Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu stresses on need to overhaul higher education system

Vice-President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu while delivering the 32nd convocation address of the Indira Gandhi National Open University on Wednesday said that time has come for India to re-establish itself as a knowledge and innovation hub. 

He emphasised on the fact that youngsters need to re-establish India as a knowledge and innovation hub. To make that happen, we have to completely overhaul our higher education system to cater to the requirements of the 21st Century. Other than the remoulding the syllabus and pedagogy, focus should be on learning-by-doing.

He stressed on the need for students to continuously learn to remain competitive. Speaking on the vital role played by IGNOU, Mr. Naidu said the varsity has made knowledge acquisition accessible to many learners, who otherwise were unable to attend regular institutes of higher learning. Commercialisation and poor governance is the root cause of the problem in private and government-funded institutions. Higher education should be able to transform an individual into a responsible human being with social, moral and ethical values embedded in him or her apart from making the person more productive. 

Mr Naidu added that the mechanism of quality assurance and accreditation should accept the transformation of higher education in a broader sense and contribute in widening the horizons of the Indian higher education system.

The university awarded 2,00,000 degrees, diplomas, and certificates to successful students during the convocation. Over 70 meritorious students were awarded Gold medals.  53 regional centres across the country hosted the convocation function simultaneously. The main function was held at the headquarters.

The news was previously published in thehindu.com