Shillong, Dec 16 (IANS): The importance of higher education for the future of the northeast region and the rest of India can hardly be overstated, IGNOU Vice Chancellor Prof Nageshwar Rao said on Wednesday.

In his address at the 7th Convocation of the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM), he said that the more educated and skilled a person, the more productive and innovative they tend to be, and hence, the greater their contribution to economic growth.

Appreciating the USTM for providing free education to deserving students from economically disadvantaged families, he urged the graduating students to shoulder a special responsibility - to prove the extent of knowledge gathered in their university not just for easy scoring but to use it for the betterment of the society.

Addressing the Convocation, IIT-Guwahati Director Dr T.G. Sitharam congratulated the USTM for becoming the first private university from the northeast India to be ranked Grade 'A' recently by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council.

"Innovation, entrepreneurship and research are the three focus of a centre of excellence. USTM is having different schools and is giving emphasis on innovation and research," he added.

USTM Chancellor Mahbubul Hoque said the institution is aspire to become a world class university and appeal to all the stakeholders to join their endeavor to transform this university into a world class institution and participate in the nation-building process.

Altogether 1,332 graduates were awarded degrees, out of which 11 scholars were awarded PhD degrees, 823 students were awarded Post Graduate degrees and 498 students were awarded Undergraduate degrees.

Honorary Doctorate of Science (D.Sc.) was conferred upon Dr Ravi Kannan, Director, Cachar Cancer Hospital and Dr Abdul Wase, Professor of Medicine, Wright State University, US while Hon Doctorate of Letters (D.Litt) was conferred upon Prasanta Rajguru, Editor-in-Chief, Prag News for their contribution in their respective fields.