In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision not to limit big-ticket events to New Delhi, the Union Human Resource Development Ministry has opted to hold the first international summit on education in Gandhinagar, capital of Gujarat, in November. The ministers in-charge of education in 180 countries will participate in the summit.
Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, which can seat 15,000 people, has trumped Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi as the venue of the two-day Vibrant India Global Education Summit scheduled for November. Mr. Modi is likely to inaugurate the summit.
“The summit is being organised by the Ministry, but the Gujarat government is providing all infrastructure and logistical support for the event. The two-day summit will have around a dozen seminars related to various aspects of education,” a senior official from the Gujarat government told The Hindu .
ThemesDelegates at the summit will discuss themes such as the role of the private sector in providing quality education and research and development and how the government can facilitate private sector participation.
Apart from foreign delegates, experts from Central universities, institutes of higher education and excellence such as the Indian Institutes of Technology and Management and specialists from the field of research and development will participate.
“There is a growing demand to create a linkage between education and the industry. Research in academia cannot be in a vacuum, there has to be the involvement of the industry. There is a strong pitch for initiatives such as ‘Make in India’ and ‘Skills India’ and ‘Start-up India, Stand up India’ and all of those require education to keep pace with the demands of the markets. The summit will help us arrive at a road map for the future,” a Ministry official said.
RankingOn the agenda will be the issue of ranking of Indian institutes globally, the quality of research and teacher training and the need for reforms.
The idea for the education summit can be traced to the Vibrant Gujarat Investors Summit in 2013, when the Gujarat government organised a special event related to education with participation from over 20 countries. Mr. Modi, who was then the Chief Minister, stressed making the State and the country the “education and research capital of the world”.
Addressing a gathering at Pandit Deen Dayal Petroleum University, which has been set by to provide skilled manpower in the hydrocarbon and petroleum sector, Mr. Modi said: “India is probably the only country which sends teachers and scholars to the top universities in the world. This is the area where India has huge potential. In Gujarat, I have started an education university to prepare quality teachers.”
