Corruption in education sector a blot on civilisation, says Governor

“It worries me, when Vice-Chancellors and professors are prosecuted for corruption. It is a blot on the civilisation and this should never happen,” he said, while inaugurating the conference on “Chancellor’s Vision 2030: Innovating Education in the Era of Industry 4.0” at Raj Bhavan in Ooty.

“At the time of my assuming office as Governor-Chancellor, six out of 20 state universities remained headless without Vice-Chancellors affecting administration work. In some universities, the post of Vice-Chancellor remained vacant for more than a year,” he said, adding, “there were also widespread allegations in the media about the quality of persons selected for the post of Vice-Chancellors and the process involved in their selection. The Vigilance Department’s raids on two former Vice-Chancellors, the arrest of a sitting Vice-Chancellor and the suicide committed by a former Registrar in the last two years bear testimony to the condition. But, now total transparency is observed in appointments.”

Stating that the expectations of the public and the student community in particular are that the university administration should be transparent, highly-disciplined and corruption-free, Purohit said that it is important to practise scrupulously the virtues of transparency, efficiency and honesty.  

“The Vice-Chancellors should be honest and transparent when it comes to students’ admissions, affiliation of new colleges, approval for new courses and selection of the university faculty. If the higher echelons of university and college managements do not practise proper moral values, how can there be an expectation about the inculcation of the right values in the youth of the state? The Vice-Chancellors and professors by their conduct should serve as beacon lights to guide the younger generation on the right path so as to achieve the goal of progress and prosperity in the society,” Purohit said.

Pointing out that the education system has to be upgraded, so that graduates have the correct skills to get new-age jobs in the digital era, the governor said that teaching pedagogies and the curricula of education have to be redesigned which will prepare the students to understand the dynamic demand side transformations in today’s global context.

The Governor also called upon the academicians to make university and college campuses plastic-free, ensure rain water harvesting structures, tap green and clean energy like solar and wind power.

Bhimaraya Metri, Director, IIM, Trichy; Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, Chairman and Managing Director, Cognizant India; Professor Ramachandran, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi; Richard Rekhy, Former CEO of KPMG; Professor VK Malhotra, Member Secretary, Indian Council of Social Science Research; Anandrao V. Patil, Secretary to Governor; Innocent Divya, District Collector, The Nilgiris; V. Sasi Mohan, The Nilgiris District Superintendent of Police were among those others who took part in the function.