JOIN US'Lack of interest in higher edn biggest challenge'
The lack of interest shown by people in education, especially higher education is the biggest challenge we face today, said MLC Captain Ganesh Karnik after inaugurating a conference on 'Higher Education - Challenges Ahead' at Canara College on Wednesday.
The two-day UGC sponsored national-level conference was organised by Centre for Advanced Studies in Commerce and Management in collaboration with Association of Mangalore University College Teachers (AMUCT).
The purpose of education is enlightenment, which will eventually lead to an enlightened society. However, it is sad that people who have access to higher education do not know the purpose of education.
It is regretful that the education system today is unable to teach moral values and social conciousness, he said and pointed out that in the last 65 years after independence, India has become a loud talking, impractical, dishonest and corrupt nation.
Students need to be motivated and understand their strengths and weaknesses. India is a young nation and if the younger generation is given employable skills, we can expect a major change, he said.
KSOU (Mysore) former Vice Chancellor and SDM Education Society (Ujire) CEO Professor K Sudha Rao said that students should know the purpose of education. Educational institutions should add a column in their admission application questioning why the student needs to study in the institution and hence guide the student.
It is regretful that students and teachers do not make use of libraries. UGC had conducted a study on the number of teachers who visit libraries in 1800 colleges and the result shown was poor. Hence, the UGC cut off a lot of funds it allotted for libraries in the 5th UGC plan, she said.
Knowledge can truly empower a person and in turn a country. The best example is Japan which is one of the powerful nations in the world, in spite it does not have many natural resources, she noted. CHS Association President S S Kamath presided over the conference. Technical sessions on topics such as 'Private Universities - Opportunities and Challenges,' 'Challenges in pursuing research interest,' and other papers were presented.
Technical sessions on topics, ‘Self awareness for transformation through higher education,' and 'Challenges in Industry Orientation' will be held on Thursday.