President of India, Pranab Mukherjee has been imploring the policy planners, academia and the student community in the country to focus on positive and constructive reforms in educational system in the country commensurate with the economic and social needs of our society. Speaking on the occasion of inaugurating a 3-day international conference at O.P. Jindal University in Haryana, the President repeated his comment that the standard of teaching, faculties and researches going on in our universities and research institutions needed to be streamlined and upgraded. He has very rightly said that we need researches that would have direct impact on the life style and economic growth of our countrymen. Why it is that India has not a single university of the status to be considered among the 200 most outstanding universities that are there world over. We are not keeping pace with westerners in innovation skills according to the needs of our people. Though the President did not say it directly that some of our educational institutions are become hotbed of misguided thinking, he did mention that the youth needed more training and guidance in upholding our traditional values.
The President is very right in identifying quality, affordability and accessibility as the three cornerstones of higher education which need to be understood in the Indian context. But the President does not mean to say that these options are not available in our country nor does he mean to say that our scientists, technocrats and academia are not capable of bringing about radical change in our educational system. The system has to be people-oriented meaning that higher education should be able to pull the county out of economic and social stagnation and show a new path of advancement. India has to keep pace with the fast developing scientific and technological world while she allows her ancient traditions also to co-exist as long as these are progressive and contribute to changing the stereotypes. Be whatever it is, there is an urgent need to improve the country’s education system in terms of quality of instruction, faculty, research and capacity building.
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