Gangtok,Nov10: 9th Convocation of Sikkim Manipal University of Health, Medical and Technological Sciences was held at Conference Hall of SMU on November 8. Governor Mr. Balmiki Prasad Singh, Chancellor of the University and chief guest declared the convocation open.
Total 717 students of different discipline were given degrees and medals in MBBS, Medical Science MSc, BPT & B.Sc Nursing, B.Tech, M.Sc, MCA, BCA & MBA and Distance Education. Dr. Madhavan Nair, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was a special guest at the convocation which was attended by Mr. NK Pradhan, Minister HRDD, Mr. KT Gyaltsen, Speaker Sikkim Legislative Assembly, Mr. MB Dahal, Deputy Speaker SLA, Professor Dr. Mahendra P Lama, Vice Chancellor Sikkim University, Brigadier Dr. SS Pabla, VC SMU, among others.
Dr. Nair, in his address said, SMU has integrated youths and learners of the country. He appreciated the University for offering graduate programme in Medical Sciences, allied healthcare, engineering and management disciplines and post graduate programmes in selected disciplines in its “phenomenal growth” within a short span of time.
Having a right mindset is a basic rule for achieving success. All great leaders reiterate that mind is the source of all success and failure in life. But, how a person can operate his mind in the way that he can eventually enjoy the results he wants, he asked. He quoted Swami Vivekananda, saying, “Take up one idea, make that one idea your life, think of it, dream of it and lice on that idea. Be full of that idea and just leave every other idea”. This is the way to success - the path shown by great spiritual giants, Dr. Nair said. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai had 40 years back propelled the Indian space programme to reach the present height, ISRO chairman noted.
Governor and SMU Chancellor Mr. Singh in his address said, “Fortunately, education is in the news in India. The enactment of the Right to Education is truly historic in our country. For centuries people of certain castes and women in general were denied access to education. Our leaders during the freedom struggle rejected this deplorable tradition and we have made a decisive break with this past. We are keen to secure education for each Indian”.
He said, a good education empowers people to take responsibility for their own lives and for improving the lives of those around them. Modern technology and the forces of globalization have reduced distances and increased connectivity. “The content and quality of education have enormous potential to make an important contribution to our individual well-being and to strengthening of our nation”.“Education”, he added, “is seen as an experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual. It is the process by which society transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values to its new generation. Education should also be seen as a way of producing good citizens for the society with knowledge, skills and moral values”. He further said, “It is being increasingly recognized that knowledge would be the key driving force in the 21st century and that India has the potential to emerge as a globally competitive player. Towards this, India needs a knowledge revolution to build capacity and generate quality to empower its human capital including our 550 million nationals who are below the age of 25”.
“There is lot of hope in respect of education reforms in the country. We have to move with caution and deliberation but also with speed and determination. Our democratic processes should help us in achieving our goal. Today, we are also facing a bigger human challenge: How to live?”
“In an age where even the educated youth are joining suicide squads and indulging in senseless violence, the moot question is whether the education system can be made sensitive to this challenge. The very civilization of which science, the Internet, and related sources of knowledge are the integral parts is now under threat from fundamentalism and the ignorance that underlines it. It has fuelled helplessness, hopelessness, and a distortion of religious beliefs. Many believe that we have to look beyond science and technology to the learning of religions, history, literature, and the arts”.
“Two aspects of education would, however, remain paramount. First, education must strive to create in young minds a willingness to tolerate differences of opinion and the desire to understand different points of view. Second, the massive progress in science and technology has tended to stress the intellectual rather than moral and spiritual values. What we need is a synthesis of these values spiritual and moral as well as intellectual with the aim of producing a fully integrated human being. Such a person would be both inward looking as well as outward looking, who searches his own mind in order that his nobler self may prevail at all times, and at the same time recognize his obligations to his fellow men and the world around him”.
