Prof. Chakraborty, a globally renowned academician and a distinguished faculty member from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has received several prestigious national and international honors in science and engineering. His work at the intersection of fluid mechanics, biomedical engineering, and technology-driven societal applications has earned him recognition as one of the foremost researchers in the country.
There is a need to enhance connectivity with students so their issues and challenges are detected early and bring back the culture of fulfillness on the campus, said Prof. Suman Chakraborty, the newly appointed director of IIT Kharagpur, after taking charge on Monday. He felt that enforcement of attendance should not turn out to be a punishment. “It can be kept in a subtle way to strike a balance between too much freedom and excessive strictness,” he added. According to Chakraborty, a combination of technology and human touch is essential to avoid a crisis in the long run. “A student who is distressed is supposedly using a chatbot. There are ways one can be alerted about the situation. But this student may have approached the situation in a different way if he or she lived with parents. There is a need for humane touch and this cannot be replicated through mechanized intervention. But students, who are vulnerable, need motherly affection and empathy and this can happen if students and professors interact outside classrooms,” said Prof. Suman Chakraborty, adding that “mental health is still a stigma in our society.”
IIT Khargapur had taken an informed decision to reform its attendance policy to ease academic load. Faculty members were also told not to de-register students on attendance issues.
“As a teacher, I have never given much importance to attendance. It should not be a binding force for enforced learning. But as an administrator, compulsory attendance is an extension of our Indian way of upbringing. There is nothing wrong in it. But I feel that if a student can perform well without attending classes, he should not be penalised. I am against any punitive actions because it demotivates people. On the other hand, if a student is not attending classes and is performing badly, we need to find the root cause of the problem. De-registering a student will not bring any positive outcome.” He said students needed to be nurtured with legacy values and they should take part in engagement programmes, involving science and technology. “This skill and value-based learning will help them enhance professional, life skills,” he said.
“We are committed to achieving global excellence rooted in a nationalistic spirit, by seamlessly integrating cutting-edge technologies with a compassionate, human centered approach,” concluded Prof. Chakraborty.
Inputs by: Dipawali Mitra, Senior Correspondent, Times of India
Other Media Coverages: Prof. Suman Chakraborty takes over the Official Charge as the Director, IIT Kharagpur
Dainik Jagran Telegraph Sai Vision
Other Media Coverages: The Announcement
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