India needs closer partnership between academia and industry: Pallam Raju

Dr M M Pallam Raju, Union Human Resource Development Minister stressing on the need for more contribution from industry in research said that the most of the funding at present for Research and Development in the country is coming from the Government side.

Calling for greater private sector involvement, the Minister said that the industry should engage itself more in terms of not only funding but also in skill development, innovation and entrepreneurship. The Minister said this while speaking at the ‘International Workshop on Industry-Academia collaboration for Greater National Productivity’ organised by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).

Pallam Raju has called for closer partnership between academia and industry. Speaking at a two day international workshop on industry academia collaboration for greater national productivity in New Delhi today, he said that the gap between the two has to be bridged to enhance employability of our people.

Stressing the need for more contribution from industry in research, the Minister said that the most of the funding at present for Research and Development in the country is coming from the Government side. Calling for greater private sector involvement, the Minister said that the industry should engage itself more in terms of not only funding but also in skill development, innovation and entrepreneurship.

He said while China spends more that one and a half per cent of its Gross Domestic Product on research and development, India spends less than one per cent.

Let’s choose post-2015 education goals that reflect countries’ own needs

Education is both a human right and a necessary ingredient for global prosperity. A quality education can enable people to shape, strengthen and contribute to thriving economies and open, inclusive societies. It’s not just an outcome from development; it’s a foundational building block. But how should education be represented in a post-2015 development framework?

As with the Millennium Development Goals, the broader post-2015 debate is seeking to define goals that express global aspirations and motivate action that transforms development and reduces poverty. The framework needs to be universally applicable but it is crucial that countries signing up to it feel the goals are relevant and belong to them. Achieving this sense of ownership is the key to real change.

Whose priorities?

The massive youth bulge in many low income countries is growing and these young people are increasingly unemployed. What would they choose as their top priorities? In a thought-provoking study commissioned by the ONE Campaign, education comes far behind jobs, economic management and agriculture as pressing concerns felt by people in Africa, East Asia. Whose voices are being heard in the online survey of what people want in a post-2015 world?

A consensus is growing in the global education community that post-2015 education goals should focus on getting more children into school, reducing inequalities and making sure that children are learning. But how much does this international consensus match countries’ own priorities? And how do these themes translate into measurable action?

We all need to ask ourselves these questions so that post-2015 education goals reflect global aspirations and are underpinned by contextually relevant and nationally owned targets and indicators. Is the work on learning metrics being matched by work on developing indicators for access and equity?

A successful post-2015 framework needs wide support, to be nationally owned and to motivate action. The more views that are heard at this stage the more likely we are to achieve education’s transformational potential. We’d like to hear what your priorities are.

The education system needs serious reforms

Education system in India is currently ranked 74th in the entire world. Now even after more than 60 years of independence, our country is still keeping on reforming its education system year after year yet never found the right system which would be valuable to a student. As for the current system, I can tell you that the prevailing system is ok only to a limited number of highly merited students who got tremendous mugging power as well.

There is no system to help the "educationally or meritoriously backward" students while there is only help for "religiously backward (SC, ST, OBC) " students. Apart from that, most of the teachers of the government schools (especially state government Schools) take teaching more as a headache job rather than taking it as a noble profession which can shape the future of a country. They don't put any serious effort to help the students who fall behind or who just cannot understand any particular concept.

Apart from that, there are family pressures of huge expectations from their area in each family. They don't care if their ward learns all the concepts clearly and up to the mark or not. They just want to see highest marks on their scorecards. If you get it, you get reward. If not, get either a sound thrashing or listen to discouraging lectures. Teaching profession in India needs to be reformed seriously.

Environmental study tour at chilka, on 17.03.2013

Students on study tours experience Odisha culture and lifestyle in a safe and friendly environment. Study tours provide overseas students with a well balanced program of educational activities, cultural and social interaction and sightseeing experiences.

The Environmental Study Tour program increases student’s awareness of the environment and issues affecting local environments. Students will be involved in conservation projects in a range of natural heritage ecosystems such as:

•    Chilika  beaches, and marine environments

The Environmental Study Tour also provides students with opportunities to:

•    Enjoy supervised sightseeing excursions around beautiful historic and cultural sites, and coastal locations.

•    Participate in group recreational activities after college hours and on weekends.