Former UGC chairman Ved Prakash today urged teachers to impart lessons in values enshrined in the Constitution and teach the essence of pluralistic society to the students.
Delivering his speech at the first convocation of the Cotton College State University, Prakash said: "As a citizen, if we are not aware of Constitutional imperatives, then we are ignorant of our basic values."
As an example, he referred to the Article 51-A of the Constitution which deals with fundamental duties of citizens and said that there were a large number of youth who were ignorant about this.
"As an institution of higher learning, we not only need to create awareness among our youth, but also consciously promote them by way of their appropriate integration in our existing curricula," Prakash said.
The former chief of the UGC said there was a need to look at the diversification of the curriculum and students.
"Our universities are not representing all sections of society. We need to allow pluralism in campuses. We should not confine only to straight, methodological, statistical data in research, but should think of pluralism," Prakash said.
Prakash advised students to invest in a good library than invest in creating wealth like houses and cars.
"Always dream big. There will be more downs than ups. You need to learn to transform failures into successes. Hard work, discipline, integrity, perseverance, dignity and way of speaking are essential," he told students.
Speaking on the occasion, CCSU Vice-Chancellor Dhruba Jyoti Saikia appealed to the students to become critical thinkers and to have compassion.
A total of 1,565 students were awarded degrees for successful completion of masters, bachelor and post-graduate diploma courses.
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