President Pranab Mukherjee said on Monday that universities should not be a place for rote-memorising but an assembly of inquisitive minds.
Addressing a function, he said students should be allowed to raise important research questions and break new grounds in scientific discoveries, artistic creativity and philosophical ruminations.
The President urged all to think about the future of Indian universities as a continuation of India’s rich history and heritage of education.
“Let our universities of the future reinvent our rich past heritage of Kautuhalshala, hitherto silenced by the pedagogy of rote-memorising for test,” Mukherjee said.
A Kautuhalshala is an assembly of inquisitive minds where questions are raised.
He said let the “universities of the future” help produce the next generation of great scientists, philosophers, artists, teachers, doctors, engineers and innovators.
The President was speaking after receiving the first copy of the book ‘Future of Indian Universities: Comparative and International Perspectives’ from Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen who formally released it at the function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The book has been complied by C Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellor of OP Jindal Global University.