National Research Foundation will strengthen the research ecosystem in the country
The Government proposes to set up a National Research Foundation (NRF) to strengthen the research ecosystem in the country. The NRF is envisaged as a comprehensive framework that will improve linkages between R&D, academia and industry. The proposed total outlay of the National Research Foundation is Rs 50,000 crore over a period of five years.
One of the main objectives of the NRF is to promote, develop and facilitate research in educational institutions, especially universities and colleges, where research potential is currently at a nascent stage. It is a high-impact, broad-scale, multi-investigator, multi-institution and in some cases the funding of interdisciplinary or multi-national projects in collaboration with relevant ministries, departments and other governmental and non-governmental bodies, particularly industry. will assist.
The government announced the National Education Policy, 2020 (NEP) on 29.07.2020 after a gap of 34 years. This policy envisages a transformational change in the education sector. One of the major recommendations in this regard is the promotion and maximum use of regional languages in education.
The government has taken several steps in this regard, including:
- NEET exam for medical entrance exam, which was being conducted in 11 languages, will now be conducted in 13 languages.
- JEE (Main) which was being conducted in three languages will now be conducted in 13 languages.
- Technical education in 8 regional languages in some specialized AICTE approved institutions from the academic session 2021-22 on pilot basis.
- Translation of reference materials for engineering courses in regional languages under SWAYAM platform, which has been offering online courses in subjects like Science, Engineering & Technology, Humanities and Social Sciences, Law, Management etc.
- AICTE Handbook (Approval Process Handbook 2021-22) for institutions who wish to apply for conducting programs in regional languages.
- To translate English language online courses into 11 different languages like Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Assamese, and Oriya to facilitate more number of students in rural areas “AICTE Translation Automation Artificial Intelligence Tool”.
- MoU has been signed between Haryana Government and AICTE to publish 1000 books in Hindi.
- The Student Induction Program (SIP), which is an essential part of the curriculum for first year engineering students, is now being made available in regional languages.
This information was given by the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in the Lok Sabha today.
