IGNOU VC and Distance Education Council Chairman Prof V N Rajasekharan visits BITS Pilani

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(Free-Press-Release.com) September 21, 2008 --

He was the Chief Guest for inaugurating the International Conference on Soft Skills Development Strategies: Corporate and Academia Perspectives. In his thought provoking inaugural speech, Prof Pillai was emphatic in stating that purpose of education is to improve the quality of life and that BITS is undoubtedly a pioneer in educational innovation for developing a model which had inbuilt mechanism for imparting soft skills and for fostering industry university collaborations. He had words of praise for the work integrated learning philosophy based off campus distance learning programme initiatives of BITS Pilani.

Prof. Pillai has been at the helm of affairs of many higher education institutions during his career spanning nearly four decades. His experiences and contributions to the field of science and educational administration are rich and varied. He has served as the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi; Director of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), Bangalore; Vice-Chancellor of the Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala; Vice-Chancellor of the Cochin University of Science and Technology; Founder-Director of the School of Chemical Sciences; Dean of Faculty of Science; Controller of Examinations; Director of College Development Council; Founder-Director of the School of Professional Distance Education and Chief, Employment and Information Guidance Bureau of the Mahatma Gandhi University.

After the conference inauguration ceremony, Prof Pillai also visited the BITS library housed in a building of architectural marvel and the Centre for Educational Technology which has the digital video studio equipped with the satellite (EDUSAT) based as well as leased line based high quality video conferencing facilities for delivering lectures to various BITS on campus and off campus programmes.

Prof Rahul Banerjee Chief of Software Development and Educational Technology (SDET) unit explained and demonstrated to Prof Pillai, the internet based highly scalable desk top video conferencing facility with interactive features for delivering lectures to the off campus distance learning programme students of the Institute. In the meeting with Vice Chancellor and other senior officers of the Institute, Prof Pillai shared his thoughts on distance learning and said that the journey for excellence in education must deploy more and more emerging technologies.

While the world would remember 19 September as the birthday of George Cadbury founder of the famous chocolate brand, BITS will always remember it as the day Prof Rajasekharan Pillai visited Pilani.