Research in higher edu must for sustainable growth: Javadekar

Noting that India and China prospered on the back of reverse engineering and low wages, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar today stressed on encouraging research in higher education in the country to ensure sustainable growth.
Delivering poet Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' memorial lecture here, he pitched for promoting research and innovation also to combat brain drain and insisted on improving quality of education from primary to higher education.
"The progress India and China have attained over the last 30 years is due to reverse engineering and become cost competitive basically on the back of low wages.
"But that prosperity is not sustainable. The only answer is sustainable prosperity lies in innovation," Javadekar said.

To ensure that the best Indian minds are able to innovate in the country itself, the minister said the government has decided to set up "best of the research laboratories" in the central universities.
"IITs will also jointly interview and pursue Indian students studying abroad to come back as faculties. The students will have research and consultancy freedom.

"So, we will avail good teachers, students and labs. We will give them Rs 75,000 per month Prime Minister scholarship," he added.
Javadekar stressed on enhancing quality of education imparted through schools too and referred to camps being held this month at five places Raipur, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Guwahati and Pune.

"Imparting quality education to students is the gist of the learning outcome process. We have to keep striving for it," he said.
He also stated the government plans to allow states, by amending right to education act, to decide on detaining students after assessing their performance in class V and VIII.
According to the present no-detention policy, students are promoted every year till class VIII.
The minister said that if a student takes annual exam in March and fails, he/she will be given another chance in June to clear the same as per the proposed amendment.
States though will have the right to give another opportunity to these students to pass, he added.

NCP general secretary DP Tripathi also attended the event.