Open Forum
New Delhi, 17 February 2011
Science Education
VITAL TO EQUIP
YOUTH
By Dhurjati Mukherjee
The Union HRD and Science and Technology Minister Kapil
Sibal made a significant announcement at the 98th Indian Science Congress held
recently. Whereby, he underscored that ‘Navratna’
Universities on the lines of US’s famous Ivy League varsities would be set
up. These would be free from the shackles of Government control and have total
autonomy. Not only that. He announced that powers are also being bestowed to
the Boards of the existing Navratnas,
IITs and IIMs, to make them world class.
Clearly, the Government has been serious about spreading
higher education in science and technology and ensuring a quantum increase in
the gross enrolment ratio which is presently a mere 15 per cent. In fact, the
Union Science and Technology Ministry is planning to create institutions that
will seek to usher in a new model for post-graduate education by drawing into
government laboratories.
The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) is
all set to open 37 laboratories for students to pursue masters and doctorate
programmes in the sciences under the Academy
of Scientific and
Innovative Research to be established soon. Undoubtedly, this is a positive
gesture to encourage students to take up higher education and research in basic
and allied sciences.
According to the CSIR Director General the Council expects
to take in around 1000 science Ph. D students, 125 engineering Ph. Ds, 1000
masters and 100 M. Tech. students through a combination of research and lessons.
Wherein, the students while studying would also get to work on real-world
research problems. For instance, students who join CSIR’s Central Electronics
Engineering Research Institute, Pilani might get to work on space and satellite
projects.
Importantly, the decline in the number of Ph. D students has
been worrying the Government for quite some time as India lags far behind most
countries. The numbers have remained static at around 5000 Ph. Ds for science
and engineering for several years (till around 2008). Given that at one time India with 11,177 scientific papers was ahead of
China
(10,157 papers). But in 2005, China
with over 53,000 overtook India
with less than 20,000 papers.
Worse, the number of students opting for science has drastically
reduced. In 1950, students opting for science at the under-graduate level
comprised about 32 per cent. The figure now is around 16-20 per cent though
enrolment for post-graduate courses is a little higher. According to the
University Grants Commission (UGC), the dropout rate among science research
fellows qualifying the NET is also fairly high.
Realizing the imperative need to give a boost to science
education and attract more students in this field, the Scientific Advisory
Council to the Prime Minister is now expected to become a reality. While a few
new institutes of science have already been set up, some more are in the
offing.
The proposals come with hefty price tags: Rs 500 crores for
each institute and Rs 1000 crores for the National Science & Engineering
Board (NSERB), modelled on the lines of the National Science Foundation (NSF)
of the US,
to fund basic research in the universities. The obvious goal is to inject more
money into science, create more centres of excellence and gear up the pace and
quality of basic and applied research.
Perceptibly, the current emphasis is on basic sciences
which, over the years, have not received the attention it deserved even
compared to technical education. Recall, the National Knowledge Commission
(NKC) had recommended setting up of the National Science & Mathematics
Commission to achieve the target of making India a hub of scientific knowledge
and encourage research. .
Needless to say, there is need at this juncture to set up
more universities, to start with at least one in every State exclusively
devoted to the study of science so that more and more students get an
opportunity to get higher education in its various and emerging fields.
Research in these institutes should also be encouraged with special emphasis on
applications in areas like space research, advanced agricultural science,
meteorology, biotechnology, nanotechnology and various facets of environmental
science.
Apart from this, there is need to upgrade colleges. At least
one in every district should be taken up every year to impart courses in
specialized and emerging fields of science and technology. Even integrated
post-graduate courses in one or two disciplines could be started.
The idea behind spreading higher education in science and
technology is the need to build up a scientific community capable of
undertaking sophisticated research in specialized fields. As the country is poised
to become a super power, it is all the more imperative to achieve breakthroughs
in scientific research in unexplored fields for which education has to be
spread all over the country and motivate the young generation in this regard.
Shockingly, though our science and technology policy
advocates pubic-private partnership in research, the industry’s contribution
remains just a mere 20 per cent as compared to around 70-80 per cent in
advanced countries and 40 per cent in China. It is indeed intriguing why
the Indian private sector has been unable to contribute to science education
and research compared to their counterparts in other countries.
Except for the Tata group and one or two others in the
pharmaceutical sector, the contribution of even the market leaders in industry
towards research has been quite poor. Plainly, the private sector needs to be
encouraged to set up scholarships for research in science or at least start their
own universities with proper facilities of research.
In sum, with the demand for higher education increasing,
development of scientific education and research in sophisticated fields is vital
at this juncture if the country is to grow in a big way. True, a serious approach in this regard has
already been initiated and expected to reach the rural areas to provide science
and technology education to the masses. It is also encouraging to note that
2012-13 has been designated as the ‘Year of Science’ by the Prime Minister. But
the taste of the pudding is in its eating! ----- INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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