Chief Justice NV Ramana: 'Mushrooming of factories of education’ loosing social relevance

Chief Justice of India, Justice NV Ramana, speaking on the education system and policies of India, stressed developing a model of education that prepared students to face real-life challenges and lamented that institutions (of higher learning) were losing their social relevance with the 'mushrooming of factories of education.’

CJI NV Ramana, expressed his views on Saturday at the Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU) in Andhra Pradesh, which happens to be his alma mater, while he was being conferred with a prestigious Honorary Doctorate. “I am witnessing the education system preferred by the present generation. I am afraid that institutions are losing their social relevance. We are witnessing mushrooming of factories of education which are leading to the devaluation of degrees and human resources. I am not sure, who or what is to be blamed,” said Ramana.

Justice Ramana addressing the youth further said, “true education should enable individuals to acknowledge the deep-rooted issues prevailing in society and find appropriate solutions.” He asked the youth to be the ‘conscious change-makers who shall profess ‘the needs of our community and environment while being pioneers in your respective fields.’ “The harsh reality is that even after the students enter professional universities, the focus is on classroom learning and not on the world beyond. Securing highly remunerative and profitable job opportunities has become the sole objective behind such education,” Ramana added.

He expressed his concern about the rising neglect of subjects like humanities, natural sciences, history, economics and languages. “We are witnessing mushrooming of factories of education which are leading to devaluation of degrees and human resources. I am not sure, who or what is to be blamed,” he said.

He advised and requested universities and their research wings to address the matters and issues pertaining to our country and come up with extensive solutions. He added, “Apart from enhancing their in-house capabilities, the universities must collaborate with renowned research and development organisations. This will provide practical experience to students and encourage a culture of scientific enquiry and research”. He requested the State authorities to cooperate in this endeavor by ‘earmarking funds for research and innovation,’ saying that “it will be a sad commentary if we allow our key areas of learning and research to suffer on account of lack of funding.”

CJI NV Ramana, who will be retiring next week, further addressed graduate students, telling them to “build a democracy filled with vibrancy and idealism, where differences of identities and opinions are respected.” “Don’t allow corrupt thoughts. Don’t tolerate injustices. Think beyond yourself and be willing to make sacrifices. Be sensitive to the needs of the community and society.”

The convocation at ANU was presided over by the Chancellor, Biswabhusan Harichandan on the occasion of the 37th and the 38th convocations of the university. Education Minister B Satyanarayana and Vice-Chancellor P Raja Sekhar were also in attendance. Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court Prashant Kumar Mishra and other judges, too, were present on the occasion.