Keynote Address on

Quality Education and Excellence

in Science Research in Indian Universities
by

Shri Kapil Sibal

Hon’ble Minister for
Human Resource Development;
Science & Technology and Earth Sciences ;
Communications and Information Technology
Government of India

at the

Inaugural Function
of the

98th Indian Science Congress

on

3rd January, 2011

at
SRM University,
Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Dr. Manmohan Singh ji, Hon'ble Prime Minister of
India; Shri Surjit Singh Barnala, His Excellency Governor of
Tamil Nadu; Shri M.K.Stalin, Hon'ble Dy. Chief Minister of
Tamil Nadu; Prof. K.C. Pandey, President of the 98th Indian
Science Congress; Prof. Geetha Bali, the President-elect of
the 99th Indian Science Congress; Dr T.R.Pachamuthu,
Chancellor, SRM University; distinguished members of the
scientific and academic community, delegates from
abroad, media personnel, ladies and gentlemen!

1. Sir, I recall that you had announced at the Indian

Science Congress last year that the government had
declared the decade of 2010-2020 to be the decade of
innovation. Sir, true to your word you have followed up
on the announcement by setting up the National
Innovation Council (NIC) to prepare a road map for
the Decade of Innovation. You have enjoined the
Council to seek new ideas to promote inclusive
development. The initiative Sir is based on your
recognition that the socio-cultural context of our part
of the world is quite different from that of the Western
World despite the flux of globalization engulfing us.
Thus the approach and methodology for creating an
inclusive and sustainable innovation ecosystem has
to be essentially our own- that is Indian. Solutions for
many of our economic and developmental problems
will thus lie within our own boundaries and need to be

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 devised domestically albeit with networking and
collaborations internally as well as externally.

2. Having said this Sir, let us consider the rationale for

India's rapid sustained economic growth. This has
coincided with the expansion and rise of the middle
class which is the source of domestic demand and
provides resources for fixed capital formation. A
survey by 'The World Values' indicates that Indian
society is changing. It confirms that the values of the
Indian society are decisively moving closer to those of
the middle classes in developed countries: self
reliance, independence, entrepreneurship, hard
work, demand for quality public services such as
education and responsive government. We could
very well witness a dramatic expansion of our middle
class, from 20 percent of the population today to as
high as even 90 percent in 30 years. I would forecast
that by then India could have well over a billion people
comprising the middle class.

3. Our demographic dividend thus arises from the

emergence of a rising middle class and a younger,
more motivated population. As the country moves
towards being an affluent society, we will need to
tackle much more aggressively the problems of
structural inequities, especially on the education
front. Also our current growth is mainly based on

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 productivity gains arising from a shift in the labour
force from low to higher productivity activities, as
people have moved from farms to service firms. This
phenomenon has helped us to move from a low
income to a middle income economy. However we
have in the interim not been able to build a foundation
for a modern advanced economy. Even today, our
enterprise sector is highly fragmented; the share of
medium and large firms is very small by international
standards and the adoption of new technologies
modest, our vocationally trained workforce meagre
and access to quality tertiary education limited. To
build a durable foundation for our economy will
require a highly skilled workforce, technological up-
gradation, innovation, and ultimately new technology
development to enable us to continue the climb the
global technology ladder, as Japan and South Korea
have done in the past. We must also broaden our
skills base beyond a few centres of excellence and
foster innovation on a national scale. In short, we
need to create and enhance our competitive edge.
For this to happen, quality and merit-based education
for the entire population is a must.

4. Let us look at the higher education scenario. The

Gross Enrolment Ratio is today around a mere 15%.
Changing labour markets and demographics are
driving a “new” demand for higher education. This has

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 come mainly from two groups that traditionally were
not known to attend universities: a “rising” lower-
middle class and women. These sources will continue
to fuel the demand for higher education and will be
fighting for more places for quality education. This will
necessitate many more universities and colleges to
be opened in the years to come. Most estimates
project a minimum doubling over the next decade.

