NEW DELHI: Setting the benchmark for higher educational institutions in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his recent interaction with union secretaries, has told them to ensure that steps be taken to bring India’s prestigious institutions among the top 100 in the world.
At the meeting held on New Year’s Eve, the Prime Minister also emphasised the need to use technology to track the attendance of teachers in schools and also improving school infrastructure and equipment.
He said that there should be incentives and disincentives for the States to take up such measures.
The Prime Minister’s emphasis on putting Indian institutes in the top league comes against the backdrop of a growing debate over the absence of Indian educational institutes among the best in the world. Modi had earlier also proposed India-specific ranking parameters for educational institutes.
The PM’s remarks assume significance as the national educational policy will be out in a few months.
At an event in Bangalore on Sunday, the Prime Minister had released three modules on Yoga education for
BEd, MEd, and DEIEd (Diploma in Elementary Education) developed by the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) in Hindi. The NCTE is seriously working on bringing out specialised courses in Yoga education for Elementary, Secondary, Senior Secondary and University teacher education courses, including BEd(and MEd, in the near future. In educating oneself in Yoga, each student will go through theory, practical and internship phases.
As there is a requirement of millions of Yoga teachers in the country, there is also a proposal to create yoga teachers as a cadre for each State and Union Territory.