the turnout of graduates every year in the nation is really not up to the mark as with a population of 1.2 billion there are only a few hundred thousand graduates whereas the western countries have a better situation, stressing on the immediate need for change in order to improve the educational turnout every year. This according to him may not be cost and effort effective in the long run.

Professor A. Gnanam also mentioned that there have been a few exceptional institutions in the past that did produce good results; however, according to him these institutions were clones of earlier institutions which were academically and financially too small to be impactful. The former Vice-Chancellor then went on to praise VIT University in an effort to promote higher education in the country, saying the University had become a ‘Mecca’ for all those who aim to stand out through formal education.

Following this, the VIT Chancellor, Dr. G. Viswanathan, stated the accomplishment of the University by exceeding all deemed and private universities in research publications as according to the scopus research index the University had for three consecutive years published more research papers. During his speech, Dr. G. Viswanathan had also shown his disapproval of the university affiliation system of India. He criticized the system by stating that affiliating university spends all of its time on resources, preparing question papers, conducting exams, mass evaluation of answer sheets and also declaration of results, where he added that some universities even delay the declaration of results by even a year or two.

In agreement to the fact to the earlier statement made by Professor Gnanam, that the educational scenario of the country does need modification Dr. Viswanathan, recalled a Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) carried out by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development among 73 countries in 2009 where India was in the 72nd position just ahead of Kyrgyzstan.

On another note, Managing Director, Accenture India, also spoke during the convocation and made his presence known by emphasizing on the need for soft skills. He said, “One of the first things that made an impression in the industry is the students’ soft skills. It goes hand in hand with knowledge. The ability to present yourself is the key to success in the industry”. The convocation ended with as many as 5,237 undergraduates, postgraduates and 102 research scholars receiving their degrees and doctorates.

Hence, with all of the above statements made earlier, it is an inevitable truth that the educational scenario in India does have a lot of room for improvement. It is a complication that must be dealt with at the earliest as the concluding results of a country whose educational performance is so low will only lead to a disastrous road later on.