Chandigarh, March 14
Calling for academic
institutions to be benchmarked and accredited, President Pranab
Mukherjee on Saturday said universities should gear up to the challenge
posed by new models of knowledge dispensation - especially online
courses.
Addressing the 64th annual convocation of Panjab
University (PU) here, Mukherjee said the universities should be prepared
to look at the future of knowledge dispensation.
"Higher
educational institutions would do well to recognise emerging global
trends that are creating new models of knowledge dispensation. Rising
costs of higher education and changing profile of education seekers,
aided by technology, has led to Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
"Due
to its advantage of speed, scale and efficiency, it is fast catching up
as the preferred mode of learning. Blended MOOCs - online instruction
supplemented by periodic classroom interaction - also have the potential
to gain ground," Mukherjee pointed out.
Pitching for academic
institutions in the country to be benchmarked and accredited, the
president said these institutions should to create quality
consciousness.
"To pursue excellence, core competencies must be
identified and centres of excellence nurtured. To create quality
consciousness, every institution must be benchmarked and accredited," he
added.
"At the apex of the education system is the university.
Indian universities have potential to be the leading institutions in the
world. For that, urgent improvements in academic management are
needed," Mukherjee said.
The president said universities need to redefine teaching methodology to make it more effective.
"To
make learning more effective, teaching pedagogy must be refined,
curricula up-dated regularly, an inter-disciplinary approach adopted and
evaluation mechanism reformed," he said.
The president honoured
Nobel Peace Prize 2014 winner and Children's rights activist Kailash
Satyarthi, Fields Medal winner (2014) and noted Mathematician Professor
Manjul Bhargava and renowned agricultural scientist and Padma Vibhushan
recipient, M.S. Swaminathan, with honorary Doctor of Laws and Doctor of
Science (honoris causa) degrees.
Noted lyricist and film
personality Gulzar was honoured with the PU Sahitya Rattan Award and
leading ophthalmologist Amod Gupta of PGIMER was conferred the PU Vigyan
Rattan Award.
Emphasising that the teaching faculty to be made
up-to-date in their field of knowledge, the president said faculty
recharge programmes must be conducted.
The president complimented
PU for being the highest ranked Indian institution (276-300th bracket
internationally) in the Times Higher Education Survey 2014-15.
The president said roping in the industry in the academic scheme of things was the right thing to do in the present context.
"An
industry interface can benefit in terms of involvement of industry
personnel in curriculum design and project guidance; sponsorship of
chair positions; and setting up of incubation centres and laboratories."
He
said these could be facilitated "through an industry-interface cell as
well as by induction of industry experts in governance mechanisms".
Mukherjee
advocated that institutions should reach out to its alumni to associate
them in academic management through governing bodies and for business
and project mentoring and curriculum design.
He said higher education institutions like universities should not confine themselves to classrooms and campuses.
"These
can act as a role model to usher in socio-economic development," he
said, adding that academic institutions must take active part in the
recent initiatives like 'Clean India' and 'Digital India' launched by
the central government.
On the occasion, 682 students, 514 of them women, received degrees and medals.
