Promote culture of excellence in higher education: President

A culture of excellence must be promoted in institutes of higher academic learning in the country, President Pranab Mukherjee said Saturday.

Speaking at the golden jubilee convocation ceremony of Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University here, he said a country like India which has the largest young population in the world, must be better equipped in preparing human resource.

The president said a culture of excellence must be promoted in higher academic institutions and core competencies must be nurtured.

He also said that academic cooperation between institutions must be encouraged and research must be of a high order and should be prioritized keeping in mind local issues as well as fields of specialization, according to an official statement.

Mukherjee said institutional mechanisms like innovation clubs must be created to unearth and support potential grassroots innovation.

Quality up-gradation of state-level institutions, which account for 96 percent of the higher education capacity, must be accorded high priority, he said, adding colleges deserve special attention as a large chunk of students, about 87 percent, are enrolled in them.

The affiliating universities must guide them to maintain high standards in curricula and evaluation, he said.

The president mentioned that no Indian university has place in the top 200 universities of the world and added that he looks upon the Ravishankar Shukla University and its centres of higher learning as the guiding light, not only for students, but for society as a whole and for earning a rightful place in the rating of world universities.