“In this era of information explosion, we face a major challenge of creating a knowledge society. Adaptation of the rapid changes witnessed in the education sector is essential to meet this challenge,” says Shashi Bhushan, Joint Secretary of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
In his key note at the 13 th State-level Visharad Convocation of the Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar (DBHP) Sabha – Andhra, here on Sunday, Mr. Bhushan said the forethought of those at the helm of the Prachar Sabha in recognising the need to embrace changes in the system was praiseworthy.
Against this backdrop, the mode of distance education had received wide acceptance across the world and in a country like India, this mode was an effective tool to take education to the doorstep of people at the grassroot level.
He said the Prachar Sabha not only identified the usefulness of the programme but took adequate steps for their implementation in the most successful way. Mr. Bhushan recalled the famous lines of Swami Vivekananda who said: “Why should not be education taken from door-to-door. If the poor boy cannot come to education, education must go to him.”
Gandhi's dream
Complimenting the Prachar Sabha for what he called ‘carrying forward the dream of the Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi who had emphasised the need for using Hindi language to promote harmony and integrity among diverse communities.
President and Chancellor of DBHP Sabha, Madras, V. S. Malimath, said the Sabha had been rendering great service for the last 93 years in propagating Hindi language among people of non-Hindi sates of southern India.
Andhra Pradesh had the unique distinction of having the largest number of people familiar with Hindi language. He attributed it to the erstwhile Hyderabad State where education was imparted in Urdu language which was close to Hindi.
Recalling that the Sabha was founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1918 to ensure emotional integration of the people of this large country consisting of people speaking different languages, he said people of Andhra Pradesh deserved praise for enthusiastically involving themselves in teaching and propagating the national language.
He said besides teaching Hindi, the Prachar Sabha's curriculum included other subjects like mass media, multi-media, library science, computer application and management
He said teaching programmes were formulated bearing in mind the need to prepare the students for gainful employment.
Director of the Directorate of Distance Education, Moulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, Iqbal Ahmed, Director of Distance Education Council, IGNOU, New Delhi, R.R. Rausaria and others participated.
