14th Chairman’s Lecture Series organized by GEMS Arts & Science College (Autonomous) Malappuram, Kerala on 28th June 2025 (via Google meet) 11. 00 am onwards

GEMS Arts & Science college organized Fourteenth Chairman's Lecture Series on 28th June 2025 via online mode. The program started with a welcome speech by Dr. Naveen Mohan, Principal, GEMS Arts and Science College. The Academic and Research Director, Dr. BG Unni spoke in brief about the origin of the chairman’s lecture series and its importance to participants. He introduced briefly about the distinguished chief guest of the day, Prof. V. Bharathi Harishankar PhD, FRSA (UK), Vice Chancellor, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women (Deemed University), Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The topic of her lecture was on “Bridging the skill gap”.  

    Prof.  (Mrs) Bharathi began the session by giving an idea about the need for improving communication skills in students.  She emphasized how language is used for communication, learning languages sometimes, just for communication alone. She pointed out the importance of content in communication and should combine skills and communication that should be reflected in a career. She also highlighted why Indian graduates fail in their domain during placements due to the lack of communication skills and how to compensate for the above. Besides communication skills, body language had an important role in communication. With the advancement of technology, various skills can be acquired through the internet and software. She cited an example like 20 years ago: she had undertaken a project involving internet access for elderly women in Tamil Nadu and conducted online programs for various sessions in telemedicine. Moreover, competency skills help to use particular skills in a creative and innovative manner, she mentioned. She shared the information that the university has adopted a policy to use various AI tools to use the existing skills in a competent manner. She inspired the participants by mentioning a story in which a tribal woman could speak different languages fluently even though she was not taught by anyone, her enthusiastic approach made to gain knowledge in her own way. The presentation delineated the types of skills such as  domain based certifications, communication skills, soft skills and life skills that are now the  handy tools for the present generation .  The speaker also proposed a capacity building model that would foster just in time skilling as well as upskilling for a life long learning experience.

        Vice Chairman and Dr. Naveen Mohan had a greater interaction with the speaker. Mr. Vasudevan Master, Vice Chairman, GEMS Arts and Science College gave felicitation to the program, and he addressed the gathering how the session was helpful to the participants.  A brief concluding remark and the importance of her lecture as on today related to skills was summarized by Dr.BG Unni. The lecture was attended by the faculties of GEMS college , as well as had a wide range of participation from other institutions and academic institutions . The Chairman's lecture series are always very much essential to improve the quality of the academic level, and will also provide an opportunity for the faculties and students to interact with the experts from India and abroad to enrich their knowledge. The session ended with the vote of thanks by Dr. Finose A, IQAC Coordinator, GEMS Arts and Science College.