Brilliant Higher Education Initiative: Namo- Prakash Fellowships

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 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mt._Nanda_Devi.jpg





This note comments on a new higher education initiative in India, Pradhan Mantri Research Fellowships, which will be administered at IITs and other excellent institutes of higher Education in India as reported in the daily newspaper Times of India today.  As a deep IITian this author is certain that students will not call it by that name or PMRF and make up their own friendlier nick name for it. May I propose one here, Namo Prakash Fellowships since this proposal appears to be result of the Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and his brilliant education minister the Right Honourable Shri Prakash Javedkar.

At the route of success of nations through human history has been the existence of higher education institutions of excellence. Thus while it were the Buddhist Universities led by Nalanda in India during its golden age, it has been Universities of Oxford and Cambridge during the British Empire and presently the Ivy league universities of USA. While Nalanda was sacked and burnt to the ground by barbarian invaders centuries ago and India entered the dark ages, there is absolutely no reason why it has to remain there. As the home ground of lights of humanity such as Buddha and Gandhi, It must once again return to its position of dominant influence in the world in modern times.  At the root of this return shall be the presence of Universities of Excellence that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best in the world.

But how does one create excellent universities? As an author of a book on the topic, it can be concluded that the factors that go to make an institution of higher learning excellent can be classified as three,

Resources
Policy
Faculty

Resources include things like adequate land at suitable locations and budgetary support, policy includes things like admission procedure, governance models and a huge number of other major and minor things mentioned in the author’s book on the topic. The prevalence of right human values is essentials but their promotion is included in policy here although it is important enough to have been mentioned as a separate fourth pillar. Last is faculty since the quality of faculty is central to excellence of universities. They are the ones who design and implement policy; share in the administrations of it besides conduct research and teaching in their areas of specialisation.

While the first two pillars of excellence as mentioned here, resources and policy can be acquired fairly quickly by any nation with the right wisdom and will, the last is not so easy. One cannot conjure faculty of good quality in a day. Decades ago, when the IITs were created in India, they managed to gather faculty for it by offering attractive incentives to Indians abroad as well as requesting leading nations of the world to contribute some of their own. However, India has grown since then and that route is not easy now. Moreover a home grown breed of faculty that controls the IITs now have installed various invisible glass ceilings that make it very difficult for Foreign qualified faculty to join or continue in the IIT system. This author has personal experience of this that he faced after completing a doctoral degree abroad on a Canadian Fellowship and was compelled to leave after joining more than once because of it.

It is because of this last requirement of producing good faculty in India that the new Namo Prakash Fellowships will be hugely useful. It is generous enough to keep the best brains of India within the country. As a brilliant addition, those with Bachelor’s degrees in Engineering shall be able to apply for it. It is at this level that the best brains from IITs and NITs leave the country and once having gone it is not easy to get them back.  B. Tech. degree is completely sufficient to enter a doctoral program since those programs include course work requirements too at the master’s level. In fact this offers the enlightened policy followed in the best universities of the world for registering such students simultaneously to a masters and doctoral program the advantage of which has been explained in the author’s book.

The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and The Education Minister Shri Prakash Javedkar need to be hugely congratulated for this great initiative that brings them little political benefit but brings huge benefits to the future of the nation. Not only would this move produce good faculty for the future of the nation, it will also go a long way in improving research standards of university, a key factor contributing to their excellence. Should the honourable dignitaries require the help of an independent expert in unfolding the scheme, the voluntary and part time services of this author are always at their service.

From the author of: How to create Excellent Universities 
https://www.amazon.in/Create-Excellent-Universities-Ashok-Malhotra/dp/1479108561



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