Stop commercialisation of education: Governor

Education as a service will get us good engineers, the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Governor said. The focus areas for the country now were creation of infrastructure in the form of better roads and better connectivity, he said, asking the engineers to put their best brains together and provide power security.

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan.

Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan on Friday called for a halt to ‘commercialisation of education’ and a complete re-look at the kind of technical education that was being offered in the engineering colleges.

“When commercial interests overtake national interests, it’s time to re-do the entire engineering education field. It’s time to focus on quality and not quantity. Education for education’s sake, without core competency will not do. We should break the so-called commercialisation of education,” he categorically stated.

“Have you opened colleges only for fee reimbursement? I really don’t understand. And I also think of skill development. Does it mean that the students were not taught the skill sets they need in life in engineering colleges,” Mr. Narasimhan asked, who was at his caustic best. “Education as a service will get us good engineers,” he stated.

He was addressing a packed gathering at the inaugural of the 29th Indian Engineering Congress and seminar on “Technological Innovations and Economic Growth- India’s Emerging Role” organised by the AP State Centre of the Institution of Engineers (India) here.

On the seminar’s theme, the Governor differed and said, “India has already emerged and gotten where it has to be. Look at the one billion population. We have the best brains, but lack of capital is what we suffer from. The world is now a global village, so we cannot remain aloof, detached. We need to look ahead and face the challenges to achieve energy, food and health security for the burgeoning population. It is economic superiority we expect you engineers to provide,” he said.

The focus areas for the country now were creation of infrastructure in the form of better roads and better connectivity, he said, asking the engineers to put their best brains together and provide power security. “I also do not understand why we are not going in for solar power in a big way. Hydel or thermal will not last forever. We need to scale up the numbers, miniaturise and reduce solar power costs. Use your brains,” he urged them.

“Why can not we insist, force people to go for solar power. Every multi-storeyed building should have solar power plants. In the Raj Bhavan here, we use solar energy for meeting 85 per cent of our needs and soon we will be able to go 100 per cent. Pollution is the biggest, next challenge. The onus is on you to reduce carbon footprint and usher in a green environment,” Mr. Narasimhan said.