Focus of higher education has to be on basic research?

Updated on: Monday, April 11, 2011

A China Studies Centre was inaugurated at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) on Friday.

Inaugurating the centre, R. Chidambaram, chairman, Board of Governors, IIT-M, said that the focus of higher education has to be on fundamental basic research to sustain the present growth rate.

Saying the growth of science in China itself is a fascinating study, he said the confidence in youth of both countries would improve relations.

C.V. Ranganathan, former ambassador to China, said the Chinese, especially the media, looked at India as a junior partner to the United States, which was playing the old game of encircling China.

The single party (in China) has inculcated a spirit of nationalism, which has found great resonance with the younger generation.

The two countries would have to be quite clear of the intersections from West Asia to East Asia through Central, South and South East Asia to the benefit of both, he said emphasising that this would need a far better understanding of China from India's part.

M.S. Ananth, Director, IIT-M, said that humanities and social sciences were very important aspects of higher education and that was the reason the institute started offering M.A. programmes a few years ago.

Sudhir Chella Rajan, head, Humanities and Social Sciences, said the centre would carry out inter-disciplinary research on sociology, political science and technology.

Other departments in the institute could also show interest and play a role in the events of the centre.

A course in Chinese language will be introduced in the next semester, he said.

Focus of higher education has to be on basic research?

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