Sir J.J. School of Art, the oldest art institute in Mumbai set up in 1857, has been declared a de novo Deemed University. Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, made this announcement while on a tour of this legacy institution on Oct 19. He also laid the foundation stone of the new university.
The de novo category is awarded to institutions devoted to innovations in teaching and research in unique and emerging areas of knowledge. With the Centre’s approval in place, the ‘Sir JJ School of Art, Architecture and Design’ will become Maharashtra’s  only government-run deemed-to-be University and one among the handful institutes with the ‘de novo’ tag across the country.
Maharashtra assembly speaker, Rahul Narvekar; Deputy Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis; Minister of Higher and Technical Education, Government of Maharashtra, Chandrakant Dada Patil; and Ministry of Education and Ministry of Marathi Language, Government of Maharashtra, Deepak Kesarkar were present on the occasion.
Addressing the event, Pradhan said that J J school is not just an institute, it’s a laboratory of innovation. He stated that NEP2020 will be implemented here and it will become a global centre of excellence. He also mentioned that he has appealed to JJ School of Arts to make illustrations for the new textbooks and also to make a study course for Vishwakarma Yojana for those obtaining training under the scheme.
Devendra Fadnavis said that in the last 150 years the J J School of Art has produced extremely skillful human resources in the field of art, applied art and architecture. The school has contributed to creating Mumbai’s iconic structures as well. He also expressed hope that the new wing of the institute would present some new art to society.
