Inaugural session – One Week Online Short-Term Course in Community Engagement

Dr. Rajesh Tandon spoke virtually at the Inaugural Session of a Week Online Course on Community Engagement on 27 February 2023 at 11 am. The Chief Guest for the Inauguration was the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Kurukshetra – Mr. Dushyant Chaudhary. Mr. Chaudhary said that an ‘individual’ has the potential to bring social transformation, but the starting step has to bring change within. Our youth have great potential and they need the correct guidance so that they can work towards a better tomorrow.

Dr. Tandon said that a common perception is that those who are not in the university are not knowledgeable. So, those ‘within’ the walls of the universities are seen as ‘experts’ and those ‘outside the walls’ are seen as ‘ignorant’. Proactively the purpose of HEIs is becoming more about improving their students’ lives in terms of preparing them to secure a better package at their jobs. But over the few last decades, this thought process has been challenged. HEIs have been increasingly focusing on preparing the students to contribute towards social transformation – to give back to the communities. In this light, he emphasised that universities are sites of diversity, more so in a country like India where students from diverse cultures come together. The theory taught in the classroom can be better understood when they are practically demonstrated in the field, among the lived realities of the people. Theory by definition is general, and realities by definition are different. Therefore, theories need to be contextually adapted to lived realities. Lastly, he said that learning not only happens by listening and hearing, but it also happens by engaging with the communities and doing things in the real world.