India invests far less than China, US & South Korea (In science)

MUMBAI: A report by a thinktank shows that India's investment in science has lagged behind that of neighbouring China, the US and South Korea, resulting in these countries staying ahead when it comes to research.

While India invested 0.88 per cent of its GDP in science research, the US invested 7-8 per cent, and South Korea 3-4 percent.Sudheendra Kulkarni said the "tight equation between a degree certificate and education has created several distortions, both in society and in the system of education itself

"Memorization of facts and formulae has triumphed over mastery of concepts, independent and creative thinking, integrative thinking that connects understanding of different subjects, and ability to apply that understanding to solve practical problems of society.". "Theory is prioritized over application and time constraints do not allow teachers to explore all concepts, in depth. As a consequence, students are frequently exposed to many concepts but fail to understand them in depth and explore their application. India is facing two kinds of disconnect: a formal science education pedagogy in colleges that is too theory-based and is disconnected from the practical world; and a large workforce in the informal sector of the economy whose practice is disconnected from

science education.Despite a large tertiary student population, India has not been able to increase the number of PhDs in science and engineering significantly (from 54 per 10 million in 1983 to 70 in( 2004). China, which lagged India until a decade ago, now has 174 science and engineering PhDs per 10 million.

India must invest more in science as its future is linked with it, and the country would change for the better if the government and the private sector increased spending on science education, leading scientist CNR Rao said Sunday.
Rao, who is chairman of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, named for India's highest civil honour, the Bharat Ratna, for his contribution to the field of science.

"India's future is linked with science. More investments will enable the youth to look at science as an important area of work for a great future. Only countries which advanced scientifically made progress, while those who neglected it are not known," Rao told reporters a day after he was conferred the country's highest civilian award.

"It (support) is there, but not enough. We have to improve much more. If India invests in science over the next 10-20 years as much as China and South Korea do, we would be able to make up the lost time and catch up with them. We should have long-term investments in science and plan in advance," Rao said at his home-office located in the green campus of the premier Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in the city centre.

"China and South Korea are doing very well in science because their investment is very high. They want to beat America after already beating Japan. South Korea is ahead of Japan in technology and innovation. I think we should become like that. Invest more in education and science to secure the future of India," Rao noted.

Admitting that the government had not invested enough in basic education and basic science, Rao said if India has to race with China and South Korea in Asia, investment in both (education and science) should go up to six percent of the GDP (gross domestic product) annually.

"As I said, India's future is tied up with the amount of investment the government would make in the coming years, as the contribution of the private sector was only around two percent of the GDP in education and science. We have to double our investment in science to two-three percent from 1-1.5 percent of the GDP," Rao said.

Recalling that in his advisory capacity, he had done his best to further the growth of science and technology, Rao agreed that a lot more needs to be done in capacity building to meet the growing needs of over 1.2 billion people in the country.

"In the last 8-10 years, India has done a lot of good things in science. Five new institutes of science have been set up in Bhopal, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Pune and On technology overtaking science, Rao said unlike in the olden days, technology was developing faster than modern science and the time gap between research and innovation has shortened, especially in nanotechnology where research was turning into technology in a year.

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