Performance counts, not degrees: Governor

Anand, Dec 15 (UNI) Gujarat Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma today said poor personnel management was obstructing employment growth, though globalisation has brought in foreign investments and jobs in India.

''In the past, one's degree counted. Today it is the performance,'' said Sharma addressing the convocation function of Sardar Patel University here.

Out of 8,632 students who received degrees on this occasion, 119 were awarded Gold medals.

In his convocation address, Dr D Acharya, chairman, All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) said higher education is positively co-related with economic development. The country has 354 universities and over 16,500 colleges. Most of our universities and colleges suffer from poor economy of scale, overutilisation of faculty and other resources.

Vietnam and Mynamar had universal primary education for a long time. Even in 1980, the gross enrolment ratio to primary education was 100 per cent in these countries. Even the adult literacy rate was as high as 80 per cent. Inspite of this impressive figures these countries are economically less developed, he added.

Noted Management guru Peter Brecker had said in 2004 India is becoming a power house very fast. India has nearly 150 million people who have knowledge of English. However, China has large number of technical schools to train and certify skill, competence-based education. This is one of the reason why China has become a global manufacturing hub. Higher education growth is the engine for the development in the new world economy, Mr Acharya said quoting Prof Castells.

In the new economy, knowledge is the power, creativity is accelerator of development. If the country is to transform into a knowledge society by 2020 and a creative society in the next two decades then higher education system, particulary, the university system, has to radically transform itself to become the driver of this transformation process, he stressed.

Quoting Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's statement while launching the Knowledge Commission that India should embark on a second wave of nation-building otherwise the youth will become social and economic liabilities, Mr Acharya said, ''the students have to realise the truth about their future that is it is uncertain. The other truth is that change is certain. They must be prepared for a continuous and life-long learning. They must know the art of remaining afloat in the turbulent condition and the art of negotiating changes.'' ''They should cultivate the art of asking the right type of questions that will be the acid test on their grip on a subject or topic of interest. Finding an answer to right type of question will naturally contribute to knowledge and innovation,'' he added.

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