President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said ‘research and innovation’ is the only way for Indian universities to improve their global ranking. Speaking at the International Conference of “Universities of the future: Knowledge, Innovation and Responsibility” at the OP Jindal Global University, the President said, “I appreciate a problem solving brain. Conceptualism with an imaginative psyche! The mighty minds from remote areas of the country need to be given wings to fly”.
Mukherjee said, “The fundamental to the socio-economic development of a nation is knowledge mobilisation through quality higher education”.
Emphasising what should be our future university, the President said, “Our futuristic approach for higher studies should lay emphasis on innovation and the society we live in. The innovation festival must not consent to be static but this alone is not enough, linkage of academic and industry is necessary.”
A host of guests including Professor Kaptan Singh Solanki, Governor of Haryana, Shri Rambilas Sharma, Minister of Education, Government of Haryana; Kavita Jain, Minister for Women and Child Development; Ramesh Chander Kaushik, Member of Parliament, Sonepat and other known personalities were also present.
Addressing the gathering Rambilas Sharma said, “Knowledge, innovation and responsibility have been Indian patents since ancient times. Knowledge is not only our past, but is our future.”
Naveen Jindal, the Founding Chancellor of the University on higher education suggested three reform initiatives as imperative. “First is to debate the option of a four-year undergraduate programme. Secondly, The traditional models of class room based learning are challenged by e-learning and massive open online courses (MOOCs). Third suggestion was interdisciplinary and professional approaches to higher education.”
However, it’s the time which will prove how the initiative to enable the future generations to pursue world-class education in India will work in such a complex education system of the nation. The grass root level needs to be fixed up first without an immense leap!