President Meets Vice-Chancellors of
Central Universities
T
    he  President,  Dr.A.P.J. Abdul  Kalam  took a
           meeting at Rashtrapati Bhawan of Vice-Chancel-
     lors    of    Central    Universities    in  his capacity as
     Visitor of   these  Universities  on  7th August,  2003.
     The Vice- Chancellors  of   15  Central  Universities
     attended   the   meeting.  Union   Human   Resource
     Development  Minister  Prof. Murli  Manohar  Joshi,
    Minister  of  State of HRD, Dr. Vallabhbhai Kathiria, 
    Prof. Arun Nigavekar, Chairman, UGC,  and  senior
    officials     of         the 
    HRD   Ministry   also  
    attended   the  meeting.
    The  objective  of   the 
    meeting   was to  make 
    an  appraisal    of   the 
    performance         and 
    functioning     of     the 
    Central      Universities,
    their        achievements 
    and               problems. 
    Suggestions              to 
    improve   the    Visitor-
    University        interface 
    within    the     statutory 
    framework   were   also  discussed.   The   President
   observed    that   the   education   system   should  be
   employment -  oriented.   While   passing   out   from
   Universities,  graduate  students  should  also  have in 
   their possession a  diploma  in  a  professional course  
   besides  a degree.  This  will  help  students  in getting 
   employment, he said. Dr. Kalam said each University 
   should  be   known   to   attract   the  pool of talented 
   teachers and students interested in that particular field. 
   The   President   also   laid  emphasis  on   research in 
   science   and      non-science     subjects.    He    said
   research     and     teaching     should    go     together.
   There   should   be   breakthroughs   in   research    in 
   University campuses, the President desired. Quality of 
   the    teachers,    their    capabilities    of    dovetailing

 


    research   and   teaching  activities are very important 
    for the overall development of  educational standards,
    Dr.  Kalam  said.   The   Union   Minister for Human 
    Resource   Development,  Dr.  Murli  Manohar Joshi
    also  laid  emphasis  on  the  quality of  teaching   and
    research.  Effective   mechanism,  he  said, should  be
   evolved  to  improve  the  quality  of   teaching. It was
   suggested that a committee could be formed to go into 
   this issue.
   The Vice- Chancellors   brought   out  the   issues   of 
                                             enhanced funding, quality 
                                             infrastructure, rational fee
                                             structure strengthening of 
                                             visiting       faculty,     and 
                                             streamlining                the 
                                             faculty            apointment 
                                             procedures.   They    also 
                                             pointed   out    that a new 
                                             category of technical staff 
                                             be   recognized    besides 
                                             the present  two categories 
                                             of  teaching and non- 
                                             teaching staff. The  Vice-  
                                            Chancellors       of        the
    
    Universities     from     the     North-Eastern     States 
    wanted smooth  flow  of funds from the non- lapsable 
    pool.  The  President  stressed   the need to  fill all the 
    vacancies in Central Universities.The President asked 
   the Chairman of the UGC to address the issues raised 
    by  the  Vice-Chancellors.The  President explained to 
    the Vice-Chancellors how Universities can  contribute 
    to   national   development  through   a  mission mode  
    approach   in    making    India    a    developed   and 
    prosperous  country by 2020.This, the President said, 
    is possible only if weknow what kind of capacities we 
    want to  have  in  our youth. These capacities, he said, 
    should  include  research and inquiry, high technology, 
    creativity  and  innovation,  entrepreneurial and moral 
    leadership qualities.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                             UGC News. October,2003     7                  
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