PM interacts with Directors of Centrally Funded Technical Institutions.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi interacted with Directors of Centrally Funded Technical Institutions on 8th July 2021 through video conferencing. More than a hundred Heads of Institutions joined with the Prime Minister for this interaction.
The Prime Minister lauded the R&D work done through these institutions closer to meeting the challenges posed by Covid. He liked the efforts of young innovators in the direction of providing quick technological solutions.
The Prime Minister stated that there is a need to adapt higher education and technical education to maintain in tune with the altering environment and rising challenges. He added that this requires the institutions to reinvent and reevaluate themselves, improve alternative and innovative models in accordance with the current and future desires of the country and society. He emphasised that our higher educational and technical institutions want to prepare our youth for continuous disruptions and changes, keeping in mind the fourth industrial revolution.
The Prime Minister underlined the want to develop education models that are flexible, seamless, and capable of supplying learning opportunities as per the requirements of the learners. He stated that access, affordability, equity, and high quality have to be the core values of such education models.
The Prime Minister appreciated the improvement in the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in higher education in the past few years & emphasized that digitization of higher education can play a big role in increasing GER, and students will have easier access to good quality and affordable education. The Prime Minister also lauded the various initiatives taken by the institutions to increase digitization such as that of online bachelor and master degree programmes.
The PM added that we need to develop an ecosystem of technological education in Indian languages and translate global journals into regional languages.
The Prime minister said that ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ will form the basis of the dreams and aspirations of India in the coming 25 years when we celebrate 100 years of Independence. He added that technological, R&D institutions will play a major role in the upcoming decade, which is also being called “India’s Techade”.
The Prime Minister said that we need to focus on developing futuristic solutions in the fields of education, healthcare, agriculture, defence, and cyber technologies.
The Prime Minister highlighted that it is important there is good quality infrastructure in higher educational institutions to ensure that products associated with Artificial Intelligence, smart wearables, augmented reality systems, and digital assistants reach the common man. He emphasized that we should focus on affordable, personalized, and AI-driven education.
During the interaction, Prof Govindan Rangarajan of IISc Bangalore, Prof Subhasis Chaudhuri of IIT Bombay, Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi of IIT Madras, and Prof Abhay Karandikar of IIT Kanpur, gave presentations to the Prime Minister and highlighted various ongoing projects, academic work, and new research being done in the country. The Prime Minister was apprised about the Covid related research being done that encompasses developing new techniques for testing, Covid vaccine development efforts, indigenous oxygen concentrators, Oxygen generators, Cancer Cell Therapy, Modular hospitals, Hotspot prediction, Ventilators production. Efforts in the fields of Robotics, Drones, Online education, Battery technology. The Prime Minister was also informed about new academic courses, especially the online courses that are being developed, as per the changing nature of the economy and technology.
Union Education Minister and Ministers of State for Education were also present during the interaction.
