The standards of higher education in the country should be improved, President Pranab Mukherjee said here on Friday.
Delivering the convocation address at SRM University in Kattangulathur , Mr. Mukherjee said the country had universities such as Nalanda and Takshashila which had established themselves as international centres of educational excellence where students from all over the world came and studied. In contrast, many Indian students were now going abroad for higher studies.
Private sector’s role
Mr. Mukherjee said: “We need universities to provide quality education that meet international benchmarks. We must change the reality of our universities not figuring in the list of top universities of the world. Indian universities should aim at becoming top educational institutions in the world with global standards of research, teaching and learning. With unlimited demands and limited resources, it is important that the private sector also contributes its best to the provision of higher education in India. The private sector has played a key role in higher education in other countries across the world. Many top universities including Harvard, Yale and Stanford are the result of efforts of private sector. There is no reason why Indian private sector cannot achieve similar results.”
Value-based education
A huge responsibility lay with the educational institutions, said K. Rosiah, Tamil Nadu Governor. Mr. Rosiah said: “We need value-based education which synthesises the moral fabric of the individual and generates a culture of peace in society and makes one’s life in harmony with all existence. It should prepare the youth to face the challenges and responsibilities of the future.”
Honorary degree of Doctor of Science was conferred on V.K. Saraswat, Director-General, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and P.R. Goyal, eminent physician.
T.R. Pachamuthu, Founder-Chancellor of the university, presided over the convocation.
