Prof Ramanujam speaks at Bhavan’s Vidya Mandir
Prof. R. Ramanujam, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai. (Photo: DC)
KOCHI: Children are not trained to ask questions and this could be one of the reasons why they cannot sustain an interest in pure sciences with the result that only a few choose such disciplines for higher studies, opined Prof. R. Ramanujam of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, on Friday.
Talking to Deccan Chronicle at Bhavan’s Vidya Mandir, Elamakkara here, where he came to have an interaction with students, Prof. Ramanujam pointed out that contrary to the perception of the general public, a top mathematics degree coupled with computational skills could get you highly-paid jobs even in sectors like finance and stock market apart from engineering industries and laboratories.
“The success of Mangalyaan has brought about lot of excitement among the youngsters and this can help the cause of pure sciences. But the downside is that we don’t have enough educational institutions offering quality education in pure sciences,” he said.
According to him, the absence of quality teachers continued to be a dampener for higher education in the country. “Unless we do something drastic to improve teacher education, we are doomed in another 15 years. We need specialist teachers. If universities are not taking up the task, who will do it?,” Prof. Ramanujam, who was also a member of the Yashpal committee on higher education, said.
“We could bring some change (in teacher education) at the elementary level but still not at the higher level,” he said and also suggested more flexibility in UGC regulations to encourage BTech students to take up pure sciences like mathematics or computational biology at the PG level. Prof. Ramanujam, who did his BTech in electrical engineering and later went for a PhD in mathematics in Tata Institute of
Fundamental Research, Mumbai, wanted the universities also to offer similar flexibility to students.
( Source : dc )
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