Sansad TV Perspective: Innovation in Education

In the series Sansad TV Perspective, we bring you an analysis of the discussion featured on the insightful programme ‘Perspective’ on Sansad TV, on various important topics affecting India and also the world. This analysis will help you immensely for the IAS exam, especially the mains exam, where a well-rounded understanding of topics is a prerequisite for writing answers that fetch good marks.

In this article, we feature the discussion on the topic: Innovation in Education

Anchor: Vishal Dahiya

Participants:

1. V. Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi
2. Neeraj Sinha, Senior Advisor, NITI Aayog
3. Unnat P. Pandit, Professor, Intellectual Property Management Cell, JNU
4. Yashas Karanam, Director & COO, Bellatrix Aerospace

Context:

The word innovation enjoys supreme popularity in the 21st century and is regarded as the major component of progress. India’s futuristic steps towards sustainability are centred on the purpose of transforming the country into a global innovation hub. Quality education serves as the key element of innovation. The Ministry of Education’s innovation cell has released the third edition of Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2021.

About ARIIA (2021):

• India ranked 46th in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2021 which exemplifies the relentless efforts of the country to promote innovation.
• The time period between 2010 to 2020 has been considered as the ‘Decade of Innovation’ to showcase the innovative potential of every Indian.
• This ranking system used for the assessment of the intensity of innovation in educational institutions is an initiative of the Ministry of Education.
• The major aim is to promote innovation and entrepreneurship development among students and faculty.
• The participating institutions are classified into two categories such as technical and non-technical.

Know more about ARIIA in the linked article.

Result: ARIIA 2021

• In the technical ranking category, IIT Madras has been recognised as the Most Innovative Educational Institute in India. This is the third time that IIT Madras secured the first rank.
• IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi were positioned at the second and third ranks respectively. 
• Out of 3551 higher education institutes that are registered, 1438 institutions such as the NITs (National Institutes of Technology), IISc (Indian Institute of Science), etc. participated in the exercise.

Challenges faced:

• Low gross enrolment ratio is a major challenge in India towards the introduction of innovation in education. 
• Inadequate quality of education and infrastructure that are requisite to boost innovation.
• Lack of funds for state-run Universities.
• Faculty crunch and severe shortage of teaching staff and poor facilities.
• Outdated teaching methods.
• Decline in research standards.

Significance of Innovation in Higher Education: 

• Higher Education Institutions have a crucial responsibility to create an innovation ecosystem that would take India a step further to emerge as a global innovation hub.
• It is required for every higher education institution to develop a comprehensive and functional mechanism to convert research into innovation. The ranking system of ARIIA facilitates a healthy competitive environment among institutions to expand the purview of innovation. 
• This ecosystem would inspire young students to put forth their ideas in their formative years. 
• ARIIA will exert a large emphasis on the quality of innovation and will make an attempt to examine the influence of the innovations nationally and internationally. 

Ways Suggested for Future: 

• Many experts opined that globalizing higher education will not resolve the major crisis faced by the youth in terms of employment. 
• The generation of more employable youth with the required skills demands massive attention from the policies accompanied by the restructuring of higher education institutions. This will play a transformative role in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in the country. 
• The recommendations by experts are aspiring to welcome an education system that not only upholds the employability of the youth but it also acts as an enabler to develop and enhance the problem-solving capacities of the students. 
• The innovation in education has a far-reaching impact on human development for productivity, research and improved value chain interaction across different spheres of the economy. 
• Emerging disciplines must be inculcated in the educational institutions to make innovation a habit as education is not immune to the dynamic nature of the world with a faster pace of digital revolution. For instance, the academic curriculum of technical institutes must encourage an understanding of automation, machine intelligence, data analytics, Artificial Intelligence. This would assist the area of manufacturing with skilled labour and gear up the country to head towards Industry 4.0. 

Read more about Education Reforms in Perspective, Sansad TV.
Read more summaries of Perspective in the link.

Perspective: Innovation in Education:- Download PDF Here