Call for partnerships in conservation research at NMI Convocation

New Delhi, Aug 7 (UNI) Partnerships between India and developed countries were sought to boost expertise in heritage management and conservation as 51 students received their degrees today at the Ninth Convocation of the National Museum Institute.

University Grants Commission Chairman Sukhadeo Thorat conferred the degrees on the students, who included four PhD scholars.

Though she gave a miss to the convocation ceremony, Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Sonia, the NMI Chancellor, sent a speech that rued the 'mismatch'' between what is being taught by the Institute and what is actually needed in the market place.

Her Ministry was changing recruitment rules to give more opportunities to the NMI graduates, she said in the speech read out during the ceremony.

The Institute should also strive to achieve excellence in research, Ms Soni said advocating partnerships with other educational institutions at home and abroad to share knowledge and expertise.

''There should also be regular exchange of students and faculty with other universities including the foreign universities, especially from the advanced countries, to keep abreast of the recent advances made in various fields,'' Ms Soni said.

Art historian and Padma Bhusan awardee Lokesh Chandra was the 'Guest of Honour' at the convocation ceremony, which witnessed the launch of 'Restoration of Indian Miniature Paintings', a book authored by K K Gupta.

Set up as a deemed university in 1989, NMI, widely known for its short-term arts appreciation courses, awards degrees in different branches of history of art, conservation and museology.

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