Dr. K. Sivadasan Pillai Foundation - Inauguration

Dr. K. Sivadasan Pillai (1935 - 2007)

Dr. K. Sivadasan Pillai Foundation Inauguration - Report
(8^th November 2008)

The inaugural session started off with an invocation by Kumari Parvathy and Kumari Dhanya, students of the Department of Music, University of Kerala. Dr. V. M. Sasikumar, Executive Director, Dr. K. Sivadasan Pillai Foundation for Educational Research an Development (SPFERD), welcomed the dignitaries. He expressed his sincere gratitude for the spirit and enthusiasm shown by His Excellency Rev. Dr. Joseph Mar Thomas, Aux. Bhishop, Thiruvananthapuram Diocese. The support rendered by the Energy Management Centre, especially Shri. Dharesan Unnithan, Director, was also acknowledged. In the present context, the importance of educating the teacher education fraternity on the energy conservation was also highlighted.

The message received from Shri. K. Radhakrishnan, the Honourable Speaker, Kerala Legislative Assembly, Shri. N. K. Premachandran, Honourable Minister for Water Resources, Shri. Jayan Babu, Worshipful Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, Dr. Gulab Chaurasia, Chairman, Council for Teacher Education (CTE), Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh and Mrs. Sushila Chaurasia were read out.

The fond memories of Dr. K. Sivadasan Pillai shared by Dr. K. Sivarajan, Principal, University Teacher Education Centre, Calicut and former Syndicate Member, Sri Sankaracharya University, Kalady, deeply touched the minds of friends, colleagues, teachers, well-wishers and students who were present in the auditorium. Dr. Sivarajan rightly remarked that the lamp lighted by Dr. Pillai is still spreading its radiance and the coming generation has to keep it alive and bright.

Shri. Panyan Ravindran, Member of Parliament, formally inaugurated the Dr. K. Sivadasan Pillai Foundation by lighting the traditional lamp. He expressed his views regarding the deterioration in the dedication and commitment of the teaching community and commented that the vision and commitment of Dr. Pillai is always a model for the teaching community. The Foundation should stand for the delivery of his vision in the broader sense. As a Member of Parliament he assured all possible support for the functioning of the Foundation.

Shri. Palode Ravi, Executive Member, National Literacy Mission, New Delhi and Ex-MLA, released the logo of the Foundation. He recollected the efforts by Dr. Pillai for the materialization of National Literacy Mission objectives. He suggested observing Dr. Pillai's birth or death day as a day of commemoration.

Dr. N. A Karim, Former Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of Kerala and President, Vakkam Moulavi Foundation formally inaugurated the National Seminar on Lifelong Learning. He appreciated the respect given to Dr. Pillai by instituting a Foundation. He also stressed the importance of Education and Development as highlighted in the title of Foundation, which should go hand in hand. Research projects should emerge from the Foundation, he added.

Dr. A. Sukumaran Nair, Former Vice Chancellor, Mahatma Ganghi University, Kottayam and President, Advisory Board, SPFERD delivered the Keynote address. Dr. Nair expressed his views in materializing a research publication related to Dr. Sivadasan Pillai's area of specialization. ‘Let this Foundation prove to be a means for fulfilling the unfulfilled work left behind by Dr. Pillai’, he added.

An essay competition on 'Contemporary Relevance of Lifelong Learning' was organized for teacher-trainees of Kerala. Ms. Sandhya M. S., St. Joseph College of Teacher Education, Ernakulam bagged the First Prize. The Second place was secured by Mr. K. R. Sabarinath, Govt. College of Teacher Education, Thiruvananthapuram and Miss Simi T. P., St. Joseph Teacher Training Institute, Ernakulam was the Third prize winner. Consolation prizes were given to Ms. Sreedevi A. P., and Ms. Lakshmi of St. Thomas Training College, Mukkolakkal, Thiruvananthapuram. The prizes were distributed by Prof. K. Jacob Mathew, Former Principal, Govt. College of Teacher Education, Thiruvananthapuram.

Adv. Nafeesath Beevi, Presidium, KANFED and Former Deputy Speaker, Kerala Legislative Assembly, Prof. K. Kesavan Nair, Secretary, Kerala Hindi Prachar Sabha, Dr. C.P. Aravindakshan, Former Director, Jan Sikshan Sanstan, and Mr. Chunakkara Janardhanan Nair, Chief Editor, Sahithya Poshini, delivered felicitation speeches. Dr. K. Y. Benedict, Reader, Mar Theophilus Training College, expressed Vote of Thanks.

An exhibition of photographs on activities of Dr. K. Sivadasan Pillai as an academician, researcher, thinker, and social worker provided a chance for remembering his contribution to the community.

 The Seminar session started off at 12.30 pm with the welcome speech by Dr. M. S. Geetha, Vice Chairperson of the Foundation. She emphasized the need and contemporary relevance of lifelong learning. Mrs. Padma Ramachandran, Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Kerala and Former Vice Chancellor, M. S. University, Baroda, did the dual role of being the Chairperson of the session and also presented the Theme Paper on Lifelong Learning- A Global Perspective. She provided room on how it is easy to go the moon due to technological development but difficult to reach the village. She emphasized that teachers should read selectively and highlighted the need to take what is good from others. She also expressed her desire to bring out a documentation on Lifelong Learning by November 8, 2009.

The discussion session was actively initiated by Dr. G. Sarathchandra Raj, Former Principal, N. S. S. Training College, Ottappalam and Dr. A. Theresa Susan, Reader Department of Education, University of Kerala. Vote of Thanks was given by Dr. N. B. Suresh Kumar, Programme Co-ordinator, State Resource Centre, Kerala.

The afternoon session started after the lunch at 2.15 pm with welcome speech by Dr. G. Valsala, Former Principal, Govt. IASE, Thrissur. Dr. K. Sivarajan, Pricipal, University Teacher Education Centre, Calicut, who chaired the session, commented on the new vistas opened by Open Distance Learning. The theme paper on Open-Distance Learning was powerfully presented by Dr. V. Reghu, Faculty Head, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Sriperumbudur, Chennai. The Vote of Thanks was proposed by Dr. M. Vijayakumari Amma, Reader, H. H Govt. College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram.

The valedictory session flagged off at 2.50pm with welcome speech by Dr. G. Suresh Kumar, Director, Finance, SPFERD and Chaired by Dr. M. G. Sasibhushan, Former Director, KSLMA. The resume of the seminar was presented by Mrs. Anila Chacko, Lecturer, St. Thomas Training College, Mukkolakkal. In his valedictory address Mr. Ramachandran Nair, Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Kerala and Former Vice Chancellor, Sri Sankaracharya Sanskrt University, Kalady expressed his strong protest against the present evaluation system- continuous and comprehensive assessment.

Felicitations were made by Dr. A. Muralidharan Thampi, Chairman, Indian Adult Education Association, Kerala Chapter, Dr. T. Sundaresan Nair. Director, State Resource Centre, Kerala, Dr. A. R. Supriya, Director, Centre for Adult, Continuing Education and Extension, University of Kerala, Mr. R. Gopakumar, Director, Jansikshan Sanstan, University of Kerala and Dr. Y. Shahul Hameed, Vice President, International Association of Educators for World Peace, Kerala Chapter. Vote of thanks for the concluding session was proposed by Mr. S. Harish Kumar, Media cum Tech. Officer, SRC, Kerala (Director, Media, SPFERD).

The entire session was compeered by Mrs. Nisha Chandran, Lecturer, St. Thomas Training College, Mukkolakkal, Thiruvananthapuram. The programme ended at 5.15 pm with the National Anthem.