Andhra Pradesh Governor and Vikrama Simhapuri University Chancellor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan on Tuesday exhorted the students to maintain a good character.
Presiding over the 6th and 7th convocations of the university being held in a physical mode after a gap of two years, the Governor quoted South African revolutionary leader Nelson Mandela and said education is the most powerful weapon that students can use to change the world.
He said it was a moment of pride for the students, teachers, parents and all well-wishers, who had contributed to success of the students. He said he was confident that all the students who were graduating today would find a good career and make a mark in their chosen fields.
Honorary doctorate was presented to Ravindra Sannareddy, the Managing Director of Sri City, one of the largest Integrated Business Cities, on the occasion.
Vice-Chancellor G.M. Sundaravalli said the university had grown from six regular departments to 17 departments, besides having self-supporting postgraduate programmes like Microbiology, Analytical Chemistry, Commerce, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Education, English, Telugu and Computer Science, Computer Applications and Business Administration.
The university also offered 13 diploma programmes viz., PG diplomas in Fire and Industrial Safety, Environmental Health and Industrial Safety, Port Operations and Terminal Management, Bioinformatics, Marketing Management etc.,
The university proposed to start locally, regionally and industrially-relevant PG programmes during the next academic year and shut down certain unviable programmes.
She said the university had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Code Tantra, a teaching and learning platform, for the purpose of conducting online classes.
The University had also entered into an MoU with Adani Skill Development Centre (ASDC), Krishnapatnam, to start the courses viz., certificate and Diploma programmes and introduction of courses related to Industrial and Port Operational Skills (IPOS) in existing MBA programmes offered in the Colleges under the VSU.
It had also tied up with Universities in USA, UK, Australia and Malaysia to promote exchange programmes of faculty and students for academic and research studies in the identified subjects and to undertake mutually beneficial collaborations. The VSU also provided a place for employers to find manpower to meet their requirements, she added.
Delivering the keynote address during the convocation ceremony, D.N. Reddy, Chancellor, Mallareddy University, Hyderabad, pointed out that the students learning on the campus with their peers and professors learn and grow from interactions and absorb the culture of the campus.
He said that ''deriving benefit from technology is only one aspect of student’s growth .It can never be a substitute for the wholesome academic experience. It may help school education more than higher education, though students need to be inspired and disciplined to study via a screen over very long periods of time''.
Noting that the nation was bestowed with a large human resource base with 55 million youth in the age group of 18 to 23 next only to China, he exhorted universities to provide high quality, affordable education not just to Indian students but also global students.
He suggested introduction of new UG and PG courses in emerging areas like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Data Science and Data Analytics, Cyber Security, Internet of Things (IOT), Block Chain Technology, Cloud Computing, Digital Marketing, Business Analytics, Autonomous Vehicles, Energy and Environment etc.,
Making a mention of India’s challenges in education sector, he said the country had low gross enrollment ratio, faculty shortages, scaling up resources, highly variable Quality of Instruction, and poor employability of graduates. ‘‘There is a need for increasing capacity and capability of the existing system to ensure equitable access for all maintaining quality and relevance’‘, he added.
