INDIA'S EDUCATION PRIORITIES TO BECOME A GLOBAL POWERHOUSE

We need universities that will create new benchmarks, offer new strategies for generating ideas and undertaking research and harness them for maximum social impact

- By Ananya Mukherjee

THE GRAND VISION OF VIKSIT Bharat 2047 will require many priorities. But for this reflection, let me focus on one specific pillar: India's universities and the ecosystem of research and innovation. I strongly believe that we need a very specific kind of institution of higher learning to lead us to 2047. It is not enough, in my view, to simply benchmark ourselves against the universities of the West, even though that may be a worthwhile exercise in and of itself. We need universities that will create new benchmarks, offer new strategies for generating ideas and undertaking research and harnessing them for maximum social impact. It requires an appetite for risk-taking that few of us are able to muster. Bold, risky ideas are far easier to embrace if we can come together: Breaking silos between disciplines, between academia and industry, between theoretical and practical learning, between the public and private sectors, and so on. Such collaborative and shared risk-taking is critical as the needs and aspirations of billions of Indians continue to surge, and yet opportunities remain unevenly distributed.

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