SOUTH ZONEVICE-CHANCELLOR'S CONFERENCE
September 2 to 4, 2004
Kerala Agriculture University, Thrissur

Keynote Address
By
V.RAMACHANDRAN

Honorable Governor, Mr. President, learned Vice-Chancellors and heads of Institutions, distinguished delegates and friends,

I am happy to be with you today but I don't know why the organizers thought it fit to invite me to speak to you. I have not been a vice-chancellor-may I say, luckily so. My wife has been one for a term in one of the universities considered to be better than many others and I know how harassed a vice-chancellor is these days even in such universities. I have naturally felt the effect of such harassment! So I can empathies with you to some extent and you may be sure I will not lecture at you.

I am not conversant with all the activities of the Association of Indian Universities. It is a good thought on the part of its President, Dr. Mohandas and the office-bearers to bring together heads of different types of universities widely varying in structure, range and quality .It should help in understanding why some have become centers of excellence while most others are suffering from fall in quality. 'Structure' has certainly something to do with this and there has been a general view among reformers that if the structure is changed everything will be alright. I myself was a believer in 'Structure' and proposed the change of the structure of the Cochin University nearly twenty years ago on the lines of IITs. The Government accepted it and even issued an ordinance, but the law could not be passed because of stiff opposition from the Members of the Legislature of all parties (they are united on some issues) and the teacher's associations. Attempts are being made for some years now to bring about some changes in the structure of universities in this State, but they have not yet borne fruit. Perhaps we should set aside 'structure' for sometime, if we cannot touch it, and concentrate on the objectives of the institution and responsibilities(not powers) of different bodies in trying to achieve the objectives-the government, the syndicate, the senate, the Academic Councils, Academic staff and students bodies. Is it impossible to work out detailed dos and don'ts for each of them after consultations and have them issued as chancellor's directives on responsibilities? I would urge AIU to make a serious effort in this direction taking some volunteers. This should help in reversing the trend along with the measures being taken by the University Grants Commission for accreditation and grading and for identifying universities turn towards improvement, that would hopefully become the general trend.

One of the reasons for fall in quality is the rapid quantitative expansion in the last 10 to 15 years not only in general higher education but also in such areas as engineering, medical and management education. Government investment in higher education has not been able to go up even remotely commensurate with the expansion. Teachers of quality could not be found in needed numbers . Most of them, therefore, are against revision of syllabi as required by changing demand-they want a syllabus which they can handle! The opening of self-financing colleges has reduced the government's financial liability , but many other problems remain. High private costs for low quality education and consequently unemployability create resentment and disillusionment. A few days ago at a meeting of chiefs of I.T. companies in a major state-as everyone knows I.T . is one of the fast growing sectors in India- it was started that only 5% of the engineering graduates passing out in that state come up to any standard in technical knowledge, practical training or communication skills. They went to the extent of saying that even so-called toppers from colleges and universities were found to be far below par. This is a matter of serious concern calling for urgent remedial action.

In a country of large population and whose economy is expected to grow at 7% to 9 or 10% during the next two decades, the need for large numbers of persons with higher education is self-evident. The challenge is to ensure that the expanding higher education also changes, not only to meet emerging demands of different kinds but also leads to creativity and innovation. It is here that use of satellite technology, remote- sensing, information and communication technology (ICT) for diffusion and management of knowledge can play a very important role as high-quality knowledge can be made to reach a wide audience of concerned persons, be it professionals and millions of framers and in the case of medicine and health, doctors, patients and communities. The emphasis on knowledge management, diffusion and interaction using modern technology has not come a day to soon and I am glad that AIU is giving priority to it. Governments and UGC should also give priority attention to this.

In Kerala State, we have taken certain concrete steps during the last two years using the expertise of the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Kerala- IIITM-K for short. The first is an Education Grid connecting colleges in which IIITM-K, the Colleges of Engineering, Trivandrum, the National Institute of Technology are jointly implementing the project. The second is an IT-facilitated agricultural extension and interaction project called KISSAN- Kerala Project in which IIITM-K, the Kerala Agricultural University, the State Farm Information Bureau and Department of Agriculture are working together. The third is the starting of a Virtual University for agricultural Trade as part of the Kerala Agriculture University, based on the recommendation of the M.S.Swaminathan Commission Report on W.T.O. and its impact on Kerala agriculture.

Following these initiatives and the enthusiastic response of those concerned, there is a proposal under consideration for merging the concept of education Grid and that of an Open University into a high technology Virtual University. I find from your detailed programmer that Prof .Srivathsan, Managing Director of IIITM-K will be speaking to you about these initiatives and I don't want to take your time now getting into details.

Suffice it to say that surprisingly there is an overwhelming positive response and that there is willingness for knowledge improvement amongst many. It may be noted that weare leaving the structures as they are and are seeking to drench the constituents with knowledge through a virtual high-tech organization and networking. Hopefully, appropriate structures will evolve as a result in course of time. There are similar efforts in other parts of the country and in agriculture itself, there are the virtual university for Semi-Ard Tropics set up by ICRISAT in Hyderabad and the proposed virtual university for agrarian prosperity in Maharashtra linking all the agricultural universities and institutes in the state under the leadership of the Maharashtra Council of Agricultural Extension & Research(MCAER).

One of the early fallouts of the steps taken here, apart from the experience with networking, is the opportunity for inter- disciplinary learning. While knowledge diffusion and management are important, the more important need in a knowledge driven world is knowledge creation and innovation. Inter- displinary learning is a must for this. In India after centuries of stagnation, since independence we became good absorbers of knowledge. But most Knowledge was created outside. In order to build a knowledge society and be a major player in a fiercely competitive knowledge-driven world, we have to become innovators ourselves. Even though major innovations are identified with certain eminent individuals , students of innovation know that it is an oversimplification and that innovations take place through a series of steps by A number of individuals until a big leap leading to application takes place. We also know from the history of innovations that innovations breed more innovations and that for this to happen there should be a large number of potential innovators in a society, learning, researching and experimenting all the time. Large scale diffusion of knowledge using modern technology cannot but lead to increasing the number of continuous learners and potentials innovators in our society in all fields. There will be an increasing realization that the days of one-time learning and life time employment and promotion based on that are over. Simultaneously, in order to induce innovation even if we are not able to deal with laggards, we should evolve systems for rewarding innovators.

It is to such development that a person like me who has tried to learn all the time but whose working years are coming to near end, is looking forward to. Within the time allotted to me in this inaugural function, I have just flagged a few issues which I thought were relevant to your discussions. I hope that you will give them your serious consideration.

I am sure that your deliberations in this Conference will mark an important step in our march towards a knowledge society and I wish them all success.

Thank you.