Kasargod : “Scarcity of good teachers is one the biggest challenges India faces and it is the key reason why Indian universities are absent from the top 200 ranks in the world,” said President Pranab Mukherjee.

He was speaking at the convocation ceremony of the Central University of Kerala at Periya in Kasargod on Friday. The President, on his arrival, named the campus of the university ‘Tejaswini Hills,’ after the river in the region.“If students are the future of this nation, it’s the teacher who shapes them. I was a teacher before I came to public life. A teacher leads exemplary life and India needs such teachers in greater numbers today, who are not only dedicated towards teaching and committed to their students but are also driven by a selfless desire to mould the moral fibre of our society,” said the President.

He expressed concern over the fact that, though the institutions in the country were placed in higher brackets among Asian or BRICS nations, or in some specific disciplines, the micro developments were yet to be converted into macro successes. “In a couple of years, we must overcome this and I am confident of finding a few Indian institutions among the front-ranking universities in one or two years. Academic development has to be through a multi-pronged strategy.Modern physical infrastructure like smart classrooms has to be made available. ICT networks have to be leveraged for sharing of ideas and knowledge, and academic cooperation,” added the President.He also urged the students to be the agents of change and also opined that the success of India lay in mobilising all the positive forces to fight the scourges of poverty, deprivation and backwardness.

“The students present here enjoy a privileged position by virtue of having access to higher education. This privilege comes with a huge moral responsibility. Their success will lie in becoming the agents of change, the catalyst in mitigating the hardships and sufferings of people,” he said.He advised the students to have personal ambitions. “But it should not be the ‘be all and end all’ in life. While pursuing your individual goals, always keep the bigger picture, the higher calling, the greater good in mind. Treat your personal aims and the greater good as one integrated whole, without separating them,” added the President.

In the context of the unfortunate ‘Endosulfan’ tragedy in Kasargod, the President welcomed the initiative to establish a school of medicine and public health. He said the school should be a platform for higher learning and research in all systems of medicine, with particular emphasis on community healthcare and affordable medical treatment.

He stressed the need to encourage rural innovations to find solutions to the local problems. “The universities have to tend to grassroots innovations by facilitating the conversion of ideas into tangible products. Due emphasis has to be laid on research activity.

To help find solutions to local problems, the focus of research has to be local, but its quality should be global,” added the principal. As many as 567 students graduated from the university received certificates.