Raising education quality a challenge: HRD minister

The Union HRD minister, Prakash Javadekar, said that improving the quality of education in India still remains a major challenge. He was talking in the 'Young Makers Conclave'.

 

He said that there are 270 million students in the country from KG to PG but the quality of education is still a major challenge.

Referring to the glorious past of India he said, "India was a great power, it was one third of the world trade, because we had Nalandas, Taxilas and Vikramshilas, the great universities of world at that time."

"If global rankings like QS or Times Ranking existed at that time, these universities would have got the top positions," the HRD minister claimed.

"Therefore, those who attacked India destroyed its libraries, because this was its strength. The nation in which education is good along with research and innovation, is one which is prosperous," he added.

Talking about the roots of the present education system which goes back to the British era, Javadekar said that the Britishers provided education to a limited class to serve their administrative purposes but did not want Indians to really learn.

Improving quality of education remains a challenge

The IT sector, which provides a lot of jobs in India, the union minister said, "While India is called a software power, it is a limited software power. We do it, but we have not come up with Google, Facebook, Twitter, Windows etc which are doing huge business."

When asked about the government initiatives to improve the quality of education, HRD minister said that a Higher Education Financing Agency was being set up. He has held a meeting with Canara Bank officials in this regard recently.

Government has also started SWAYAM, the program to offer online courses to students of India by the best professors of the nation. Professors of IITs, IIMs, JNU, NITs and other leading universities will offer courses here.

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