CONVOCATION ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT OF INDIA
PATNA UNIVERSITY, PATNA
30-12-2005 : Patna
Capacity Building for Entrepreneurship
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I am indeed delighted to participate in the Annual Convocation 2005 of the
Patna University. I take this opportunity to congratulate the University
students for their academic performance. I greet the Chancellor, Vice
Chancellor, professors and staff for their contribution in shaping young
minds to work for the nation in multiple fields. I am happy to note that
this University has contributed substantially in the development of
higher education in Bihar over the last nine decades. I understand Patna
University has produced a number of brilliant academicians, technocrats,
administrators, doctors, social workers of eminence. The Patna
University has the distinction of having its alumni important
personalities like Mr. Hasan Imam, Dr. Rajendra Prasad and also the
present Chief Minister Shri Nitish Kumar. I would like to discuss on the
topic Capacity Building for Entrepreneurship.
Core Competence of Bihar
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For the nation to develop, all the States have to develop. Bihar
has an important role to play in realizing this vision. We have to look
ahead with confidence and set our sights high to make Bihar the leading
example of resilience, growth, modernity and collective achievement. I
am personally optimistic about Bihar?s success in negotiating the path
of high growth especially because of the superior quality of human
capital that the State is endowed with. This human capital is spread in
many parts of the country and contributing in administration, management
and agricultural farming. From this we see that the core competence of
Bihar in multiple areas is available in Bihar for transformation of the
state into a development state. How can Patna University empower the
young people of Bihar through its educational system? Capacity building
with national development tasks in mind should be the focus of the
educational system.
Capacity Building
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A good educational model is the need of the hour to ensure that the students grow
to contribute towards the economic growth of a nation. Can we sow the seeds of
capacity building among the students? There will be continuous
innovation during the learning process. To realize this, special
capacities are required to be built in education system for nurturing
the students. The capacities which are required to be built are research
and enquiry, creativity and innovation, use of high technology,
entrepreneurial and moral leadership.
Research and enquiry:
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The 21st century is about the management of all the knowledge and information we
have generated and the value addition we bring to it. We must give our
students the skills with which they find a way through the sea of
knowledge that we have created and continue with life long learning.
Today, we have the ability, through technology, to really and truly
teach ourselves to become the life-long learners. This is required for
sustained economic development.
Creativity and innovation:
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The management of knowledge in the 21st century is beyond the capacity of a
single individual. The amount of information that we have around is
overwhelming. The management of knowledge therefore must move out of the
realm of the individual and shift into the realm of the networked
groups. The students must learn how to manage knowledge collectively.
When the information is networked the power and utility of the
information grows as square as stated by Metcalfe's law. Information
that is static does not grow. In the new digital economy information
that is circulated creates innovation and contributes to national
wealth.
Capacity to use high technology:
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Every student in our colleges should learn to know how to use the latest technologies
for aiding their learning process. Universities should equip themselves with adequate
computing equipment, laboratory equipments, and Internet facilities and
provide an environment for the students to enhance their learning
ability. In the midst of all of the technological innovations and
revolutions we cannot think that the role of the teachers will be
diminished. In fact the teacher will become even more important and the
whole world of education will become teacher assisted and would help in
?tele-porting? the best teacher to every nook and corner of the country
and propagate the knowledge.
Entrepreneurship:
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The aptitude for entrepreneurship should be cultivated right from the beginning and in
the university environment. We must teach our students to take
calculated risks for the sake of larger gain, but within the ethos of
good business. They should also cultivate a disposition to do things
right. This capacity will enable them to take up challenging tasks
later.
Moral leadership:
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Moral leadership involves two aspects.
First it requires the ability to have compelling and powerful dreams or
visions of human betterment. Moral leadership requires a disposition to
do the right thing and influence others also to do right things.
In sum, inquiry, creativity, technology, entrepreneurial and moral
leadership are the five capacities required to be built through the
education process. If we develop in all our students these five
capacities, we will produce "Autonomous Learner" a self-directed, self
controlled, lifelong learner who will have the capacity to both, respect
authority and at the same time is capable of questioning authority, in
an appropriate manner. These are the leaders who would work together as
a ?Self-organizing Network? and transform any State as a prosperous
State. The most important part of the education is to imbibe the
confidence among the students is the spirit of ?we can do it?. These
capacities will enable the students to meet the challenges of our
national mission of transforming the nation into a developed country by
2020.
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