Mysuru: The All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH), Mysuru, held its Graduation Day on Dec.16 in the Seminar Hall, Knowledge Park, Naimisham campus.

Prof. K. Byrappa, Vice-Chancellor of Mangalore University, who delivered the Graduation Day address, called upon the graduates to feel proud of the fact that they were passing out of one of the best institutes in the country.

He said that the graduates from AIISH should try to identify people with disability and impart skills to them to make them employable. They should work to redefine the concept of disability in the light of the paradigm shift that has taken place in recognising the rights of persons with disabilities.

Stating that human creativity has become a group process, he said they must improve their skills on working with teams to attain significant success.

Prof. S. N. Hegde, former Vice-Chancellor, Mysore University, presented the gold medals to the graduates and urged the AIISH graduates to go back to their native village and help the local administration to establish facilities in those villages, needed for persons with speech and hearing problems.

He stressed that it is the only way to come out of the urban-rural divide.

Prof. M. Jayaram, former Director, AIISH, led the graduates to take their pledge.

Briefing on the challenges to be faced by the professionals in the field of communication disorders, he insisted that their approach should be evidence-based rather than being clinical-based.

He also impressed upon the graduates to focus on developing test materials to meet the multilingual demands of the country.

Dr. S.R. Savithri, Director, AIISH, presided. Prof. S.P.Goswami, welcomed. Prof. Ajish K. Abraham, co-ordinated the programme.

Certificates were awarded to 120 outgoing diploma, graduate, post-graduate and doctoral students in the field of Speech and Hearing and Special Education. Eight students received gold medals for outstanding academic excellence.