Clad in robes and hats, students, who had burned both ends of the candle, walked on stage to collect their gold medals as their families and friends cheered at the 27th convocation ceremony of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore. A total of 545 students received their degrees, diplomas and doctorates.
Madhavi Singh, who graduated from the B.A. LLB programme, bagged 11 gold medals, and plans to go to the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom to pursue a Bachelors in Civil Law. “I attended classes regularly and made notes, which helped me immensely. I plan to pursue litigation after I complete my studies,” she said, and hoped for positive changes in the campus after the appointment of the new vice chancellor. “A lot of academic reforms have already been initiated, and I hope that the process will continue,” she added.
Megha Mehta, who pursued the B.A. LLB programme, bagged six gold medals. She is currently working in the office of a Supreme Court judge and plans to do her LLB in gender rights law. “I am interested in education policy, gender rights and matters pertaining to sexual harassment,” said Mehta, who was part of the team that helped form a sexual harassment committee at NLSIU.
Pavan Srinivas, a B.A. LLB student, clinched four gold medals while playing five sports. He said that the course was tough. “The only thing that kept me going was participating in sports,” said Srinivas, who is currently pursuing litigation in the High Court.
Several mid-career professionals bagged diplomas in different fields. Pooja T.R., a company secretary, got a Masters in Business Law. “It gives me in-depth knowledge of the legislations regarding my work, and will help me advice my clients in a more informed manner,” she said.
Former IIMB director suggests autonomy
A ‘heavy handed’ regulatory system has allowed fake colleges to thrive while placing constraints on the growth of innovative institutions by them denying academic, administrative and financial autonomy, said K.R.S. Murthy, former director of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, while delivering the convocation address.
He recommended autonomy for private institutions. He hoped that Karnataka would take the lead and remove the prior fee structure for all private institutions that were ranked high in the national and State institutional ranking framework.
He referred to several points made in the draft National Education Policy, which was done under the chairmanship of K. Kasturirangan, and cited the fact that nearly 40% of the 40,000-odd colleges offer only one programme. He also rued the fact that thousands of colleges in the country have no faculty at all.
He highlighted the state of management education and said that the average management college charges ₹5 lakh for the two-year masters programme though most MBA graduates cannot expect a starting salary higher than ₹10,000 a month.