Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, who was manhandled by the Students Federation of India activists before the inauguration session of the Global Education Meet in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, did not let the incident affect him or the prestigious meet.


He proceeded to deliver his welcome address, with just a passing mention of what had happened, his wry sense of humour intact.


"I should apologise for the delay in convening the Inaugural Session of the Global Education Meet. As you have been informed, a section of students made an effort to block entry to the Convention Centre to protest against what they call "commercialization of higher education'," he said.


"Although we had explained the goals of the meet to them including through my op-eds in the Times of India and Mathrubhumi, two leading dailies, they had declared that they would stop the meet at "any cost". I did not realise that the cost was an attack on me, but I am happy to survive it to be here to welcome you. I am sure that our friends from abroad will see it as "militant democracy' in operation."

With Chief Minister Oommen Chandy giving the meet a miss, it was left to Prof William Tierney to inaugurate the meet.

The Global Education Meet, Ambassador Sreenivasan said, was 'the culmination of a journey my colleagues in the Kerala State Higher Education Council and I began in October 2011. We set an agenda for ourselves to create a Higher Education 2.0 with special attention to infrastructure, teachers training, technology-based learning, autonomy, research and internationalisation.

Although the progress on the ground has been modest, we are leaving behind a treasure of recommendations, painstakingly prepared with the participation of some of the best academics in the country.

They contain a road map, a way forward, which, if implemented, will transform higher education in Kerala. I am grateful to the Government for entrusting this task to us and for accepting our advice wherever feasible. I hope that we will have the mindset and the money one day to redefine higher education in Kerala.

"But as the attack by SFI activists shows, it is not going to be an easy task. But unfazed, this is what the Ambassador had to say about the SFI's fears of 'commercialisation of education.


"'Over the centuries, we have welcomed and absorbed the best in many civilisations without being swept away by them. We should not be afraid to learn from others for fear of being overwhelmed by globalization. The message that has come from the World Economic Summit a few days ago was that we are at the beginning of the fourth industrial revolution in the world and we cannot be part of it unless we join the education revolution, which is already under way. At the meet, we are following the sage advice given by the great nationalist, Swami Vivekananda.


"Stand on your own feet, and assimilate what you can, learn from every nation, take what is of use to you'," he said.

"Education has been a window to the world for India for years. But today, it is an absolute necessity, because India cannot play its legitimate role in global affairs without a higher education system, which matches the best in the world. We should not only innovate constantly but also emulate the best practices in the world and not insist on reinventing the wheel. Fears of commercialisation should not deter us from moving with the times."


Now, if only the hotheads in SFI paused to reflect on what Ambassador Sreenivasan said.