Strengthen higher education, research quality: Rangappa

Former vice chancellor K S Rangappa, also General President, Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA), on Thursday said that the number of researchers in India is less compared to other countries. Higher education and quality of research must be strengthened for the progress of the country, he said.

He was addressing a gathering during the inaugural function of a national workshop on ‘Scientific Equipments: Application and Data Analysis in Advance Research’, organised for science faculties and researchers of different departments and colleges, by the Institution of Excellence (IoE), UoM, here.

According to Rangappa, there are only 216 researchers per million population in India, whereas it is 1,200 per million population in China.

Only 0.5% of students, who pursue higher studies, are involved in research work, he said.

Rangappa said, “The faculty members must update their knowledge. Training on latest technologies and equipment is much needed to ensure quality works. The state as well as the Union governments must conduct an experiment on producing quality research.”

He said, “The quality of research depends on resources such as skilled and trained human resources, equipment, available facility in institutions. Every institution has to provide adequate facility for research works. The UoM is not behind in resources and the faculty are capable enough to come out with quality works.”

Higher education system

Highlighting the importance of higher education and research, Rangappa said, “India is the third largest country in the world in terms of higher education system, followed by the US and China. But, we have failed to produce required number of PhDs. However, higher education is expanding in the country.”

Chancellor of Central Agricultural University and former secretary of the Department of Agriculture Research and Education S Ayyappan said, “In many cases, equipment is utilised only up to 25 to 30% of the capacity. Due to lack of training or knowledge, the services of the equipment is not being utilised fully.”

Ayyappan said, “Although there are challenges such as climatic change, in the field of agriculture, they have remained unsolved since many years. There is a need to think of resolving the issues with equipment and technology. Multi-disciplinary approach is much needed for the solution.”