SOLAN, HP, May 25: President Pranab Mukherjee today inaugurated Maharaja Agrasen University at Kalujhanda, Solan, asserting that the evolving demographic profile of India, with two-third of its population expected to be in the working age group by 2025, presents an opportunity for greater development.
“This demographic dividend is ours for the taking, but for that, our youth must be qualified and trained to participate in national progress,” Mr Mukherjee said.
The President said it is possible to revive the lost glory of the country’s higher education system and take at least a few of its universities into the global top league.
“But for that, we have to make innovative changes in the way our institutes of higher learning are administered and education in them rendered. We must allow adequate flexibility in different aspects of academic management,” he said.
There is a need to instil a culture of excellence in them. Every university should identify at least one department that can be made into a Centre of Excellence, the President said.
Maharaja Agrasen University has been established by Maharaja Agrasen Technical Education Society to promote quality technical and professional education.
Exhorting the state to promote private investment in higher education, the President noted that it would fulfil the unmet need for higher education in this region in the future. He said international experience shows private sector and alumini participation are behind the success of Harvard, Yale and Stanford and other top universities.
‘Even today, private institutions account for nearly 60 per cent of the total enrolment in our country but there is a need for better management to improve service delivery, ensure minimum benchmark and promote excellence,” he said.
Asking the University authorities to set new benchmarks in professional education, he stressed that economic progress would depend upon knowledge economy.
‘It is crucial that the knowledge-based sectors like information technology, bio-technology, architecture, management, accountancy and law are equipped with competent personnel,’ the President said.
Highlighting progress made in the sector, Mr Mukherjee said that about 2.6 crore students were enrolled for higher education at the end of 11th Plan period and the figure is likely to increase to 3.6 crore at the end of the 12th Plan period.
The President said India has over 650 degree awarding institutions and over 33,000 colleges but was still short of good quality academic institutions, on account of which many bright students prefer going abroad for higher studies.
Stressing the need to increase accessibility in this domain, he pointed out that despite India having the second largest system of higher education in the world but only 7 per cent of students in the 18-24 years age group enrol in them compared to 21 pc in Germany and 34 pc in US.
He emphasised the need to increase the standard and rating of such institutions pointing out that no Indian university figure among the top two hundred in the world.
‘For about 1,800 years in history, Indian universities had dominated the world education system. Taxila, a global university established in the 6th century BC became the point of assembly for four civilisations– Indian, Persian, Greek and Chinese.
“Renowned personalities like Chandragupta Maurya, Chanakya, Panini, St Thomas, Faxian, Charaka and Democritus came to this University. There were other famed universities like Nalanda, Vikramshila, Valabhi, Somapura and Odantapuri that added to the outstanding Indian higher education system. These universities functioned efficiently as a system before the decline set in the 13th century AD,” Mr Mukherjee said.
He quoted Albert Einstein that,’ We owe a lot to India which taught us how to count without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.”
(UNI)
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