman Anil D. Saharabudhe’s term expired because he turned 65 in September, Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar who was also in charge of the AICTE, handed over to Prof. Sitharam.
Meanwhile, IIT Guwahati announced in a press release that Prof. Parameswar K. Iyer has been named director by the Education Ministry.
Assuming his charge as Chairman of the country’s top Technical Education regulatory body, Prof. Sitharam said, “I will work with every stakeholder in Education domain to transform Higher education into large, well resourced, vibrant multidisciplinary providing high quality teaching, innovation, entrepreneurship, research and community engagement hubs,” reported Hindustan Times.
Speaking about building entrepreneurial ecosystem and creating job opportunities for India’s young population, he said, “With more advanced research at all institutions, AICTE can create many Innovations and new start-ups as an excellent job creator.”
According to Prof. Sitharam, he wants to give Indian students a transformative education to develop leaders and innovators and raise the gross enrollment ratio in higher education to 50% by 2035 with the help of the AICTE.
Prof. Sitharam has formerly held positions in organisations including IISc, IIT and CIT.