Anil D. Sahasrabudhe, chairman of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), has said that universities can no longer afford to be an ivory tower as higher education is more accountable and responsible to the larger community today.
Delivering the third convocation address of the Central University of Karnataka (CUK) at Kadaganchi in Kalaburagi district on Friday, he said that over the past several years, we have seen a growing decline in the trust people have placed on higher educational institutions and experts.
He said universities have a big role to play at the national and international level. “There are expectations of transforming higher education in Kalaburagi and neighbouring districts, which is known as the land of 12th century social reformer Basavanna, who advanced Kayaka doctrine. The knowledge was disseminated from here to other corners of the country, and so the CUK has a great role to play,” he said. Expressing dissatisfaction over the current scenario of higher education, Prof. Sahasrabudhe said the sphere of higher education in the country has unfortunately become quite fragmented as a result of a high degree of institutional inbreeding and the decreasing magnitude of inter-regional migration of students and faculty. The central universities should play vital role in the national system of higher learning, he said.
Advocating for international higher education and all the benefits universities bring to society, Prof. Sahasrabudhe emphasised on developing new ways of collaborating and engaging with the society. Institutions should create opportunities for scholars, faculty members and experts to work with community residents and to work together on projects that have practical applications within the community, he said.
One of the biggest challenges posed by students is to choose professions that are more ‘future-proof’, which may not become outdated by the time they graduate, and hence the requirement for continuous learning has become ever more relevant, he added.
N.R. Shetty, Chancellor of CUK, H.M. Maheshwaraiah, Vice-Chancellor, and G.R. Naik, Pro Vice-Chancellor, were present.
The sphere of higher education in the country has unfortunately become quite fragmented as a result of a high degree of institutional inbreeding and the decreasing magnitude of inter-regional migration of students and facultyAnil D. SahasrabudheChairman of the All India Council for Technical Education
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