'Educational institutions must prepare youth for future', says President Murmu

|HT|

Educational institutions must prepare the young for the future through imparting “necessary knowledge” and “right skills,” President Droupadi Murmu said on Saturday, expressing confidence that this could be achieved with the help of the famed Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

The IITs are the pride of the nation and their story is the story of Independent India, the President said at the closing ceremony of the IIT Delhi’s diamond jubilee celebrations on Saturday.

By 2047, when India will celebrate its centenary of Independence, the world would have changed drastically due to the fourth industrial revolution, Murmu said. We need to have foresight and strategies in place to deal with the forces of the future, where disruptions will be a new normal, she said.

“If we take steps to protect ourselves from vagaries of the future, we can reap rich demographic dividends. We need to make our institutes adaptable to the future. This will require a new teaching-learning matrix, pedagogy and content which are future-oriented,” Murmu said. “I am sure that with our famed IITs, we will be able to nurture the younger generation with the necessary knowledge base and right skills to face the challenge. India will benefit immensely from the next wave of the technological revolution.”

Pointing to the fact that climate change poses a serious challenge, the President said as a developing country with a high population, our energy requirement for economic growth is very high.

“Hence, we need to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. India, as you are aware, has taken a praiseworthy lead in the international stage in promoting solar energy,” she said. “In the years to come, as the world anxiously looks for technological solutions to environmental challenges, I trust India’s young engineers and scientists will help humankind achieve a breakthrough.”

“The nation will have similar expectations from the IITs for their inputs in achieving the sustainable development goals,” she added.

Noting the contribution of IITs to India’s improved standing on the global stage, the President said: “Your faculty and alumni have shown the world our brain power. Some of those who studied here and in other IITs are now at the forefront of the digital revolution sweeping the world. Moreover, the impact of IITs has gone beyond science and technology. IITians are leaders in every walk of life – in education, industry, entrepreneurship, civil society, activism, journalism, literature and politics.”

She lauded IIT Delhi for upholding high standards of teaching and research. Its students have been among the best minds of their generation, she said, while appreciating it for mentoring new IITs in Ropar and Jammu.

“IIT Delhi has contributed significantly in building up the image of the IITs as centres of excellence across the world,” she said.

India has a great talent pool that is yet to be tapped fully, the President said. Women and marginalised communities, too, offer rich talent, but these students began accessing educational opportunities in significant numbers only after Independence, she said.

“I am glad to see so many young women here today. I understand that female students at the IIT Delhi have done wonderfully well, even during its initial years. They have successfully busted the myth that very few women excel in STEM, that is, science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” Murmu said. “Their success motivates more and more girls to consider a career in STEM and break a few more glass ceilings. In making India atmanirbhar (self-reliant), the contribution of its young women is going to be most critical.”

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)