5. The supply–demand gap in higher education hitherto

has resulted in myriads of private and foreign
education providers imparting education through
conventional, distance learning and online
programmes. Their contribution is presently
estimated to be over 50%. This is welcome as the
new education providers have responded to the
unsatiated demand by increasing supply both in
terms of traditional types of study, but also via more
flexible study modes and vocationally oriented
courses. On the positive side, they are seen to be
filling a vacuum by providing access to those who
desire higher education and also training
opportunities for all those who are qualified and wish
to continue with their education and training. The new
providers are more flexible in their course offerings
and therefore are able to respond faster to the needs
of the market. Most of the providers are in the areas
which cater to human resource needs for growth

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 industries in India. This has also resulted in the rapid
growth of a number of institutions offering engineering
and management education. As a result today we
have over 3000 engineering institutions and colleges
across the country that produce aggregately nearly 5
lakh engineering graduates. While this expansion has
made engineering education accessible to a large
number of people the quality of education imparted is
a matter of concern.

6. I am informed that out of every 100 campus

candidates interviewed most reputed companies are
able to recruit only around 10 to 20, the strike rate
varies industry-wise, this when there is no dearth of
availability of jobs. Undoubtedly we need better
quality education, as also new courses, new content,
and new delivery standards. We have set out three
generic principles that any new institute of higher
education needs to embrace. First,
access…providing access to educational
opportunities to all who desire and need it; second,
affordability…making education a reality by reducing
financial barriers; and third, building quality and
accountability to ensure that what is taught is relevant
and at global levels, delivering good value for money.
This is exactly what we are seeking to incorporate in
the thirty new Central Universities that we are setting
up. Our vision for these universities is that they

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 should become symbols of excellence, models of
efficiency, and examples in terms of academic
standards and university governance for other state
and deemed universities to emulate.

7. Our goal is that the Gross Enrolment in higher

education should be doubled to at least 30% by the
end of 2020, which in real terms means tripling of
enrolments in the tertiary sector from around 13
million to 40 million. This will entail massive capacity
building, both institutional as well as human. Besides
enhancing the quantum of teachers and faculty in
colleges and universities we have also to improve
their quality. We have taken several concurrent steps
to address both these aspects. We intend to put in
place an effective quality assurance system and
provide a common frame of reference for students
and others to obtain credible information on academic
quality across institutions, domestic as well as
international. The National Accreditation Regulatory
Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill, 2010
has been introduced in Parliament to provide for
mandatory accreditation and creation of an
institutional structure for the purpose. This is in
accordance with the general principle of moving from
an “inspection approval” based mechanism of
recognizing institutions to a “verification assessment”
method. We are also planning to set up a National

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 Commission for Higher Education and Research
(NCHER) for regulating higher education. We are
considering ways to set up an Education Finance
Corporation which will refinance educational loans to
students, especially from lower income families
seeking to pursue professional courses, at much
more favourable terms than available presently and
also provide not-for-profit educational institutions
access to low cost funds.

8. High quality education arises from two main factors –

firstly the quality of the infrastructure, which is greatly
dependant on investments and secondly the quality of
the faculty and teachers. Presently we have to
grapple with the acute shortage of competent
teachers. Teaching hitherto was not seen as a
primary professional choice. Although of late the
economic conditions of teachers have improved, we
are still not doing enough to further enhance their
status. Past perceptions and reservations about
teaching as a career remain. As a result teaching
talent, generally, hitherto, has been limited and not of
the standard that can produce graduates who can
compete at the global level. We thus need to focus
on improving the quality of teaching-learning
processes in our institutions of higher learning. We
have taken several initiatives in this regard. We have
set up the National Mission on Education through ICT

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 to link thousands of degree colleges and departments
within universities, with a view to facilitate teaching
resource sharing and providing access to open
educational resources. The private sector is also
contributing in this effort. A few overarching industry
associations and even private sector firms have
established alliances with academic institutions on
specific initiatives covering faculty up-gradation,
internships, curriculum revision and even for research
incubation. While all these are no doubt welcome we
are now embarking on a joint initiative of the Ministry
of Human Resource Development and Ministry of
Science & Technology for 'Building Educators for
Science Teaching (BEST)' in mission mode.

