CHENNAI/VELLORE: Students should aspire to deepen and broaden their knowledge base, learn teamwork and be guided by the values they believe in, said Dr K Kasturirangan, former Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Addressing the students at the 35th annual convocation of the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) virtually on Friday, he said, “We have inherited rich values of our society and a deep concern for human development.” Quoting the American writer Alvin Toffler, Kasturirangan said that illiterates of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn. Kasturirangan, who was also the former chairman of NEP Committee said VIT must work towards establishing itself as research intensive university.
This policy takes the firm view that vocational education must be integrated with undergraduate education. Not only does this promote holistic development, but it also gives students an avenue into the world of work, that will be increasingly important in the 21st century.
He said, “It is encouraging to see that the agenda of VIT’s academic program is aligned with the National Education Policy 2020. Vocational education will thus become an integral part of the larger vision of liberal education,” he said. VIT Chancellor G Viswanathan, said, “There are a lot of Indian students studying various courses in about 90 countries in the world. Many of them go abroad for medical education as there is scarcity of seats in Medicine.
I hope realising this problem our Prime Minister Narendra Modi will increase the availability of seats in the country so that our students need not go to overseas countries.” VIT vice presidents- Sankar Viswanathan, Sekar Viswanathan, Kadhambari S Viswanathan, assistant vice-president, Rambabu Kodali, Vice-Chancellor, S. Narayanan, Pro-Vice Chancellor, also took part in the event. A total of 7,444 UG and PG students, including 229 research scholars graduated this year.