Edu-leaders

Professor Amartya Sen was conferred the Degree of Doctor of Literature, honoris causa, by the National University of Education Planning and Administration (NUEPA) at a ceremony held here.

Professor Sen is the Thomas W. Lamont University Professor and Professor of Economics and Philosophy, Harvard University, and the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Science. He is the second recipient of the Honorary Doctorate conferred by the NUEPA.

Speaking at the occasion, Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Human Resource Development, said that the government is committed to giving access, equipment and quality as regards education to children. He said it will not be possible to achieve inclusive growth which is central to the government policies if this commitment is not adhered to.

“In order to bridge the quality gaps in teaching, the government needs to lay down a fiber optic network for the country in two years, and also provide last mile broadband access,” he said.

Professor Sen said, “India has many achievements in the success of a relatively small group of privileged people who are well-trained in higher education. Yet our educational system remains deeply unjust. Among other bad consequences, the low coverage and low quality of school education in India extracts a heavy price in the pattern of our economic development. The Indian economy may be doing much better than before in many different ways, but India is still paying quite a heavy price for having a far less educated general labour force (as opposed to the privileged people with special education and technical skill) than, say China.”

“India has great difficulty in competing in a whole range of simple products, making which requires basic education (and an ability to follow written instruction of quality control), including elementary gadgets such as clocks and calculators, even computer hardware, in which China excels, and which were among the mainstays of the earlier East Asian Miracle,” he added.