Kolkata, Mar 27 (PTI) West Bengal Governor R N Ravi on Friday said colonial-era structural weaknesses in the education system had held the country back in past and are being urgently addressed to enable India to regain global leadership.
Highlighting the importance of knowledge creation, the governor said, “Knowledge is power. India was once a global centre of learning, but over time, we had lost that position. Now, we are on the right course to reclaim that role.” He said that despite having nearly 20 per cent of the world’s population, India’s contribution to global intellectual property remained low.
“We are sending talent to big global technology companies, but fundamental research in our own country has remained less in past,” he said.
Ravi, who was speaking at a teachers’ conference at IIT Kharagpur Research Park, said, “Countries that were once behind us had once moved ahead, while we were relatively falling behind,” attributing the trend to deficiencies in the country’s educational foundations over a decade back.
That flaw was corrected, he underscored.
The event was organised jointly by IIT Kharagpur and Centre for Excellence for Indian Knowledge System and focused on the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020, along with themes such as artificial intelligence, digital education and global collaboration.
Drawing attention to India’s changing global role, Ravi remarked, “India is gradually becoming a supplier of knowledge workers, but should also be a leader in innovation.” Referring to comparisons with smaller and neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, he stressed the need for introspection and reform.
Criticising the continued influence of colonial-era frameworks, the governor said, “We are still carrying the legacy of Macaulay’s education system,” adding that post-Independence policies did not sufficiently break away from that structure, but NEP was framed in the right direction.
He called for a fundamental shift towards multidisciplinary, skill-based and research-oriented education, in line with the vision of the National Education Policy 2020.
Emphasising the need to revive India’s intellectual heritage, Ravi said, “We must return to a culture of knowledge creation, innovation and critical thinking if we want to build a strong and self-reliant India.” Earlier, Professor Suman Chakraborty outlined the objectives of the conference, stressing implementation challenges of policy reforms, while other speakers highlighted the need for administrative changes, interdisciplinary learning and greater use of technology in education.
The day-long conference featured panel discussions on artificial intelligence, digital learning and internationalisation, with participants underscoring the importance of effective implementation of the National Education Policy 2020 to strengthen India’s higher education system. PTI SUS RG
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.