IMPHAL, September 18: The 13th Convocation of Manipur University was held yesterday at the Centenary Hall in the campus of the University.
The occasion was graced by Paban Singh Ghatowar, Union Minister of DoNER as chief guest and along with him were M Okendro Singh, Minister of Education and Prof Dilip M Nachane, Chancellor, MU as the guest of honour and the president respectively.
The chief guest and the guest of honour both presented the Ph. D Scholars, Masters and Bachelors students of the University with their degrees and Gold Medals to the highest rankers.
The chief guest Paban Singh Ghatowar in his speech congratulated the students on their achievement and expressed his high expectation in their contribution to the society.
Speaking on the migration of students to other parts of the country for higher education even now, he said that there is a need to take corrective action and reverse the flow of students. He also explained that there is a need to introduce attributes like attitude, aptitude and soft skills especially in the higher education as there is a load of educated unemployed youths in our country and this is mainly because of the reason that education system does not provide training on the kind of skills employers are looking for. He assured that with the collaboration of the Ministry and the University, Manipur University will expand and help bring in quality education for the people.
The guest of honour M Okendro Singh while congratulating the students, reminded the students of the benefit of studying in a place rich with history, culture and heritage.
He also assured that the Government of Manipur and the University itself will be working together to bring towards equality education for the people.
Meanwhile, amidst the 13th Convocation Celebration of Manipur University, a number of students came out to protest against the change in the results of the Master of Commerce (4th Semester) Examination, 2012. It must be noted here that the result for the said degree was announced on 7th September stating that Sh. Timothy bearing roll no. 1016012 stood first in the merit list. Whereas, in supersession of the earlier result, another result was declared in which Kh. Vijayata Devi bearing roll no. 1016005 and Thangjam Gojen Singh bearing roll no. 1016016 secured the highest in the merit list of examination when their names were not even mentioned in the list of students in the merit list in the first result that was announced. Meanwhile, Sh. Timothy came down to the second position.
Expressing their dissatisfaction and annoyance, the protesters held placards depicting that there is racial profiling in the University and that students should be treated equally. According to the protestors, there were no formalities followed while rechecking of the result was done and there was no consent of the HOD and the other teachers of the Department. Accusing the University of tampering and altering of marks, the protestors demanded that there should be an investigation done on the issue and that if anyone was found guilty they should be dismissed and also, the revival of Manipur University Student Union (MUSU) at the earliest.