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President Pranab Mukherjee today emphasised the need for greater research and innovation in the education system and shared a vision for India becoming a knowledge power in the coming decade where everyone has access to quality learning.
"My vision is that India should become a knowledge power in the coming decade where every Indian is literate and has access to affordable, quality education," he said.
Inaugurating the National Education Day celebrations here and the 40th Jawaharlal Nehru National Science, Mathematics and Environment exhibition, he said innovation in science and technology could lead to development of new products and processes which could act as catalysts for growth.
"Therefore research and innovation need to play a vital role in our education system.
"Further, our drive towards education should benefit those at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid," he said.
Although several initiatives have been launched to raise the quality of education, "much more needs to be done" towards that end, Mukherjee stressed.
There is a need to promote a culture of excellence and provide quality education for all with a special focus on marginalised and disadvantaged groups.
"The thrust should also be on inclusive education with expansion, equity and excellence in education across all levels," he said, adding that there is also a need to lay special emphasis on female literacy as well as on the synergy between literacy and skill development.
"We must also focus on technology-enabled learning in all institutions across the country and empower the faculty and students to harness technology for improving the quality of education," he said.
He stressed that it was important to inculcate science and mathematics among students as these were powerful tools for investigating and understanding the problems facing the world.
Noting that innovation would determine the factor of growth in the future, he said India has dedicated the period 2010-20 as the decade of innovation and science.
