Amidst the raging row over the autonomy of AIIMS and the reservation issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday promised to ensure the autonomy of the country's science and technology institutions while widening access to quality education for all sections of society.
"We will de-bureaucratise science and technology institutions and ensure their academic autonomy," he said at a function to lay the foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research.
"We will create exciting career opportunities for scientists so that we can retain our talent at home," he said. "Our government is committed both to excellence and to widening of access to education, especially higher education and research."
Singh said his government would commit adequate resources for a massive expansion of the higher education system to enable all sections of society to fulfill their aspirations. This expansion has become more pressing because "we cannot continue to claim to be a rising knowledge power if less than eight per cent of our college-going age group is enrolled in the college system," Singh said. Observing that the "deteriorating" health of universities over the past two decades had "hobbled" the scientific research base, the prime minister urged state governments to take steps to revitalise the university
"Reconstruction of our university system must be a top priority and it has to be addressed comprehensively, not in a piece-meal fashion," Singh said.
Besides rebuilding the science base in universities to create synergy between new initiatives in science and technology and the university system, the government will also promote public-private partnerships to increase funding for frontier areas of scientific and technological research.
"I believe that where there is good science, good applications follow. Therefore, it is meaningless to debate what our priority should be -- basic or applied science. I think both," Singh said. Observing that the emerging knowledge society would require graduates with basic training in mathematics, science and engineering, he said, "We are committed to building the science base in universities to create synergy between new initiatives in science and technology and our university system."
Quoting a NCAER study that less than three per cent of schoolchildren wanted to pursue a career in science, he said steps must be taken to improve the quality of teaching and increase enrolment of students in science and mathematics at the school level. Pointing out that the Rand Corporation has ranked India among the 24 scientifically proficient nations and not among the 22 scientifically advanced ones, Singh said, "We must ask ourselves how we can move from the proficient category to the rank of scientifically advanced nations."
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