The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : `Knowledge is important capital'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 23, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

`Knowledge is important capital'

Staff Reporter

UNICEF survey placed India at rank 105 in education: former Governor ``Public sector institutions of higher education should make huge investments''.

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Principals' Association organised a conference on `Contemporary issues in higher education' on Saturday on the Loyola College premises.

M.M. Rajendran, former Governor of Orissa, addressed the principals of colleges. He spoke on the importance of higher education, particularly in the Indian context.

According to a survey conducted by the UNICEF in 2004, the country was placed at rank 105 (among 127 countries) in education. If one were to look at higher education specifically, the scene was worse, he said.

Highlighting the linkage between higher education and the economic growth of a country, he said the country,which is in the forefront in IT, should not let the leadership position slip away. Public sector institutions should make huge investments, he added.

"There was a time when financial capital was considered important. Now, knowledge is the most important capital," Mr. Rajendran said. There is immense competition and it is a situation of survival of the fittest, he said.

"Policy-makers, both national and global, should ensure that social dominance doesn't take place. There should be parity and equity in development," he stressed.

Urging more colleges to go in for autonomous status, Mr. Rajendran said autonomy should be used responsibly in areas such as improvement of course content. He said that faculty should be appropriately trained to handle new syllabi and students themselves could evaluate the performance of teachers. Throwing open several ideas to improve higher education, Mr. Rajendran asked the faculty to be role models. Development of character and moral education, he said, were vital to achieve transparency in the functioning of any set up.

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