Chancellor of the National University of Educational Planning and Administration N.R. Madhava Menon has regretted that the country had given the go-by when it came to implementing what Dr. B.R. Ambedkar had written in the Constitution about Directive Principles of State Policy on free and compulsory education.
Delivering his address at the 21st Convocation at the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University, he recalled that India had the largest number of illiterate people in the world today.
This was primarily due to non-implementation of Dr. Ambedkar’s writing that within 10 years from the commencement of the Constitution free and compulsory education for all children shall be made available till the age of 14 years.
Prof. N.R. Madhava Menon said the situation today warranted expansion of quality education through the open and distance learning (ODL) mode.
“We need to leverage technology that is available these days to achieve the objective,” he underscored, adding that the need of the hour was ‘skill education’.
The academician spoke of the report submitted in 2005 by the National Knowledge Commission constituted in 2000 and also reiterated the words ‘educate, organise and agitate’ described by Dr. Ambedkar as the mantra for social upliftment.
Earlier, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University Vice-Chancellor K. Seetharama Rao presented a detailed report on the varsity’s activities and its development over the years.
From 2013, when the last convocation was held, the varsity had maintained a steady momentum of growth in all aspects including an increase in enrolment.
The endeavour was to constantly enrich ongoing academic programmes and build competency through education and training programmes and promote research, innovation, training and networking for system development and staff development too, he explained.
Among those who received degrees and certificates were about three dozen convicts, including women undergoing imprisonment in different prisons of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. With pride writ large on their faces, they walked up to the dais and receive the recognition of their academic prowess.
