Date:04/03/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/03/04/stories/2006030417910500.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Soft skills increase job chances: VC

Staff Reporter

CHENNAI: Soft skills, also called non-technical skills, that build confidence in students are the most important qualifications to increase the employability of graduates, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Madras, S.P. Thyagarajan, said on Friday.

Inaugurating a national seminar on `Quality Initiatives for Increased Employability of Graduates,' the V-C said students should have the confidence that they will always emerge winners, irrespective of the situation.

"They should be humane, express humility and have neither an inferiority nor superiority complex," he advised.

More than the academic hardware of degrees and marks, students should focus on having an innovative mind, which is a fertile field for growth and development, he said, cautioning students against mediocrity.

K. Aludiapillai, former Vice-Chancellor, Madurai Kamaraj University said the role of education was to develop a well-balanced personality who would contribute towards social development.

"Education today cannot be divorced from national goals," he said.

K. Nirmala Prasad, college principal, said 150 students of the college's Internal Quality Assurance Cell were participating in the seminar.