The Northeast must move beyond an education system focused primarily on degrees and jobs and develop a generation of problem-solvers, innovators, entrepreneurs and responsible citizens, Tripura Minister for Higher Education, Panchayat and General Administration, Kishore Barman said at the valedictory function of the Northeast Education Conclave in Nagaland on Saturday.

Barman said the real test of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 would be its ability to transform the lives of students, particularly those living in remote villages. He stressed that the successful implementation of the policy should translate into improved learning, skills, research, innovation and employment opportunities rather than remaining confined to policy documents.

Addressing the valedictory function of the two-day conclave on “Implementation of NEP 2020: Vision, Challenges & Opportunities for the North-Eastern States,” Barman said the gathering should mark the beginning of a new journey for education in the region rather than merely the conclusion of a two-day event.

He described the Northeast as a bridge between India and Southeast Asia and said the region’s biodiversity, bamboo, agriculture, horticulture, tourism, sports and traditional knowledge, together with its youth, constituted major strengths that should be integrated into the education system.

“Education policy should not be limited merely to handing out degrees for jobs,” he said, stressing the need to prepare students with knowledge, skills, critical thinking, creativity, technological capability, entrepreneurship and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

‘Bamboo is an industry’

Using bamboo as an example, Barman said the region should begin looking at its natural resources through an education and innovation lens.

He said bamboo should not be viewed merely as a natural resource but as an industry, with students able to pursue engineering, product design, architecture, management and digital applications around bamboo.

Similarly, he suggested integrating tourism with technology, agriculture with technology, environment with technology and biodiversity with biotechnology to create new avenues for research, employment and entrepreneurship.

He called for stronger internships, apprenticeships, skill courses, innovation, entrepreneurship and career counselling in colleges and universities so that students could become both employable and capable of creating employment.

Northeast as growth hub

Barman also highlighted the Northeast’s strategic location and potential under the Centre’s Act East policy, saying the region could emerge as a major hub for trade, tourism, education, technology, logistics and cultural exchange with Southeast Asia.

Referring to data from the Prime Minister’s Office, he said more than Rs 21,000 crore had been invested by the Central Government in the education sector in the Northeast over the past decade. He also cited the establishment of around 850 new schools, nine new medical colleges, two IIITs and about 200 skill development institutions in the region.

He said such infrastructure should be viewed not merely as physical assets but as infrastructure for the future of Northeastern youth.

At the same time, Barman stressed that physical infrastructure alone would not be sufficient and that the region needed to build its “human infrastructure”, with education forming its foundation.

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‘No boundaries for knowledge’

Looking ahead to 2047, Barman said the classrooms of today would determine the future of India, as the students currently pursuing education would become the builders of a developed India.

He envisioned greater academic cooperation among Northeastern states, including a student from Tripura working in a research laboratory in Assam, a Nagaland student undertaking joint research with Meghalaya, a Mizoram student collaborating with a startup in Manipur and an Arunachal Pradesh student connecting with biodiversity research in Sikkim.

While administrative boundaries would remain, he said, there should be no boundaries for knowledge within the Northeast.

He, therefore, called for regional faculty networks, shared research infrastructure, student mobility, joint research projects and common digital platforms to strengthen cooperation among educational institutions across the region.

Five commitments

Barman identified five broad commitments emerging from the conclave—access, quality, skill, research and innovation, and entrepreneurship.

He said students in the remotest areas must have access to quality education, while merely securing admission to a college should not be considered sufficient. The more important question, he said, was what students actually learned.

He stressed that degrees should be accompanied by practical skills, internships and experience, while research and innovation should focus on solving problems specific to the Northeast. At the same time, youth should be encouraged not only to seek employment but also to create employment.

From brain drain to brain circulation

A major point in Barman’s address was the need to transform “brain drain” into “brain circulation.”

He acknowledged that young people from the Northeast would continue to move to cities such as Delhi and Bengaluru and to other countries for higher education, employment and experience. However, he said their acquired knowledge, expertise, investment and innovation should eventually contribute to the development of the region.

He suggested alumni networks, remote work, entrepreneurship, research collaborations, investment, mentoring and a “Return to Region” approach as possible mechanisms to encourage the circulation of talent and knowledge back to the Northeast.

‘Northeast is gateway to India’s possibilities’

In his concluding remarks, Barman said the Northeast should not be viewed as the edge of India but as a gateway to the country’s possibilities.

He said the region’s mountains offered opportunities for research, forests for biodiversity and biotechnology, bamboo for industries, and its culture for tourism, the creative economy and the global cultural industry.

“Our youth are not just the citizens of tomorrow; they are the builders of our future India,” he said.

He called for a collective vision of an “Educated Northeast, Skilled Northeast, Innovative Northeast, Entrepreneurial Northeast” and ultimately a developed India through a developed Northeast.

Barman said NEP 2020 provides the policy vision while the conclave had provided a direction for implementation, but the responsibility now rested with the participating states and stakeholders.

He urged education-sector representatives returning to their respective states to ask what could be done from the following day to change the future of students in their states.

He also said NEP 2020 should help India understand and embrace its own knowledge traditions and strengthen its educational institutions. He expressed the view that restoring India’s historical standing as a centre of learning required excellence in educational institutions and empowerment of youth.

Barman commended Nagaland Minister for Higher Education and Tourism, Temjen Imna Along and the organisers for conducting the two-day conclave and invited participants to visit Tripura.

Education Conclave records participation of 32 institutions

Secretary of Higher and Technical Education, Sarita Yadav, IAS, informed that the two-day conclave saw participation from seven North Eastern States, as well as 32 schools and technical colleges, with a combined total of 748 participants over the two days.

Among the key recommendations to emerge from the conclave, she said, was the need for greater support from both state governments and the Centre to bridge existing gaps in educational infrastructure across the region.

She said delegates from the Northeastern states agreed that establishing a dedicated forum of education ministers would be an important step toward driving educational transformation in the region, and a proposal to this effect would be sent to the Central Government at the earliest.

She added that the Northeast faces challenges specific to the region, calling for closer collaboration among states to bring about systemic improvement and a shift in approach from merely tracking programme coverage to ensuring verified learning outcomes.