Young graduands should know their responsibility and step into the world with confidence and faith. As trained educated graduates they should value ethics and think through problems critically, said Virander Singh Chauhan, executive chairman, National Assessment and Accreditation Council.
Mr. Chauhan, who delivered the 10th convocation address at Vels Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies (VISTAS) on Monday, said access to higher education brings a moral responsibility to improve society. “Nobody is forced to produce a fraud, plagiarised paper. Education is training the mind, to ask questions, a tool to think through problems. Systems can nudge people but not force people to do their job,” he explained.
The current pandemic would go away sooner than later but it is also time to remember to be humble and live with nature in harmony. Since the 1960s with greatt regularity the world was subjected to bouts of epidemics, he said.
The HIV scare shook the world for several decades. “Then you had H1N1, H5N7, SARS1, Ebola, Zika, MERS, all from animal sources jumping to humans. This ties up with environmental degradation, eating of animal space; human greed, accentuation of power,” he explained.
India is indispensable for vaccine production. There is no discussion in the world bodies or international funding agencies where India is not involved, he said. It is India which is the largest producer of vaccines in the world which is being provided to African countries, he pointed out.
Ishari K. Ganesh, Chancellor, presided over the convocation in which nearly 2,800 students were awarded degrees virtually. Senior university officials and former vice chairman of University Grants Commission H. Devraj also participated.
