Javadekar said that for sustainable progress of a country it was essential to have really good research-driven and innovation-oriented universities. In view of this, the government was in the process of establishing 20 world-class universities, of which 10 will be in the public sector and 10 in the private sector with full autonomy. He added that the government will play the role of a facilitator and help in improving the quality of education.
Speaking on the National Education Policy, the Minister said that there have many misconceptions and the government was revisiting the policy to develop a relevant framework to bring about autonomy in the sector. He added that recently a meeting was held with 40 MPs of varied states to encourage research and innovation in the universities as that will add value to the system. Javadekar said that the government was thinking of reintroducing Class X board examination for CBSE schools. But he assured that any such decision will only be applied from the next academic year and would come into force in 2017-18.
To incentivize innovation, the Minister said that India Hackathon has been launched where students of all technology institutions in India are being challenged to offer innovative solutions to some of the daunting problems faced by our nation. He added that though India possesses best of brains in the world but due to lack of infrastructure, labs, scholarships, quality education and enabling policy framework, the students prefer to carry out research and innovations abroad. Hence, the government is determined to create a conducive research environment in the country.
Elaborating on the various programmes initiated by the government to enhance the quality of higher education and development of infrastructure for the sector, Mr. Javadekar said that Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY), IMPacting Research INnovation and Technology (IMPRINT), Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) and Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) and soon to be implemented Global Research Interaction Network (GRIN) are some of the schemes which will give a boost to the sector.
The Minister said that Indian universities do not fare well at the international rankings. He alluded to the fact that the perception of Indian institutes is not as expected in the global arena. The government was in the process of addressing the perception issues as well, he added.
Earlier while moderating the theme session, Mohandas Pai, Chair, FICCI Skills Committee & Chairman, Manipal Global Education Services, said that with automation and artificial intelligence, machines have started playing a critical role; therefore there was a need to educate and skill the youth of India according to the disruptive transformation taking place at the workplace.
Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman, Hero Corporate Services, said that to address the gaps in the higher education system, there was a need to have a re-look at the education policy with a light touch, which gives full freedom to institutes to operate, experiment and innovate to enhance the quality of education. The Munjal University has been experimenting with varied ideas and the curriculum contains 45% experiential content. The best known organizations such as Shell, IBM and KPM have partnered with the institute and helping in imparting skills to the student that will make them industry-ready. He added that Siemens has set up its industry on the campus, which is enabling students to learn the functioning of machines.
Subhash Ghai, Filmmaker and Founder, Whistling Woods International, said that it was important to impart the right kind of education coupled with innovation and liberal arts and art of living to enhance a child's intelligence. India needs to grow into a country of innovators and thinkers. He added that knowledge and information are applied to derive at intelligent solutions; hence the education and skills imparted to students should be such that it encourages development of innovative skills.
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Francisco Marmolejo, Higher Education Coordinator, The World Bank, said that India must not lose sight of its goal while internationalizing its higher education structure. It must remain locally relevant and meaningful as gaining higher education without context will leave students unemployable. Besides, higher education should be made accessible to all. He added that the sector should also focus on success and failures to learn and make higher education locally relevant.
Prof Ashish Nanda, Director, IIM Ahmedabad, said that tertiary education needs to be strengthened in India and must be designed so that it caters to the young, vibrant and education hungry demography. He added that the sector needs to be opened up and universities should have autonomy but with accountability. Prof Nanda said that institutes of excellence must be nurtured. The government should pick few institutes and invest time and energy on them as it takes time to build a university and its reputation and brand.
Dr. Jo Beall, Director Education and Society British Council (Exec Board), said that autonomy and strong industry academia linkages have played a critical role in the success of the universities in the UK. India can learn from these examples of the UK. She added that India is way ahead when it comes to private universities and the UK could imbibe some of the learnings. Speaking about the relevance of higher education in the era when information is widely available digitally, Dr. Beall said that the young people are today exposed to information which is more of opinions than facts. Hence, higher education helps them to recognize those facts.
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