Onus on varsities to churn out
future leaders: DST Secretary

 It is the bounden duty of the universities and other educational institutions in the country to create future leaders, T Ramasami, secretary, Department of Science and Technology, chief guest of the third conovation ceremony of Gitam University, has said.

Delivering the convocation address at a function organised on the university campus here on Saturday, T Ramasami observed that leaders focus on what is good for people for all times to come while managers focus on what pleases the people during the tenure of their leadership.

He said, “The Nalanda University had remained on top of higher education in the world for more than 1,000 years because of its inspirational leadership.’’

While attaining global leadership was one type of challenge, retaining excellence in educational enterprises over long periods of time was yet another challenge, he added.

He said if Gitam were to target global leadership in 2020, lessons from history of the work within the university for attaining excellence were to be gained.

He felt that a university was measured for its value and performance particularly the societal value added by the graduates and alumni.

He observed that all rankings in global systems were made on the basis of the success of an institution in the marketplace of education.

When education became a product transacted between the educational entities and the educated for exchange of money, the pristine quality of education as a process would undergo undesirable changes, he added.

On inspirational leadership, he said that Buddha, JN Tata, Tagore, Raman and Gandhi inspired the world with their leadership qualities.

He called upon the graduates to try and follow the Gandhian model for eternal inspiration. The ceremony was presided over by professor K Ramakrishna Rao, chancellor of Gitam university