The University of Kerala should work to regain its prestige and glory in the academic world, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said.
He was delivering the inaugural address at the platinum jubilee celebrations of the university here on Friday.
There was a time when a degree from the University of Kerala fetched a candidate respect, both within the country and outside. Today, that was not the case. Even in an overall sense, there had been a qualitative decline on the higher and technical education front, Mr. Chandy said. On the school education front, however, there had been an upsurge in quality, he added.
In his presidential address, Minister for Education P.K. Abdu Rabb dwelt on the need to give higher education a qualitative boost. The government was working on various schemes towards this end. There were plans to organise a Global Education Meet in one of the universities in the State, he said.
Head of the royal family of erstwhile Travancore Uthradom Tirunal Marthanda Varma felicitated four former vice-chancellors of the university. In his address, Uthradom Tirunal said it was nice that the university was honouring teachers as it did students.
Vice-Chancellor A. Jayakrishnan presented a memento and a shawl to Uthradom Tirunal on the occasion of the latter's 90th birthday celebrations.
