Renovate varsity infra, upgrade curriculum Quality: Prof Sharma

Renovate varsity infra, upgrade curriculum Quality: Prof Sharma

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, January 12, 2020: Vice chancellor, Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, Bhagwati Prakash Sharma, felt the need to inculcate ethos, culture and values in education system.  Ancient heritage holds immense knowledge;  Curriculum should include moral values and ethics, he stressed while delivering the keynote address at a national-level seminar on ‘Challenges of Higher Education:Teacher Initiatives Quality-curriculum-ethics’ at SDM Law College in the city on January 11, Saturday.

Prof Sharma said quality and innovation in education are the need of the hour.  “Institutions should work on emerging technology through research activities. If high-end technologies are imported to India, then India will be deprived of all resources,” he warned.

“When the country is moving towards electric vehicles, the automobile engines tuned to petrol and diesel will disappear and will be replaced by electric technology driven system. China has developed raw material security for lithium. Indians have to look into the alternative for lithium batteries and work on it,” he said.

Prof Sharma said the research institutions should identify sunrise technology and develop it. There is a need to give thrust on interdisciplinary research in the country. The graduates should be sensitised on emerging areas of research and development, he
observed.

Explaining about the poor infrastructure in universities and research institutions, Prof Sharma said, “90% of the universities and 50% of the institutes don’t have computers with 16 GB RAM to teach Artificial Intelligence and take up research on it. We lack the needed infrastructure to take up advanced analytical works.”

He stressed on the need to renovate the infrastructure in universities and also on the need for upgrading the curriculum.

Mangalore University Vice Chancellor P S Yadapadithaya said, “Education should help in developing critical thinking in students. The draft on National Education Policy (NEP) 2019 is founded on the goals of access, equity, quality, affordability and accountability.”

He said there is a need to make the students employable. Sustainability of equity and quality in educational institutions is a challenge in the country. Complacent attitude and ego will kill the culture of excellence in education,
he remarked.

Prof Yadapadithaya said Indian institutions have failed to make it to the ranking. Qualification is marked by certificates issued by the university and not considered equal to competency, he said.

The VC said the syllabus has to be revised once in three years where 30% of the curriculum should have practical component in it, to help students learn better, he added.

Karnataka Rajya Mahavidyalaya Shikshaka Sangha (KRMSS) president Dr Raghu Akamanchi, in his introductory remarks, said 50% of the colleges in Karnataka lack infrastructure. About 12,000 guest faculties are serving in government colleges in the state. Rejuvenation of undergraduation education is the need of the hour, he
said.

The seminar was organised by KRMSS, Mangalore University and National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).