India needs to regain its global standing in education: President Pranab Mukherjee

India needs to retain the place it had during ancient times in the world education map, and for that there is a need to link education to research and improve quality of education — this was the message given by President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday to the students at Dr D Y Patil University
Abhijit Mukherjee, Pranab Mukherjee’s son, was conferred a Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by the university.
The President was in the city as a chief guest at the convocation ceremony of DPU. Degrees were awarded to students in six faculties, and 23 PhDs and 19 gold medals were awarded in the ceremony.
During his address to the students, Mukherjee said that education is the key to achieving the desired goal in life. “Ancient India had a tradition of providing world class institutes like Takshashila, Nalanda etc which dominated as the seats of excellence in education in the world for about 1800 years. Unfortunately India could not retain that position. My intention is for India to find its rightful place in the world,’ said Mukherjee. He also urged universities to improve quality of education to get better world rankings. He asked colleges to link education to research, promote interdisciplinary research, and encourage bright students to pursue research at the undergraduate level. Rajya Sabha member Sharad Pawar was conferred Doctor of Letters ‘for his contributions towards social uplift and implementing policies on agricultural education, for development of the nation’. Lok Sabha member Abhijit was honoured ‘for his immense contributions to social uplift and role in promoting corporate social responsibility.’