Prez expresses concern over the standard of higher edu
Nation 11:37
Bhopal, June 7: President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday lamented the fact that there is not even a single Indian varsity among the list of the top 200 universities of the world.
He was addressing at the eighth convocation of the Rajiv Gandhi Technological University in Bhopal.
Mukherjee said that many meritorious Indian students seek admission in foreign universities today and added that it would be possible to revive the lost "glory" of India's ancient universities if this pool of bright students could be retained.
"Upgrading standards of higher education should be by a culture of excellence," Mukherjee said.
He said that only one in 50 patent applications in the world is filed in India and pointed out that much more needs to be done to be at the forefront of innovation.
He said that many parts of our country do not have an institute of higher learning and because of this many students belonging to such areas are denied the opportunity to pursue higher studies.
He claimed that for 1800 years beginning in the sixth century BCE, Indian universities like Taxila, Nalanda, Valabhi and Vikramshila "dominated" the world.
Taxila was a global university and the meeting point of Indian, Persian, Greek and Chinese civilisations, he said.
Higher academies have a shortage of good quality teachers and added that unless existing vacancies are filled up and capacity of our teachers developed, steps towards quality improvement will remain incomplete.
After laying the foundation stone of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hindi University near Bhopal, the President who addressed the gathering in Hindi to mark the occasion, said, "I call upon the university to take the initiative to build a strong innovation culture."
The university is being established at Mugalia Kot village near the state capital by the Madhya Pradesh government after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's name, who has been a strong votary of Hindi language.
The President said that 2010-20 has been declared as the decade of innovation.
He said recently he had opened innovation clubs in two central universities in Uttar Pradesh and Assam and attended innovation exhibitions organised there.
Stating that language plays an important role between the government and the people, the President said, "success of social welfare and development programme depends on language. Therefore, we should encourage Hindi and other regional languages."
"Hindi has always played an important role in national integration. It is a symbol of India's social and cultural unity," Mukherjee said.
Referring to the growing incidents of crime against women, he said that education has an important role to play in the development of the society and the nation.
"The recent rise in crimes against women and children is a cause for deep concern. It not only calls for effective measures for their safety and security, but also requires us to urgently introspect and find ways to arrest the erosion of values in our society," he said.
The President also called upon the universities to take the lead in starting a sustained programme for meeting the contemporary moral challenges and ensuring that our civilisational values of love for motherland, performance of duty and compassion for all are inculcated in the young minds.
He also asked the varsities to develop a programme for young people catering to tolerance for pluralism, respect for women and elderly, truth and honesty in life, discipline and self-restraint in conduct and responsibility in action.
Later, Mukherjee also released a newsletter 'Atal Samvad', the first copy of which was presented to him.
Addressing the function, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj advised the state government to check growing erosion of Hindi language, specially the practice of using English words in Hindi.
She also advised the university to ensure translation of rich literature available in other Indian languages and produce quality interpretors (translators), who can translate Hindi in foreign and other Indian languages easily as there is a lot of scope for such experts.
The function was also addressed by Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Culture and Public Relations Minister Laxmikant Sharma and the university's Vice Chancellor Prof Mohanlal Cheepa.
Earlier, the President, who is on a three-day state visit, was accorded a ceremonial reception by the Governor and the Chief Minister on his arrival at Bhopal's Raja Bhoj airport.
He was addressing at the eighth convocation of the Rajiv Gandhi Technological University in Bhopal.
Mukherjee said that many meritorious Indian students seek admission in foreign universities today and added that it would be possible to revive the lost "glory" of India's ancient universities if this pool of bright students could be retained.
"Upgrading standards of higher education should be by a culture of excellence," Mukherjee said.
He said that only one in 50 patent applications in the world is filed in India and pointed out that much more needs to be done to be at the forefront of innovation.
He said that many parts of our country do not have an institute of higher learning and because of this many students belonging to such areas are denied the opportunity to pursue higher studies.
He claimed that for 1800 years beginning in the sixth century BCE, Indian universities like Taxila, Nalanda, Valabhi and Vikramshila "dominated" the world.
Taxila was a global university and the meeting point of Indian, Persian, Greek and Chinese civilisations, he said.
Higher academies have a shortage of good quality teachers and added that unless existing vacancies are filled up and capacity of our teachers developed, steps towards quality improvement will remain incomplete.
After laying the foundation stone of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hindi University near Bhopal, the President who addressed the gathering in Hindi to mark the occasion, said, "I call upon the university to take the initiative to build a strong innovation culture."
The university is being established at Mugalia Kot village near the state capital by the Madhya Pradesh government after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's name, who has been a strong votary of Hindi language.
The President said that 2010-20 has been declared as the decade of innovation.
He said recently he had opened innovation clubs in two central universities in Uttar Pradesh and Assam and attended innovation exhibitions organised there.
Stating that language plays an important role between the government and the people, the President said, "success of social welfare and development programme depends on language. Therefore, we should encourage Hindi and other regional languages."
"Hindi has always played an important role in national integration. It is a symbol of India's social and cultural unity," Mukherjee said.
Referring to the growing incidents of crime against women, he said that education has an important role to play in the development of the society and the nation.
"The recent rise in crimes against women and children is a cause for deep concern. It not only calls for effective measures for their safety and security, but also requires us to urgently introspect and find ways to arrest the erosion of values in our society," he said.
The President also called upon the universities to take the lead in starting a sustained programme for meeting the contemporary moral challenges and ensuring that our civilisational values of love for motherland, performance of duty and compassion for all are inculcated in the young minds.
He also asked the varsities to develop a programme for young people catering to tolerance for pluralism, respect for women and elderly, truth and honesty in life, discipline and self-restraint in conduct and responsibility in action.
Later, Mukherjee also released a newsletter 'Atal Samvad', the first copy of which was presented to him.
Addressing the function, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj advised the state government to check growing erosion of Hindi language, specially the practice of using English words in Hindi.
She also advised the university to ensure translation of rich literature available in other Indian languages and produce quality interpretors (translators), who can translate Hindi in foreign and other Indian languages easily as there is a lot of scope for such experts.
The function was also addressed by Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Culture and Public Relations Minister Laxmikant Sharma and the university's Vice Chancellor Prof Mohanlal Cheepa.
Earlier, the President, who is on a three-day state visit, was accorded a ceremonial reception by the Governor and the Chief Minister on his arrival at Bhopal's Raja Bhoj airport.
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