9. Sir, we recognise that technological innovations in

information and communication have already led to
the compression of the 'economic' and 'learning
space' globally. Most of the publicly funded
universities will therefore need to engineer vital
changes in the manner in which they work, in the
knowledge they generate, the type of education and
research they deliver including the manner in which
they contribute to the local, regional and global
communities and economies. These challenges
demand new conceptualizations of activities and new
approaches to teaching and research and their
delivery. In short, we need a renewal of the missions

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 and methods of existing institutions of higher
education confined not merely to new programmatic
offerings or devising different curricula, or new
pedagogical approaches, or more stringent
measures of quality assessment, or newer budgeting
models and funding formulas, but the bundling of
several of these and other fundamental elements and
processes put together.

10. Sir, I thus believe we need a new paradigm of higher

education that is developmental, and individually
centred, environmentally sound, and all-inclusive, so
as to prepare learners to be contributors to knowledge
generation and not just mere passive recipients of
knowledge. This will not only develop human capital
but also social capital that will enable our youth to
work and compete globally. This then is the challenge
for us.

11. Sir, to meet this challenge we are working on the

concept of having Navratna Universities or an Indian
Ivy League. We intend to nurture these select
universities, like the public sector Navratnas, by
generous financial support, freedom in accessing
external funding and total autonomy so as to free
them from the shackles of government control. In
regard to our existing Navratnas-the IITs and IIMs we
are according full powers to their Boards to create

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 posts within the approved norms, top up the salaries
of the Directors and Faculty from the funds generated
by them, open centres in India and abroad, amend
rules within the framework of their Memorandums of
Association and Rules, acquire and dispose property
not fully or partially funded by the Ministry of HRD,
approve their own Budget, and manage funds
generated on their own. Sir, with this autonomy we
seek to build accountability; in that the faculty, the
Director and the Board would prepare annual action
plans and monitorable key performance indicators at
each level.

12. We have also been concerned with better utilisation of

the assets of publicly funded academic institutions.
We believe these assets could be a catalyst for
developing several forms of Public Private
Partnerships. For instance the 'Laboratories' of
publicly funded institutions could be allowed to use by
the private sector under conditionality. Similarly, in
institutional buildings which remain unutilized in the
evenings, some viable activity such as vocational
training programmes could be taken up in partnership
with local firms or industry.

13. We do recognize that universities have their own

culture, nuances and sensitivities and they need to be
cautious while offering their facilities for commercial

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 use, but we now need to make a beginning. We are
thus endeavouring to introduce a Code of Conduct
initially to be adopted by the Central Universities, and
later perhaps by State Universities and others for
processes and practices to be adopted for facilitating
flexibility and autonomy in the university system. The
Code aims to bring about efficiency, transparency,
and autonomy with accountability through self
regulation. It envisages a set of standards of
accountable behaviour, both at the individual and
institutional level that can foster competence and
excellence in the university system with the minimum
of internal and/or external interference.

14. Sir, turning to research in universities, I believe that

Indian science is no more and no less than a
microcosm of our society. The norm is average with
notable exceptions. Thus while individual excellence
in research is sporadic, the goal is to raise the
average to a higher level. Sir, last year we announced
doctoral scholarships for the first ranker in any branch
of science, engineering, medical, and agricultural
technologies. I am pleased to state that around 380
rank holders have entered research streams. More
importantly about two-thirds of such rank holders are
women. This has led to a new level of excitement for
science. Sir, this gives us hope. We believe that our
future is bright.

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15. We recognise that to improve research in academia,
one needs to ensure that all stakeholders are properly
incentivised. While we have accorded researchers
and faculty some incentives we had hitherto not done
enough at the institutional level, their motivation being
only their reputation and brand image. In recognition
of this deficiency the Ministry of Science &
Technology, in 2008 launched a new initiative called
'Promotion of University Research and Scientific
Excellence' PURSE, for rewarding universities based
on research output measured in terms of the number
and citations of their scientific publications. In the first
year Sir, a total of 14 universities were provided
research incentive grants to the tune of Rs.200 crore
over a three year period. Sir, I am happy to report that
the citation frequency and H indices of all the 14
universities have significantly improved. And this year
29 new universities have joined the scheme.

