Kapil Sibal vouches for academic freedom
By siliconindia   |   Saturday, 26 March 2011, 00:57 IST
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Kapil Sibal vouches for academic freedom
New Delhi: Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal said that academic freedom for universities is very important in today's mobility world so that a person can sit in any part of the country and can opt for studies from any university situated in any part. Sibal, who inaugurated a conference of Vice-Chancellors of Central and State Universities in New Delhi said that the political interference in appointing the Vice-Chancellors must be stopped and mobility in the world of the tech savvy world is the key for development. It has been reported that discussions on various issues like research and innovation; faculty development and good governance is expected to take place during the two-day conference, which kicked off today. He was addressing them after inaugurating a Vice Chancellors conference here. The HRD Minister, who has been pushing for reforms in the Higher Education sector, batted for transparency and accountability in the system where students should also be allowed to assess teachers. "My suspicion is our academia has been wallowing in the past. That may not be under your control...but you need to get out of that to create a future..this is a biggest challenge you face," he said. Sibal said universities need to be more effervescent, energetic and creative to contribute to the future. "Germination of ideas take place through the university system. If the university system is not effervescent, energetic, creative, then you would be relegated to the knowledge of the past. There will be nothing for you to contribute to the creation of the future," he said. Making a critical analysis of the present higher education system, he said vice chancellors have the onerous responsibility of nurturing the students and building "societal leadership. Stressing for a fundamental shift in the higher education set up, Sibal envisioned an atmosphere that allows greater student mobility and an academic world that has the freedom to chart its own future. Sam Pitroda , advisor to Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation, stressed that the Government must "act now" in carrying forward the reforms process in the higher education sector "as there has been no progress in this regard since the last five years"

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