President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the B. Ed. Course of Aligarh Muslim University at the Murshidabad Centre today in Jangipur.
Mukherjee said: "The AMU Centre at Murshidabad was started to carry forward the glorious legacy of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, an icon of India's modern education and founder of the Aligarh Muslim University. Its inception represented a commitment to the nation to fight the scourge of educational backwardness and social deprivation."
"Since then, the Centre has fulfilled the long cherished educational aspirations of the people of the region. It has also helped in increasing the potential of the youth to enter into rewarding careers," he added.
He expressed his hope that it will contribute, in no small measure, to the attainment of the national goal of equity, access and inclusion in education.
Mukherjee said greater access to higher education, especially in remote areas, is the need of the hour. Accessibility and affordability are necessary for inclusion. To make higher education affordable for meritorious students belonging to socio-economically difficult backgrounds, measures like scholarships, student loans and self-help schemes are necessary.
"An inclusive education will not only improve the enrolment rate in higher education but also enhance the quality of graduates produced by the system," he added.
He praised AMU for setting up its centres with the purpose of bringing the deprived and educationally backward regions of the country into the national mainstream.