Government to revolutionise education system: PM



3 Jan 2010:

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Sunday that the government was working to revolutionise the higher education system and make the country one of the premier centres of education in the world.

Inaugurating the Scholarship Fund of the State Higher Education Council, the Prime Minister said the universities, however, could not become world class centres of learning unless the country changed the way in which they were managed.

“They should create an atmosphere where intellectual inquiry, originality and ingenuity are encouraged rather than academic rot. They have to be given the maximum academic freedom and flexibility. They should be able to recruit the best teachers including the many Indians in top universities abroad.”

Recalling that India was once a premier education centre, Dr. Singh said that the one of the government’s initiatives would be to establish the ‘Nalanda University’ that will revive India’s ancient academic and intellectual links with East Asia.