India on threshold of emerging ‘knowledge superpower’

We know how Indian universities like Takshshila, Nalanada and other centres of learning were attracting students and scholars from all over the world. Art, literature, science, astrology, astronomy, mathematics , medicine and what not, flourished in this country to reach the zeniths . Boudhian, a South Indian discovered that square on the hypotenuse of a right angled triangle was equal in area to the sum of the squares on the other two sides some 2000 years before Pythagoras did it ( Known as Pythagoras theorem). His work was known in Egypt as early as in 2700 BC. He could be safely called the first mathematician of the world and we must feel proud of our civilization that invented zero and mathematics. Spate of foreign invasions , however, one after the other, followed in the end by British rule gradually reversed not only the achievements in almost every field of learning but frustrated and proscribed any further pursuits in that direction. Industrial Revolution in Britain in 18th century had its impact to foster Western type of education in India.
A conflict between the Indian education system and the alien one resulted in getting Indian system subdued to the later. Various education policies , however, were drafted post independence and reviewed and modified from time to time , wherein the need was increasingly felt about going in for the best one to respond to the changing needs of the society . We may practice whatever we think best today in educational set up but it is a fact that tomorrow only we have to go in for reforms as learning process is never static, so is the imparting one too. Today’s era of education demands not being confined to domestic needs or being within the boundaries of the country only but needs scaling up and going global . India has every reason to be in the forefront of education industry . Calling education an industry needs not to be taken as some sort of a literary affront as detaching it from the angle of commerce is tantamount to sheer unwanted utopianism.
We are on the anvil of having a New Education Policy (NEP), the same being currently under the phase of receiving final touches . With due pragmatism and responding to the needs of students of all hues , the policy must have global twinkling so as not only have its wide global recognition but it must be putting the country on the safer rails of reaching the destination of a “knowledge superpower”. This fact has been laid stress upon by President Ram Nath Kovind while addressing convocation at the Jamia Islamia in New Delhi . Not only the Prime Minister has been, on umpteen times, bringing home the fact that India was a nation of the young unlike the western world but it has now been acknowledged globally as well. We must feel delighted if not proud of in absolute terms, that we, the Indian nation is of the young , the energetic and the vibrant people while western countries were more or less geriatric . That widens our scope to seriously understand the levels of the dire need of globalisation in every area of education, faculty, curriculum, training, research, certifications , accreditations and the like. We have to explore and export the vast talent of our students and scholars .
There is, however, hardly any need to highlight the importance of technical, scientific and job oriented education to be made popular and adopted by each and every one from each and every society and from each and every corner of our country. The new policy must also have provisions for the under privileged, the weaker sections and the girls to get such education, the quality and the standard must be kept on the priority. We must feel proud of the fact that women gold medallists who topped and excelled in various areas of education outnumbered men in most of the educational institutions . Jamia Milia had experienced it for the second consecutive year. The President very rightly pointed out the need of adopting villages as per the HRD Ministry’s scheme and therefore, students must contribute to these villages. In fact , students have a great role in this vast field to play .

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