Karnataka - Bangalore

Magsaysay Award winner stresses on academic merit

Staff Reporter

Needs of the poor should not be met at the cost of merit : Shanta

A MATTER OF HONOUR: C. Shanta (left), Maya Rao, actor Vishnuvardhana, Governor T.N. Chaturvedi, Minister for Higher Education D. Manjunath and artist V. Balu at the 41st convocation of the Bangalore University in Bangalore on Friday. At right is Puj a Jain of Mount Carmel College who won four gold medals. — Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

BANGALORE: V. Shanta, Magsaysay Award winner and Executive Chairman, Cancer Institute, Chennai, on Friday advocated abolition of compartmentalisation in education on a non-academic basis without overlooking the special needs of the under-privileged sections of society.

Delivering the 41st convocation address of Bangalore University here, Dr. Shanta said the special needs of the under-privileged should not be addressed at the expense of academic merit and distinction, while arguing that the country's education statistics in 2001 gravely fell short of what it ought to have been after 50 years of independence.

Literacy rate had just crossed the halfway mark in the country, she said and rued that the figures in medicine, engineering, teaching, agricultural and veterinary sciences did not even reach the one per cent mark. There was no doubt that Britain left India impoverished and barren of an industrial or commercial base, Dr. Shanta said and noted that western nations still ensured that they controlled our economy. When China could break through the barriers, why India could not, she wondered.

To break the barriers, there were three requirements, she said. Universal basic education to enable people to understand vital parameters of democratic and corruption-free government; national discipline to make people to appreciate their responsibilities and abolition of compartmentalisation in education.

She said two wrongs — oppression on certain sections of society by the caste system and addressing special needs of the underprivileged sections at the cost of academic merit — do not make a right.

Dr. Shanta regretted that ignoring academic merit had resulted in acute shortage of seats, particularly in professional education, and led to mushrooming of "self-financing" institutions. While no amount of legislation could ever work on these institutions, they had become a sine qua non to all-round growth of education, she said.

Honorary doctorate

The convocation witnessed conferring honorary doctorate degrees on four eminent personalities — psychologist S.K. Ramachandra Rao, choreographer Maya Rao, collage artist and peace activist V. Balu and Kannada film actor Vishnuvardhan. While Vice-Chancellor M.S. Thimmappa read the citation, Governor and Chancellor of the university T.N. Chaturvedi presented the honorary degrees.

In all, 132 undergraduate and postgraduate students under different streams received gold medals and prizes, and 121 postgraduates were conferred the Ph.D. degree.

Minister for Higher Education and the Pro-Chancellor D. Manjunath, Registrar R.M.N. Sahai, Registrar (Evaluation) T.A. Parthasarathy, heads of departments and members of Academic Council and Syndicate were present.

Tight security

The city police made elaborate security arrangements at the convocation venue — Jnana Jyothi Convention Centre — on the Central College campus in the backdrop of IISc. attack. Entry to the auditorium was restricted to gold medal and prize winners, rank holders and invitees only.

A large number of police personnel were deployed, and Assistant Commissioner of Police (Ulsoor Gate) B.B. Ashok Kumar personally supervised the security.

Large screens were installed outside the venue to enable other students to witness the convocation live.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu