The youth in the State should pick up English language better and gain the ability to use it to their advantage, Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor has said.
He was inaugurating a seminar on ‘Global opportunities and modern education,’ organised by the Muslim Educational Society (MES), in connection with the 29th Dr. P.K. Abdul Gafoor memorial meet at Town Hall here on Saturday.
Mastering the language was essential to meet the increased requirements of the modern job market across the world, Dr. Tharoor said.
The command of English among job-aspirants in the State was found declining as a result of their aversion to the language, he said. “This should change with the realisation that potential employers would recruit only candidates who have good communication skills,” he said.
Describing ‘expansion, equity, excellence, and employability’ as the key components for successful education, Dr. Tharoor said students in the State should not be reluctant to take in the virtues of international education and prepare better to compete with the other job-aspirants in the world. “The concept of global village is more relevant these days and it demands people who are skilled in their language, reasoning, logic, and analytical skills,” he said.
The Minister, who explained the prospects of the country in becoming a frontrunner in human resource, with its huge youth population, said the opportunity should be tapped by empowering the youth through quality education. Uneducated youth would be a threat to national security as they easily fell preys to anti-national forces, he said.
Interacting with the students who were present at the seminar, Dr. Tharoor said the demand of the State for an IIT would be considered seriously. “Since we had several other national-level institutions, the Centre is yet to be convinced of the requirement of one more,” he said.
MES president P.A. Fazal Gafoor presided over the seminar which also honoured students who excelled in various public and competitive examinations.