Kurukshetra, Apr. 9 (ANI): President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said India is beginning to emerge as a knowledge economy, and added that "our pool of qualified manpower will be the backbone of this new age."
President Mukherjee, who was speaking on the occasion of the 10th Annual Convocation of National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, hoped this educational institution will lead the way in transforming domain knowledge and skill into new competitive technologies for national reliance.
"I am sure the young men and women graduating today will face challenges in their life with confidence and bring sincerity, devotion and professionalism in all aspects of their professional work. Tolerance, discipline, humanism, and service to the society with all humility should be the guiding philosophy for all those who graduate from here," said President Mukherjee.
"Your institute is located in the holy land of 'Mahabharata' where 'Lord Krishna' enunciated these principles through the 'Bhagvad Gita'. The teachings of 'Bhagvad Gita' are perennial and relevant to the human civilization for all time to come. Carry this message with you always," he added.
President Mukherjee said knowledge is a true enabler of human empowerment, and added that the contribution of education to the development of a nation is second to none.
"The evolving demographic profile of our country, with two-third of our population expected to be in the working age group by 2025, presents us an opportunity for high economic growth and prosperity," said President Mukherjee.
"This demographic dividend is ours for the taking, but for that, the youth must be qualified and trained to participate in national progress," he added.
Stating it is well known that India is poised to be an economic power, President Mukherjee said: " In terms of purchasing power parity, the size of our economy is the third largest in the world. A growth rate of 9 per cent per year has been envisaged during the Twelfth Five Year Plan period of 2012 to 2017. Such scales of economic expansion need several enabling factors prominent among them being education. We have, over time, created an infrastructure of good educational institutions for imparting quality education at all levels."
President Mukherjee said India is endowed with 659 degree awarding institutions and 33,023 colleges in the higher education sector.
" The number of Indian Institutes of Technology has increased from 7 in 2006-07 to 15 in 2011-12. The enrolment to higher education institutions in the country has similarly increased, from 1.39 crores in 2006-07 to 2.18 crores in 2011-12. Engineering comprised 13 percent of the total enrolment in 2006-07. This figure has since increased to 25 per cent. The growth rate of enrolment in engineering, which was close to 25 percent annually during the eleventh plan period, is the highest for any field of study," he added.
President Mukherjee said the government's 12th Plan Strategy includes a series of initiatives in the field of higher education.
"These include the establishment of more Central Universities, greater emphasis on technical education and distance learning, academic reforms, interest subsidy on education loans, establishment of innovation universities, expansion of existing institutions and a focus on better quality in research, infrastructure, faculty and curriculum content," said President Mukherjee.
"The strategy gives due emphasis to greater outreach and more opportunities for all sections of our society. Governance reforms and restructuring is also a priority," he added.
President Mukherjee said the institutes of higher learning continue to be challenged by problems of quality.
"An international survey indicated that there is not a single Indian university amongst the top 200 universities in the world. This callsfor drastic action to reform the way education is imparted in our universities and academic institutes. A culture of excellence should be embedded in the thought process of our higher education providers," said President Mukherjee.
"Quality, affordability and accessibility should become the mainstay of our higher education system. Wide regional variations should not be allowed to persist. We must take higher education, including technical education, to the doorstep of our people by innovations in the delivery system," he added.
President Mukherjee said shortage of faculty is assuming serious proportions across all types of higher education institutions.
"Existing vacancies must be filled up quickly. Along side, technology should be marshalled for learning and collaborative information sharing. In this regard, the facilities extended by the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology should be utilized to the fullest extent. For instance, important lectures could be shared with students belonging to geographically-distant institutions," he added.
Stating that continuous progression is a defining feature of knowledge in today's world, President Mukherjee said: " Unless our teachers are up-to-date with the latest information in their respective academic disciplines, they will not be able to disseminate knowledge of contemporary relevance to their students."
"Our universities and institutes must encourage and facilitate their teachers participation in international seminars, refresher courses and project work. Benefits of wider perspective and knowledge reciprocity would flow automatically," he added.
President Mukherjee said 'every academic institute must recognize their outstanding teachers who have inspired the young minds to gather knowledge beyond text books'.
"Such teachers are catalysts for holistic learning and new thinking. Such 'inspired teachers' could be encouraged to mentor junior teachers and students," he added.
President Pranab Mukherjee said that in a world of depleting natural resources, future growth can be secured only through innovation and constant technology up-gradation.
"India's innovation balance sheet is not very encouraging. In 2011, 42,000 patent applications were filed in our country compared to over 5 lakh applications filed each in China and US. As per a recent 'Forbes' survey, only three Indian companies have been listed amongst the world's most innovative companies. This number will increase if the process of innovation is made a permanent feature in our institutions of learning," said President Mukherjee.
"Our universities, engineering colleges and research and development centres should be the hotbeds of innovation. Setting up more incubation parks, building linkages with grass-root innovators, enhancing the number of research fellowships, and driving inter-disciplinary research are some of the immediate measures required to be taken," he added.
President Mukherjee presented gold medals to 17 postgraduate students on the occasion. (ANI)
|
|
Comments:
