Speech on the eve of BUST honorary award
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
February 18th, 2011
Your excellence, dear colleagues, dear parents and dear students!
I feel honored being invited here today. Some 20 years ago I came here as a tourist, and as BUST was opened in 1995 I had the opportunity to speak to you for the first time.
Since 2001 I am voluntarily working together with CAT (Centre for Appropriate Technology). So I may be familiar to some of you.
Today, you, the parents and the students are celebrating a quite remarkable occasion:
The parents are harvesting the fruits of their financial givings, and the students profit from a profound education.
A latin saying is: "We do not learn for our school, we learn for our life!" Non scholae sed vitae discimus.
Today we live in a world of "lifelong learning" - which some of our ancestors were familiar with decades ago.
All people should have the opportunity to cultivate their personal abilities.
All people are equal.
Men and women are equal,- means the western thinking.
Looking at our planet from a distance, this may be true today.
But looking at the way most of us design our lives today reveals some adverse aspects. It seems the demand for focusing on elementary ecological and sociological concerns still remains a challenge.
What exactly does that mean?
My dear students, you have worked hard, but life has not quite begun. You will have to face the fact that learning must continue. Your future calls for linking your earned skills with the demands of our modern society. You will have to take the challenge to survive in an environment focusing on industrial and monetary aspects, turning motivated individuals into exchangeable merchandise. Developing and preserving values based on theoretical knowledge with little practical experience will require strong personal ethics. Your initial effort will not pay well, nevertheless you should keep building practical experience in projects, even if that may mean working voluntarily.
I wish you all the best for your personal future.
Your excellence, dear colleagues, dear parents and dear students!
Many thanks.
Labels: Prof. Dr. Norbert Pintsch
posted by S A J Shirazi @ 8:24 AM,
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