Infosys founder and chairman emeritus N.R. Narayana Murthy on Monday called for validation of our examination system and syllabi once in five years. This can be done by an expert committee sitting down and comparing Indian practices with the best global ones, he suggested.
Addressing a large gathering of students, research scholars, academics and the public here, he suggested that a “pay-per-performance system” be introduced in every school. He said students should also vote on the competence of teachers based on certain attributes decided by a regulatory body.
He stressed the need for setting up a governing body in each school with parents as the majority members. This committee can study the student survey and decide on the promotions and salaries of the teachers and the staff.
“I believe that education is about learning to learn. It is about extracting generic inferences out of specific instances and using them in new, unstructured situations. Education helps us to go from being good people to good citizens,” he said.
Stating that many have been calling for “democratisation of excellence” in education, Dr. Murthy said such a thing does not exist as the concept of excellence means rising above the normal. Nowhere in the world does egalitarianism have a place in the pursuit of excellence.
