Educational institutions in India should grow in tune with the changing aspirations of today’s youth, says President Kovind

President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday said that India was going through a dramatic change as the aspirations of the youth were changing fast and educational institutions should conform and grow in tune with the quest for innovation and excellence.

“With the fourth industrial revolution upon us, how we live and work is changing so are the aspirations of our young people,” Kovind said while addressing the platinum jubilee celebration of Karnataka Law Society and Raja Lakahamgouda Law College in Belagavi, Karnataka.

The president also said that the Indian economy today is brimming with opportunities and the educational institutions must grow in tune with the quest for innovation and excellence.

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“We have a young, talented population and an exciting economy brimming with opportunities. In the previous quarter, our GDP grew at 8.2 per cent, which indicates our pace as well as our potential,” Kovind said.

Stressing upon the law of nature that teaches everyone discipline and orderliness, Kovind said that the law that humans write is the basis of civilisation.

“Law is not a career, it is a calling. Much more than a means to earn a livelihood, it is a mechanism to assist the cause of justice to help the poorest and most unfortunate among us, and to build a society and nation defined by adherence to rules, norms and fairness,” he said.

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Pointing out that many lawyers were part of the national movement, Kovind said Mahatma Gandhi and B R Ambedkar were “lawyers with a spirit for public service”.

Kovind also said that the government is in the process of overhauling the regulatory framework for higher education and upgrading it to meet contemporary needs. He said that graded autonomy had been granted to 60 top universities, and a decision had also been taken to promote 20 institutions of higher education as ‘institutes of eminence’ to grant them recruitment and curricula flexibility in order to reach best-in-class global standards.