President Pranab Mukherjee Saturday called for steps to usher in an "education revolution" which becomes the "launching pad for national resurgence".
In his address on the eve of Republic Day, the president said that education had been an inseparable part of Indian experience.
He said India had over 650 universities and 33,000 colleges.
"The quality of education has to be the focus of our attention now. We can be world leaders in education, if only we discover the will and leadership to take us to that pinnacle. Education is no longer just the privilege of the elite, but a universal right. It is the seed of a nation's destiny. We must usher in an education revolution that becomes a launching pad for the national resurgence," the president said.
He said India must find its own solutions to its problems and should not indulge in the easy option of mindless imitation.
"India has the intellectual prowess, the human resource and financial capital to shape a glorious future. We possess a dynamic civil society with an innovative mindset. Our people, whether in villages or cities, share a vibrant, unique consciousness and culture," the president said.
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He said India's finest assets were human.
"I am being neither immodest, nor beating a false drum, when I claim that India can become an example to the world. Because, the human mind flourishes best when it is, as the great sage Rabindranath Tagore said, free from fear; when it has the liberty to roam into spheres unknown; in search of wisdom; and when the people have the fundamental right to propose as well as oppose," the president said.