CHENNAI: Technological development and innovation are the key to country’s prosperity, Union Human Resource Minister Prakash Javedakar said. Delivering a special address at the fifth edition of ThinkEdu Conclave on Friday, the Union Minister said, “The (nation’s) economy grows with innovation, as it leads to value and wealth creation.”
However, getting there was the real challenge, the Minister said, pitching for fostering a culture of innovation at academic institutions. The simplest way to get there is to let children explore their inner spark, he said.
Laying the premise of the speech, Javedekar raised various problems in the educational sector, besides detailing the steps taken by the government to address them.
“There is a four per cent decrease in government school enrollment, and in contrast there is a eight per cent increase in private school enrollment,” he said, shedding light on the expectations of parents to seek the best for their children.
Responding to a follow-up question about why all government servants should not be told to enrol their children in government schools, he replied that the issue was the quality of teachers. “The basic thing is improving the quality of education. I adopted a village on the border of MP and UP. The results were very bad and the pass percentage in class 10 was 10 per cent and 28 per cent in class 12. I told the staff that we can together bring a change. I sent them for training. I spoke to the parents and started monitoring the school every month.The results after a year were marvellous. More than 80 per cent students passed. So, teachers are important,” he said.
Moving onto the steps taken in Higher Education sector, Javedakar said the government does not want to micromanage, but rather encourage more universities to seek autonomy. “We will vigorously support the creation of world-class universities, besides promoting them as institutes of national eminence,” he said.
The minister added that the second ranking list of Indian Universities under the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) will be released later this month.