Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti today asked universities to act as nurseries of good citizens and not mere examining bodies distributing degrees.
Addressing the 6th Convocation of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi (SMVD) University here today, the Chief Minister said universities have to work on a two-pronged strategy of diffusing scientific, technical and professional knowledge on the one hand and inculcate value system in youth as an integral part of education on the other. She asked the students to re invoke among themselves the urge to innovate and do things differently, in order to bring around a change for better.
The Chief Minister said stress should be laid on developing a value system free from aberrations and excesses against the weak. “When we talk of value system, I feel it is under real crisis. The recent happenings against weaker and underprivileged, especially the females are alarming and have shaken us as a society’, she said. She said while the endeavor to create a knowledge-based society must be there, we must also make value education an integral part of all our learning efforts.
The Chief Minister said Jammu and Kashmir has traditionally been a fountain of knowledge and spirituality. She said spiritualism has always instilled scholarship and knowledge among the masses in the State the examples of which are galore in history from Sharda Peeth to Shahdara Sharief which reflects our deep commitment to knowledge, scholarship and tolerance for differences and ideas.
Complimenting the University administration for its academic excellence, the Chief Minister said Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University has established itself as a centre of excellence in a short period of time and is playing a key role in the transformation of the State into a Knowledge Economy and Knowledge Society.
