PM Modi, new Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan interact with IIT directors

New Delhi, July 8: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and newly appointed Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan met IIT directors today. The PM interacted with centrally funded technical institutions like IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur and IISc Bangalore via video conference this morning. The PM said that there is a need to adapt higher education and technical education to keep in tune with the changing environment and emerging challenges. He added that this requires the institutions to reinvent and reevaluate themselves, develop alternative and innovative models in accordance with the present and future needs of the country and society. He emphasized that our higher educational and technical institutions need to prepare our youth for continuous disruptions and changes, keeping in mind the fourth industrial revolution. Modi underlined the need to progress towards education models that are flexible, seamless, and able to provide learning opportunities as per the requirements of the learners. He said that access, affordability, equity, and quality should be the core values of such education models. The PM appreciated the improvement in the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in higher education in the past few years & emphasized that digitization of higher education can play a big role in increasing GER, and students will have easier access to good quality and affordable education. Prime Minister also lauded the various initiatives taken by the institutions to increase digitization such as that of online bachelor and master degree programmes. He added that we need to develop an ecosystem of technological education in Indian languages and translate global journals into regional languages. Modi said that ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ will form the basis of dreams and aspirations of India in the coming 25 years when we celebrate 100 years of Independence. He added that technological, R&D institutions will play a major role in the upcoming decade, which is also being called as “India’s Techade”. The PM said that we need to focus on developing futuristic solutions in fields of education, healthcare, agriculture, defense, and cyber technologies. He highlighted that it is important there is good quality infrastructure in higher educational institutions to ensure that products associated with Artificial Intelligence, smart wearables, augmented reality systems, and digital assistants reach the common man. He emphasized that we should focus on affordable, personalized, and AI-driven education. During the interaction, Prof Govindan Rangarajan of IISc Bangalore, Prof Subhasis Chaudhuri of IIT Bombay, Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi of IIT Madras, and Prof Abhay Karandikar of IIT Kanpur, gave presentations to the Prime Minister and highlighted various ongoing projects, academic work, and new research being done in the country. The Prime Minister was apprised about the Covid related research being done that encompasses developing new techniques for testing, Covid vaccine development efforts, indigenous oxygen concentrators, Oxygen generators, Cancer Cell Therapy, Modular hospitals, Hotspot prediction, Ventilators production. Efforts in the fields of Robotics, Drones, Online education, Battery technology. The Prime Minister was also informed about new academic courses, especially the online courses that are being developed, as per the changing nature of the economy and technology. New Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was also present during the virtual meeting. Dharmendra Pradhan is now the Minister of Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship.