Media Release

Mangaluru, Feb 10: Commemorating the seventeenth anniversary of laying the foundation stone of St Joseph Engineering College at Vamanjoor, the annual foundation day oration was held on February 10 at the Spoorthi Hall of Academic Block III.

Dr S Rajashekharaiah, founder vice chancellor of VTU and director general of Chameli Devi Group of Institutions, Indore, delivered the foundation day oration on ‘Technical Education in India: A Perception’.

In his lecture, Dr Rajashekharaiah, drew upon his vast experiences of 53 years in various responsibilities ranging from a young faculty to the founder vice-chancellor of VTU. He spoke about the multiple challenges he faced during the early days of setting up VTU, and elaborated on the strong foundation that he was able to build, which has held the University in good stead in spite of the tumultuous years since then. He used his experiences at VTU to drive home the point that courage and self-belief are essential to achieve success.

Focusing on the NASSCOM data of 80% of Engineering graduates being unemployable in India, Dr Rajashekharaiah, spoke of the need for timely syllabus updates by Universities and the need to provide practical exposure to students. He urged the faculty to use practical examples in teaching engineering concepts and to focus on ‘Knowledge Based Education’ rather than giving importance to only results and exams. Dwelling on Dr Abdul Kalam’s statement on the role of mother, father, and the teacher to eliminate corruption in India, he stressed on the need for teachers’ to touch the hearts of their students and become role models. He spoke about the need for teachers to become good human beings first.

Advising SJEC to pursue its journey towards becoming a deemed university, Dr Rajashekharaiah also cautioned on the need to maintain rigorous implementation of quality education to remain successful. He urged the education system to produce engineers and not just engineering graduates. He highlighted the need to implement the concept of study circles to bring about effectiveness in classroom teaching.

Fr Wilfred Prakash D’Souza, director, SJEC, Fr Rohith D’Costa, assistant director, Dr Joseph Gonsalvis, principal, SJEC, and Dr Rio D’Souza, vice principal, SJEC were present on the occasion. Dr Purushothama Chippar, associate professor in the department of Mechanical Engineering, moderated the lecture. Dr Jyothi K, HOD of Chemistry department was the convener of the ceremony.