The Hindu : New Delhi News : Nation needs young leaders, says Kalam

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Nation needs young leaders, says Kalam

By Our Staff Reporter

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam lighting the lamp to inaugurate the first convocation of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University in New Delhi on Tuesday as Delhi Lt.-Governor B.L. Joshi, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Vice Chancellor of the Unive rsity Prof. K.K. Aggarwal look on. Photo: Anu Pushkarna

NEW DELHI, OCT. 19. Describing a good education model as the need of the hour, the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, today said the country needs young leaders who can command the change for transformation of India into a developed nation.

"There are 540 million youth below 25 years in the population of a billion people. The nation needs young leaders who can command the change for transformation of India into a developed nation embedded with knowledge society,'' the President said.

Speaking at the first Convocation ceremony of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University here, the President said there was a need to focus on the key areas of education and health, agricultural processing, infrastructure, telecommunication and self-reliance in critical technologies to build an information society.

"Connectivity of village complexes providing economic opportunities to all segments of people is an urgent need to bridge the rural-urban divide, generate employment and enhance rural prosperity. The essential needs of the villages today are water, power, road, sanitation, and healthcare, education and employment generation,'' Dr. Kalam said.

He also put forward five "capacities'' that he said must be embedded from the beginning of a student's life. "When students come out of the University certain capacities are required to be built in them for enabling them to face the challenges of the real world, in their professional career and also facilitate their participation in the task of national development.''

The five point agenda put "inquiry, creativity, technology, entrepreneurial and moral leadership'' as the essential capacities that would help the country in producing "autonomous learner".

While pointing out that the 21st Century is all about the management of existing knowledge and information, the President said, "Today, we have the ability through technology to really and truly teach ourselves to become life-long learners. This is required for sustained economic development, material and individual prosperity.''

Noting that the management of knowledge in the 21st century is not possible with just an individual, the President said the management of knowledge should shift to the realm of networked groups. "An information that is static does not grow. In the new digital economy information that is circulated creates innovation and contributes to national wealth,'' he said.

Calling on schools to ensure that all students are learned enough to know how to use the latest technology for helping them in the learning process, Dr. Kalam, however, added that technology would not reduce the responsibility of teachers but only make them more important by becoming the facilitator and the knowledge manager.

The need to cultivate aptitude for entrepreneurship from the beginning of University was the fourth point, with the President pointing out that "we must teach our students to take calculated risks for the sake of larger gain, but within the ethos of good business. They should also cultivate a disposition to do things right. This capacity will enable them to take up challenging tasks later.'' Speaking on the last essential of moral leadership, Dr. Kalam said it would require the ability to have compelling and powerful dreams or visions of human betterment.

The event saw 79 toppers of the 2003 and 2004 batch being awarded their degrees in areas of IT, MBA, MCA, BJ (MC) and other courses. Attended by the Delhi Chief Minister, Shiela Dikshit, and the Lieutenant-Governor, B.L. Joshi, were also present for the occasion.

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