India's Knowledge Supremacy (The New Dawn)

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About the Book This book deep dives into the shifts in higher education that India has faced since ancient times. Ancient universities, Takshashila and Nalanda attracted students from all around the world and nurtured them to be the brightest. But fate had a different path for the rich culture. Invasions, annexation, loot and colonisation significantly changed Indian higher education. The alterations in teachings buried the original and enriched Indian educational system. India broke the shackles of the British Crown in 1947 but it continued to uphold English education.

For the last seven years, the Indian government has taken huge initiatives to fill the gaps in the education system and transform it into an excellent one. The National Education Policy brought skill development programmes and flexibility into the education system. This book encapsulates the journey of the higher education system from ancient times to the newly-emerging India.

India has blended with the modern world but at the same time has also kept its roots grounded in traditional principles. It has become the fastest-growing nation in the world and aims to boost the 'Make in India' campaign through high-quality higher education.

About the Author Dr Ashwin Fernandes is an ambassador of the quality movement in education and has advocated the need for independent evaluation mechanisms for promoting excellence. He actively advocates the use of rankings, accreditation and other QA models for various purposes, be it for students aspiring for higher education in reputed institutions across the globe or government agencies looking to have their universities compete globally or academics looking for partners focused on research initiatives.

Ashwin is regional director for Africa, Middle East, and South Asia at QS Quacquarelli Symonds - the world's largest international education network. He works closely with institutions across the regions to better understand the local context and to support the drive for excellence and capacity building.

During his professional engagement, he has met with senior leaders from the region and is often invited to speak at several conferences and events on university rankings, ratings, education, higher education etc. He has been a panellist on various discussion forums and presented his recommendations on thought provoking topics related to higher education.

Foreword India, with a rich legacy going back thousands of years, has always laid emphasis on education and scholarship. Nalanda, established in the fourth century BCE, was an ancient centre of higher learning from 427 BCE to 1197 CE. By the seventh century CE, the university boasted of 3,000 teachers and 10,000 students from countries like China, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Persia and Turkey, who had come to learn Buddhist studies, fine arts, medicine, astronomy, politics, and the art of war. Hiuen Tsang, the famous monk, scholar and traveller from China, visited Nalanda at that time to study and teach for five years. Tragically, a great fire wiped out the library which housed over 9 million manuscripts at the beginning of the 12th century. Over time, the glorious past of the country faded away due to several invasions which changed the very course of education. In the 16th century, the East India Company came to India primarily for business, but it ended up establishing a British empire in India. As the supremacy of the British in India increased, education in general was neglected. Macaulay's Minute of 1835 clearly stated the intentions of the British, wherein he mentioned that the purpose of education was to 'form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect.

Preface It was 24 September 2014; I was based in Singapore. I clearly remember the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on national television: 'Aaj MOM ka Mangal ke saath milan ho gaya. Aaj Mangal ko MOM mil gayi. Loosely translated to, "Today MOM has met Mars. Today Mars has got a MOM. What may seem like a simple play on words was indeed a historic moment for India. We had successfully reached Planet Mars in a maiden attempt through the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM). What was more astounding is that the total cost of the mission was just under 4.5 billion rupees ($74m; £45m), which makes it one of the most cost- efficient interplanetary space missions ever.