Mangaluru: “Education should be for the flowering of personality but not for the suppression of creativity or natural skill,” said Prof Dr K Byrappa during the sixth graduation ceremony of St Aloysius College Mangaluru on Saturday July 9.

The sixth graduation ceremony of St Aloysius College, Mangaluru was held at 3 pm at Loyola Hall, St. Aloysius PU College, Mangaluru.

Fr Stanislaus D’Souza SJ, provincial Karnataka Jesuit Province, declared the ceremony open followed by the oath-taking ceremony led by Fr Dionysius Vaz SJ, rector of St Aloysius Institutions.

A total of 1638 graduates with 924 UG graduates and 579 PG graduates were present in the ceremony.

The programme was graced by the presence of the chief guest, Prof Dr K Byrappa, vice chancellor of Mangalore University; who in his convocation address stated that education should be seen as a stepping stone to character building and societal development. He stressed on higher education as the key to making available a large pool of skilled manpower for our nation and also to shape a student’s personality.

He said that our country’s education system is burdened with demands of both quantity and quality and so the private sector should contribute its best to the provision of higher education in India. He also expressed that the objectives of reform and change in our higher education system must be expansion, excellence and inclusion and that a transparent framework for better service delivery be established in the field of private education.

“The time now is to modernize our education system to build on the existing strengths in light of new understanding of the research-innovation-growth linkage. The time has come to create a second wave of institution building and of excellence in the fields of education, research and capability building,” he said.

He also distributed the cash prizes for the rank holders in BA Under-Graduation level, sponsored by Sharanguda, in memory of his son Banu Prakash, a former student of the college.

Fr Stanislaus D’Souza SJ, President, Mangalore Jesuit Educational Society (MJES) and Provincial Karnataka Jesuit Province, addressed the graduates and said, “Graduation is a celebration of time well spent.”

He emphasized on spirituality as it will build and nourish lives. He also said that “money will come and money will go, but it is love that will strengthen and sustain you for a long time.” He urged the graduates to stand up for equal rights and opportunities especially for the poor, the weak and the children.

Fr Dionysius Vaz SJ, vice-president, Mangalore Jesuit Educational Society and rector of St Aloysius Institutions, said, “I believe in hands that work, brains that think and hearts that love” and also how we need to make sense of the world when sense and reason go missing.

The dignitaries on the dais also included Fr Swebert D’Silva SJ, principal, St Aloysius College who welcomed the gathering; Dr A M Narahari, registrar of St Aloysius College, the Convener, Claret Pereira and the vice- principals and deans of the various campuses of the Institution.