Cuttack: UGC chairman Virander Singh Chauhan urged former students of various universities to come forward to fund their alma maters and help to improve the quality of education.

Chauhan was speaking at the ninth convocation of Ravenshaw University on Tuesday. He said all front-ranking universities of the world received funds from sources other than the government, but the biggest share came from former students.

He expressed concern over the impact on quality of education in the under-funded state universities. He said the importance of education in present times had reduced to the ability to find a job or for getting an immediate reward for what has been spent.

About 1,727 students received bachelors degrees, 1,049 masters' degrees, 82 MPhil degrees and 66 students were awarded PhDs during the convocation.

Thirty students, who pursued postgraduation, and an equal number of graduate students were awarded gold medals.The university gold medal (2017) to best graduate (traditional) and best graduate (technical) went to Drigja Sahu (geology) and Deekshya Moharana (information science and telecommunication), respectively.