VCs must visit villages, create awareness about higher education

Mysuru: The Vice-Chancellors of Universities in the State must visit villages and create awareness about higher education and along with it, adopt five villages for the development of education. Thinking will also be done to bring a law relating to this, said Higher Education Minister G.T. Devegowda (GTD).

He was speaking at the Pratibha Puraskar programme organised by the Bahujan Vidyarthi Sangha (BVS) for the students who have scored the highest marks in SSLC and PUC belonging to all sections of the society at the Humanities Auditorium in Manasagangothri here yesterday and said that the VCs must lay stress on the quality of education imparted in the Universities.

It is very important to note that both elected from Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts have been appointed as Higher Education and Primary & Secondary Education Ministers. Though I and N. Mahesh are two different people we still have the same minds and we will work in the interest of the students, GTD said.

“I have studied only till eighth standard. Hence, I was hesitating to take up the Higher Education Minister’s post initially. However, after criticism started appearing in social media and newspapers, I determined to take up this post,” he said and added, “Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has also given me the Mysuru District in-Charge Minister’s post and I am sure I will be able to discharge my duties properly.” Earlier, the girls were not being sent to schools. Tenth standard itself was like higher education for them those days. With changing times, more and more girls are entering higher education. If a girl is highly educated then the whole family is educated and along with it, the village, town, district, State and finally, the nation develops educationally, he felt.

On the occasion, Venkatesh Naik, who had secured 930th rank in UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) exam and former Assistant Commandant B. Kirankumar gave lectures.     

DDPU Dr. Dayananda inaugurated the event. BVS District President Naveen Maurya presided. Leaders Sosale Siddaraju, Block Education Officer M.R. Shivaramu, Shivakumar, Principal T.R. Siddaraju, advocate S. Umesh and Rahul were present.

Mysore Experiment

The idea of Higher Education Minister G.T. Devegowda to impress upon the Vice-Chancellors of Universities in the State to adopt five villages is a good one. But such an experiment called the ‘Mysore Experiment’ had been made in the University of Mysore (UoM) as early as in the 1930s. This was quoted by the President Pranab Mukherjee during his speech at the inauguration of the year-long Centenary Celebrations of the UoM in 2015.

“The founding fathers of this centre of higher learning (University of Mysore) wanted education to be taken to the doorsteps of the common man. At the assembly of Vice-Chancellors in Cambridge in 1934, Prof. J.C. Rollo, Principal of Maharaja’s College, spoke about the ‘Mysore Experiment’, where the University Professors with their erudition and knowledge went to villages and remote areas to share their wisdom. The Vice-Chancellors attending the Conference declared their intention to replicate this model,” said President Mukherjee.