There is a need for ruralisation and shunning urbanisation: HP Guv
SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Saturday reminded the heads of educational institutions, primarily Vice-Chancellors, academicians and scholars about the need for basic changes in the curriculum to prepare more job creators, not job seekers.
"Emphasis should be on ruralization, not urbanization. We need to keep our village concept intact to pass on our culture, traditions and economic system to the future generations" he said while addressing a one-day conclave on "Higher Education Leaders" - Future of Learning and Jobs.
The conclave was organized by Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission (HP-PERC) in collaboration with 16 private universities in the state.
He said the higher educational institutions can also play an important role in this direction in reverting back to how the villages remained valuable for the generations to teach about the importance of ancient culture, forests, rivers and ecosystem, which has been compromised at the cost of urbanisation.
More importantly, there is also a need to look at an important aspect as to whether our curriculum and spirit lead in making the students employable? We talked about preparing the curriculum according to the industrial requirement but was it right?
The institutions of higher learning should prepare students students for society, not industry.
Referring to a presentation made at the conclave by Chairman, Punjab Water Regulation and Development Authority Karan Avtar Singh on mission 'green economy" Arlekar said that the countries of the west explained to us the importance of environmental protection. Whereas the aspect of environment has been a part of our culture and lifestyle, he added.
Arlekar pointed out that our culture and heritage has been environmentally friendly. "We have various traditions like conducting puja of trees which reflect the respect that was given to the environment. We must integrate our culture with a modern curriculum", he said.
The Governor also handed over the employment certificates to 23 students, who were selected through a joint campus placement drive –also organised by HP-PERC at Bahra University.
Major general (Rtd) Atul Kaushik, Chairman HP-PERC, who was the brain behind the joint placement drive, inviting 50 companies, said 1,574 students had got registered of which 677 have been given offer letters.
CM Jai Ram Thakur complimented the HP-PERC for the initiative, and also leading private universities for their commendable contributions to higher education in the state.
