While urging Indian Educational institutes to revamp the syllabi and improve its infrastructure to impart world-class quality education, Vice- President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said that India has the chance to re-emerge as the global powerhouse in the field of education.
Inaugurating the new campus of the Central University of Kerala, the Vice-President said the education system should aim at the creation of a new, inclusive society, non-violent and non-exploitative, consisting of highly cultivated and motivated individuals inspired by love for humanity and guided by wisdom.
He asked the students to be the torch bearers of our culture, traditions, ethos and customs. There is nothing wrong in adopting and assimilating good practices from elsewhere, but always remain rooted to our age-old culture and heritage, he added.
The Vice President recollected the famous words of the Father of the Nation – “I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the culture of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any”.
Education must lay the foundation for the progress of a nation adding that higher education, in particular, has an important role in building a knowledge-based society of the 21st century, he said. The higher education system should expand qualitatively and quantitatively for the betterment of the nation and society, he added.
Expressing his concern over the increasing atrocities on women and girls, he said that the mindset has to be changed to address this menace. He further emphasized the need for people to collectively fight against social evils like atrocities on women and caste discrimination.
He said in this ‘global village’ our graduates as future leaders need a new kind of intercultural understanding, respect for common rules and fair play, an understanding of different interests, views and ways of thinking, and the ability to analyze and synthesize.