The Indian Institute of Management ( IIM) Raipur commemorated the International Students Day by conducting a panel discussion on ‘Sikshit Bharat, Saksham Bharat’ ( Educated India, Capable India) at its campus in Sejbahar in Raipur on Monday.
The student resistance in the streets of Prague against Nazi occupation inspired the establishment of an anti-Nazi students coalition, and this day is remembered as the International Students Day world over.
Prof. BS Sahay, Director IIM Raipur, who inaugurated the event by lighting the lamp, shared his thoughts on the importance of quality education for all, an institute press release issued here stated.
Calling the student body one of the most powerful unions in the world he urged the students take pride in being a members of such a strong community. “Faculty and students are the two most important aspects of the institute .To build a world class institute it is essential to have world class faculty as well as world class students,” Prof Sahay said.
He advised the students to ‘Dream Big and Think Big’.
Prof Sahay concluded by asking the students to prepare a report on the panel
discussion, that contained the major suggestions so that it could be shared with the ministry. Earlier Prof. Satyasiba Das, Chairperson International Relations, IIM Raipur threw some light on the topic “Internationalisation of education”.
He explained how the philosophy of education is comparable to the manufacturing process. “If education is considered as a manufacturing process, then the students are the finished products. However we should take care to ensure that the convocation date is not the expiry date”, he said. Prof Das asserted that the purpose of education was social prosperity and it was essential to develop a system that made this easy.
He stressed on the increasing importance of cross cultural management in this age of globalisation. “Today education is not confined to one country or State and hence it is required for students to be exposed to a global learning program”, he said.
Zoe Martin, an international exchange student (from France) at IIM Raipur said “We cannot forget the student activists that fought for education in the past. Student and their rights as well as the access to education should never be taken for granted. IIM Raipur’s initiative to observe International Students Day is commendable.”
This was followed by a panel discussion on the topic ‘Shikshit Bharat, Saksham Bharat’ corresponding to the theme of ‘Quality Education for all’. The panel touched upon various topics and came up with suggestions such as – having a common curriculum across the country, IT enabled learning, vocational education to be introduced at school level, optimum utilisation of funds and focus on quality education. The panel also suggested for the promotion of the ‘Teach for India’ campaign.
They also emphasised on the need to have the technical education under the purview of the Central government and the cultural education under the purview of the State Government in order to maintain the uniformity.
The event concluded with a vote of thanks by Prof. Ashish Garg, Professor, IIM Raipur.