BHUBANESWAR: Former President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday suggested four ideas to make Indian educational institutions world class. He deliberated on this while attending fifth convocation of Siksha 'O' Anusandhan (deemed to be university) here.
First, Mukherjee said, the institution should interact with other similar institutions in India and abroad through exchange of faculty and students, participation in seminars and workshops, joint research endeavours, collaborative research and sharing of academic resources and subject experts.
Secondly, he said, an industry interface can benefit in terms of involvement of industry personnel in curriculum design and project guidance, setting up of incubation centres and laboratories.
Thirdly, the institute should reach out to its alumni having an emotional connect with their alma mater. They can be associated for academic management through governing bodies, business and project mentoring and curriculum design.
"Finally, as the persuasive power of a university extends beyond the classroom and teaching, it can act as a role model to usher in socio-economic development," said Mukherjee in his speech.
He said Indian universities have the potential to be counted among the leading institutions in the world. For that to happen, urgent improvements in academic management are needed. "Teaching pedagogy must be refined. The curricula should be updated regularly. To make learning effective, an interdisciplinary approach needs to be adopted along with reform of evaluation mechanism," he added.
The former president said faculty recharge programmes should be conducted to make the teachers up-to-date with latest knowledge. Every institution must be bench-marked and accredited to create quality consciousness, he added.
He put emphasis on quality research in educational institutions. "Without focus on research, it will not be possible for us to have our coveted place in the comity of nations," he added.
Mukherjee said students passing out from IITs were getting recruited as managers, engineers and technicians all over the world. "But when we ask institutions whether the students are engaged in research, it does not evoke "very encouraging response. This explains why none of our universities have found place in the list of top 200 such institutions of the world," he added.
He said institutions of higher learning must realise that a scientific temper, which takes one's imagination beyond the realm of grades and class rooms, is essential in the students. "Our universities must fire the power of imagination of their students and the teachers to make them think beyond the books," he said.
First, Mukherjee said, the institution should interact with other similar institutions in India and abroad through exchange of faculty and students, participation in seminars and workshops, joint research endeavours, collaborative research and sharing of academic resources and subject experts.
Secondly, he said, an industry interface can benefit in terms of involvement of industry personnel in curriculum design and project guidance, setting up of incubation centres and laboratories.
Thirdly, the institute should reach out to its alumni having an emotional connect with their alma mater. They can be associated for academic management through governing bodies, business and project mentoring and curriculum design.
"Finally, as the persuasive power of a university extends beyond the classroom and teaching, it can act as a role model to usher in socio-economic development," said Mukherjee in his speech.
He said Indian universities have the potential to be counted among the leading institutions in the world. For that to happen, urgent improvements in academic management are needed. "Teaching pedagogy must be refined. The curricula should be updated regularly. To make learning effective, an interdisciplinary approach needs to be adopted along with reform of evaluation mechanism," he added.
The former president said faculty recharge programmes should be conducted to make the teachers up-to-date with latest knowledge. Every institution must be bench-marked and accredited to create quality consciousness, he added.
He put emphasis on quality research in educational institutions. "Without focus on research, it will not be possible for us to have our coveted place in the comity of nations," he added.
Mukherjee said students passing out from IITs were getting recruited as managers, engineers and technicians all over the world. "But when we ask institutions whether the students are engaged in research, it does not evoke "very encouraging response. This explains why none of our universities have found place in the list of top 200 such institutions of the world," he added.
He said institutions of higher learning must realise that a scientific temper, which takes one's imagination beyond the realm of grades and class rooms, is essential in the students. "Our universities must fire the power of imagination of their students and the teachers to make them think beyond the books," he said.
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