President Ram Nath Kovind lauds youngsters of country as not only inheritors of past, but also ones who will lead India into golden age
President Ram Nath Kovind has said young citizens of the country are not only the inheritors of the past, but also the ones who will be leading India into its next golden age.
Inaugurating the two-day Conference of Vice-Chancellors of Central Universities and Directors of Institutions of National Importance at Rashtrapati Bhavan last evening, Mr Kovind said, we should be setting benchmarks for the best in the world.
The President expressed happiness that, this year 35 Indian institutions have been ranked in the QS ranking as against 29 last year. In the top 300, there are six institutions this year as against four last year.
Mr Kovind also noted that the Indian Institute of Science has got a full score of 100 on the research parameter and shares this distinction with eight highly reputed institutions of the world, including Princeton, Harvard, MIT and Caltech.
Mr Kovind said, institutions of higher education have a major responsibility of transforming the impressionable youth and for this, we need to address their aspirations, as they are future leaders in various spheres of life.
Speaking about the quality of education, the President said that to improve it, we should also consider sophisticated and innovative learning approaches. He said, when the pandemic threatened to derail teaching and learning, technology ensured continuity.
He said, we can build on that experience now and make classroom sessions more interactive, giving students a thorough understanding of the subject.
The President noted that India’s ranking in Global Innovation Index has significantly improved from 76 in 2014 to 46 in 2021.
The President is the Visitor of 161 Central Institutes of Higher Education. Out of 161 institutes, 53 are attending the Conference physically while others are connected virtually.
In different sessions, the Conference will deliberate on various topics such as – Role and responsibilities of Higher Education Institutions in Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, international rankings of Higher Education Institutions, collaboration between Academia-Industry and policy-makers, integrating school, higher and vocational education, education and research in emerging and disruptive technologies.
