Coming back to Nowgong Polytechnic as Principal feels like coming home. I spent twenty-seven years of my career here in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. I then served for nearly two years as Principal of Lakhimpur Polytechnic, Bihpuria, before returning to this campus. That time away gave me a fresh perspective, and I now take on this responsibility with gratitude and a clear sense of purpose. Since 1961, this institution has prepared generations of diploma engineers for Middle Assam and beyond. Our task now is to carry that legacy into a very different technological age.

That change has already begun in our classrooms. Starting with the 2025–26 session, we have adopted a new curriculum developed by the State Council for Technical Education (SCTE) under the Directorate of Technical Education, Assam, in line with the National Education Policy 2020. It introduces our students to emerging fields such as the Internet of Things, Robotics, Electric Vehicles, Advanced Automobile Technology and Design Thinking. The TATA Centre of Excellence on our campus has already been commissioned and is the practical home for this learning. Many of our faculty members and workshop instructors have been trained by Tata Technologies Limited to deliver the Centre’s skill courses. Beyond regular coursework, the Centre will also host short-term skill programmes for learners from outside and on-the-job training for working professionals, so the institute can serve the wider community too.

The new curriculum also gives our students more flexibility than before. With a lighter credit load, they now have room to build what the classroom alone cannot give them: practical technical skills along with communication, teamwork, leadership and problem-solving. Our faculty members play a vital role here. As mentors, they can guide each student towards clubs, projects, competitions, NSS, NCC, sports and cultural life, helping every learner grow into a well-rounded professional.

Our campus is also going through a quiet change of generations. In recent years, many new faculty and staff members have joined us. They are well qualified, talented and eager to take on new challenges, and the experienced members who built this institution are now entrusting its future to them. Our students, meanwhile, belong to a generation raised on smartphones, the internet and now artificial intelligence. To my colleagues, I ask that we meet these learners where they are. Let us blend new tools and fresh methods with the timeless values of good teaching, and keep learning alongside our students.

To our students, I offer a gentle word of caution. Technology can be your greatest ally or your biggest distraction. Social media and mobile phones can take away hours without your noticing, and those hours are among the most valuable of your lives. Use technology to sharpen your skills, not to lose your time.

To parents and guardians, I extend a warm invitation to join us as partners in your ward’s education. Your children spend only part of their day with us, and your encouragement at home matters just as much as our efforts on campus. Please stay in regular touch with our teachers and mentors, attend parent–teacher meetings whenever you can, and share your concerns with us freely. When home and institute work hand in hand, our students feel supported on both sides and are far more likely to succeed.

Education today is centred on the learner. Following the principles of Outcome-Based Education, we will measure our success by what our students can actually know and do when they leave us. This calls for a campus built on mutual respect and understanding, where every student feels heard and their ideas and feelings are taken seriously.

Nations are built by people, and as an institution of technical education, we are in the service of developing those people. Our effort will be to create a friendly and supportive work culture, one where colleagues trust and help each other, while holding firmly to regularity and punctuality in everything we do. Warmth and discipline are not opposites; together they make an institution strong. As an administration, we will work transparently and inclusively, inviting participation from all within the framework of Government rules.

There are challenges ahead, and I will not hide them. Campus infrastructure, security and maintenance need serious and sustained attention. I believe that if we approach these issues as one family, with shared ownership and care for what belongs to all of us, we can overcome them.

No institution grows alone. I appeal to all our stakeholders, and especially to our alumni across the country and abroad, to stay connected and lend their experience, guidance and support. Together, let us make Nowgong Polytechnic a place where the next generation of engineers is prepared not just for jobs, but for life and for the nation.

Ramen Kumar Bharali

Principal

Nowgong Polytechnic, Nagaon