IANS | 09 Jul, 2022
Vice
President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday called for removing barriers
hindering the emancipation of women in the country. He said that though
our civilizational ethos encourages equal participation of women in
various fields, there are many areas in which women are yet to realize
their full potential.
Addressing
a gathering after inaugurating the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of
Mount Carmel College in Bengaluru today, the Vice President called for a
greater push to women’s education through consistent efforts of the
governments. He said that given an opportunity, women have always proven
themselves in every discipline.
Observing
that Indians are proving themselves as leaders in all fields, he said
that India's rise is widely recognized on the global stage. Touching on
the issue of religious intolerance, Shri Naidu appealed that religion is
a personal matter and that while one can take pride and practice one’s
religion, no one has the right to denigrate others’ religious beliefs.
He stressed that secularism and tolerance towards others’ views are a
core part of Indian ethos and that sporadic incidents cannot undermine
India’s commitment to the values of pluralism and inclusivity.
Referring
to India’s glorious heritage in education, the Vice President said that
India’s stellar contribution to the field of education in ancient times
earned it the status of ‘Viswa Guru’. Mentioning the names of
distinguished women scholars of ancient India such as Gargi and
Maitreyi, he said that since ancient times, there was a clear emphasis
on women’s education.
He also praised many progressive rulers and
reformers from Karnataka like Attimabbe and Sovaladevi, who were great
patrons of learning, and the Virashaiva movement that focused on the
emancipation of women through education.
Mentioning
the names of many illustrious women alumni of the MCC, the Vice
President lauded the College for empowering women since independence to
become catalysts of change by bridging gender disparity in education.
Observing
that workspaces are changing at a rapid pace, Naidu emphasized the
importance of adopting a futuristic approach to education by focusing
on developing students’ skills ranging from artificial intelligence to
data analytics. “Equally important is to possess effective communication
skills,” he added.
Emerging
career options and even established ones, to an extent, now
require employees to have wider knowledge in diverse fields.
Going
forward, youth must not only have an in-depth knowledge of their
specialization, but must also be strong in fundamentals of other
disciplines. They must nurture the ability to assimilate and integrate
knowledge from different fields to become competitive in the 21st
century job market.
Stressing
the need to move away from rote learning to ‘active learning’, the Vice
President wanted educational institutions to adopt an evaluation based
on continuous assessment. Calling for breaking rigidity and water-tight
compartmentalization of the subjects, he underlined that
“Interdisciplinarity and multidisciplinarity are the way forward.”
Terming
education as the most powerful instrument for building a just and
equitable society, Shri Naidu wanted educational institutions to equip
youth with the right skill sets to make them not just employable but
also catalysts of New India’s growth story.
On
this occasion, a Commemorative Envelope of the Postal Department was
also released to mark the Platinum Jubilee Year of Mount Carmel College.