Kalam on 5Qs for capacity building among students

Chennai, Feb 23 (UNI) Asserting that a good educational model was the need of the hour to enable the students to contribute to the country's economic growth, President A P J Abdul Kalam today dwelt on five important qualities (5Qs) to sow the seeds of capacity building in the students.

Delivering the convocation address at the Madras Christian College here, Dr Kalam, sharing his thoughts on ''Our Mission: Capacity Building for Societal Transformation,'' said research, technology and performance in agriculture, manufacturing and services lead to economic growth and prosperity of the nation.

''A good educational model is the need of the hour to ensure the students grow to contribute towards the economic growth of a nation. Can we sow the seeds of capacity building among the students?'' he asked.

To realize this, special capacities are required to be built in education system for nurturing the students,'' he said and added the capacities to be built were research and enquiry, creativity and innovation, use of high technology, entrepreneurial and moral leadership.

''If we develop in all our students these five capacities, we will produce 'Autonomous Learner' a self-directed, self controlled, lifelong learner who will have the capacity to both respect authority and at the same time is capable of questioning authority in an appropriate manner'', he said.

People with these five qualities would work together as a ''self-organizing network'' and transform any state as a prosperous State, he observed.

''The most important part of education is to imbibe confidence among students and the spirit of ''we can do it'' which would enable the students to meet the challenges of the national mission of transforming the nation into a developed country,'' he added.

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