2,287 students of received their degrees at the 11th convocation of ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education, held virtually. Of which, six students were conferred their PhD degrees and 1,198 students were awarded MBA degrees. In the other streams — 10 LLM students, 95 BBA-LLB (Hons) students, 23 BA-LLB (Hons) students, 264 BTech students, and 674 BBA students were awarded their degrees. Distance mode MMS degrees were received by 17 students.
Prof DP Singh, Chairman, University Grants Commission, New Delhi, delivered the convocation address, and Dr Rangarajan, Chancellor, presided. Addressing the graduating students, Prof DP Singh said,“Higher Educational Institutions should focus on holistic education through inculcation of human values and professional ethics. Today we are witnessing both — transformation through education and transformation in education by the National Education Policy (NEP).”
“The students who are graduating today would be the main stakeholders of our country in 25 years, when we would be celebrating the centenary (100th year) of India’s Independence.” He asked them to join hands in growth and development of the country. Prof. Singh urged students to “establish and demonstrate the highest individual standards encompassing the societal, national and global skills and reputation.” He asked them to welcome new knowledge while maintaining moral values and ethics.
Employability factor
Expressing concerns over employability of youth, Prof DP Singh said that the NEP guidelines have embedded employability support into the curriculum. Touching upon the gender imbalance in workforce, Prof DP Singh said that institutes like ICFAI have to work with communities to address this imbalance.
Dr Rangarajan explained the three dimensions of access, equity, and quality, which are necessary to reform higher education. The gross enrolment ratio in the country is less than the developed countries, and the issue needs to be addressed. At the same time it is necessary to bring under-privileged communities into the purview of education while promoting high quality in education. The colleges and universities must be allowed to experiment and innovate.
State of economy
Dr Rangarajan said that the economic crisis that the country is facing is different as it has been triggered by a non-economic factor. Economies around the world suffered due to lockdown and ensuing loss of production. The country’s GDP fell by 7.3 per cent in 2021 and the contraction of economy impacted daily wage earners, and migrant labours the most. After contracting 24.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2020-21, the economy witnessed a real growth of 20.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2021-22. But compared to 2019-20 GDP fell by ₹3.3 lakh crore.
Dr Rangarajan was positive about the country achieving annual growth of 9.5 per cent as forecast by RBI and IMF, but opined that the real test for the economy will be 2022-23, where faster growth rate is needed to make up for the loss of output. The foundation for faster growth needs to be laid this year. With the pandemic, the hope that India would be a $5 trillion economy by 2025 became elusive. The economy which was $2.7 trillion in 2019, would be around the same by 2022. Country needs to growth at 9 per cent for five consecutive years to be a US$ 5 trillion economy. Government needs to strive to achieve this growth by bringing in reforms.
Prof J Mahender Reddy, Vice-Chancellor presented a report on the progress made by the university during the year 2020-21. He congratulated the graduating students for their efforts even as they adjusted to the new mode of online lectures and activities. He also spoke about the off-campus centre of IFHE established in Bengaluru in June 2021.