16. Sir, you will be happy to learn that the share of

research publications from Indian universities,
according to global data bases, is registering healthy
growth. Last year a little less than one third of India's
scientific publications have emanated from the
university sector. This is commendable because
India's growth rate in scientific publications averages
around 12% per annum, during the last three years,
as compared to the global growth rate of about 4%.

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 Thus our initiatives for rejuvenation of research in
universities seem to be bearing positive results.

17. Enthused by this response, Sir, we are now planning

to set up fourteen 'Innovation Universities'. These will
be unique institutions which will set benchmarks, in
academics and more importantly, in research,
comparable to the best in the world in the context of
problems of hunger, water, poverty and diseases
through cutting edge science and technology. At the
same time there will be emphasis on liberal arts and
social sciences. These Innovation Universities would
be innovative in their governance, in their financial
structure, in their academic and research structure, in
their content and in every other way.

18. Sir, you voiced concern about the knowledge and

science initiatives on climate change. I am happy to
report that the National Mission on Strategic
Knowledge for Climate Change that you have
assigned to the Ministry of Science and Technology to
coordinate is serving as a knowledge support mission
for the other seven missions under NAPCC. We are
building a vigorous virtual knowledge enterprise
through networking of individuals and institutions to
address diverse issues of climate change including
putting in place newer forms of public private
partnerships and consortia. We are confident Sir, that

13
 through national and international networking
measures we will be in a position to provide valuable
inputs for policy responses at the national and
international levels and for implementation of climate
change approaches and actions.

19. While we recognise that our scientific, technological

and entrepreneurial potential is huge; these have not
hitherto been fully utilized. We now need to
concentrate on converting our potential into reality.
To do so, we need to spearhead amongst ourselves a
movement of sharing and partnering that will create a
new value for our own people much beyond what we
can do individually. Thus, the need of the hour is for
collaboration especially in the emerging knowledge
intensive sectors where we have the opportunity to
participate as equal partners with the rest of the world.

20. The Indian health innovation eco-system is a

successful paradigm of high-technology based
industry. Indian health innovations have significantly
impacted the accessibility, availability and
affordability of life saving drugs and vaccines the
world over. Presently about two-thirds of all vaccines
procured under the UN aegis are from India. A case in
point being recent development of low-cost vaccine
for meningitis developed for use in Africa.
Recognizing that science based innovations are a
game changer, Ministry of Science & Technology is
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 spearheading the movement for supporting
innovations that have the potential to make the
greatest impact on public health challenges. Each
one of us as conscience keepers of science needs to
recognize and acknowledge our contract with society
to devote our energies and talents to finding solutions
to the pressing problems of our people.

21. What is our agenda to realize the Vision of India as an

Innovation Hot Spot? Our strategy is: First, realize
long term academia-industry collaborative
relationships with open access to and resources free
of intellectual property (IP) entanglements; Second,
put in place better integration of corporates with
higher educational and research institutions to create
a pipeline for skills that will support growth industries.
This I believe will help to reduce the training costs and
learning time not only for corporates but also help to
develop skilled human resource. Third, encourage
multidisciplinary collaboration among business,
government, academia and R&D thereby creating an
environment that supports technological
development which is aligned with and driven by
industry needs; Fourth, recognising the contribution
of young researchers to the vitality and quality of the
research system put in place more programmes for
support of young researchers; Fifth, enhance
significantly publicly funded research that reaches out
to the market by engaging corporate executives as

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 champions; Sixth, take up in collaboration with
concerned government economic Ministries the
modernisation and upgradation of technology in use
by the small and medium enterprises; Seventh,
encourage the formation of international R&D,
technology and innovation consortia between Indian
and foreign entities and last, provide tax incentives to
businesses that collaborate with academia and R&D
researchers.

22. To conclude, I wish to say that if we focus our efforts

around a clear enunciation of our goals arising from
an understanding of our needs, endowments and
competencies and all of us - government, academia,
scientific community, business, civil society and
citizens – work together to realise a merit based
accessible quality education system and excellence
in research as a mission, India will become an
innovation super power by 2030.

Thank You!

Jai Hind.

16
NOTES

17
NOTES

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