Education system in India should be totally autonomous: Narayana Murthy

New Delhi : Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy has said schools and colleges in India need to be made autonomous to ensure students can think “independently” and find scientific solutions to the country’s problems.

“…children have to be encouraged and equipped to become contributors to solving huge problems that confront us every day. India probably has more problems facing its citizens than any other country in the world,” Murthy said while delivering the first Professor MGK Menon Memorial Lecture last evening.

He added that the huge population base puts a “big burden” to provide children with basic education, healthcare, nutrition and shelter. Murthy cited examples like India placed lower than most South Asian countries and African states in public health and ranking around 130 on the HDI (human development index) among 193 nations for the last five years.

“I believe that we can find appropriate solutions to our problems if we educate our children and youth to think independently to find scientific and technological solutions to our problems,” he said. Murthy added that bureaucracy also needs to be much more responsive while schooling and college systems have to be made “totally autonomous”.

He regretted that there is no attempt by the present education system to assess whether the students passing out have acquired skills and independent mindset to recognise problems on a “proactive basis” and solve problems they see around. Murthy asserted that teachers also need to be trained on various subjects to enhance the effectiveness of these steps.