New Delhi: Give equal importance to liberal arts like science and technology

New Delhi: Liberal arts education needs to be given equal importance as science and technology, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Wednesday.

Addressing the Higher Education Summit organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here, the President said India needs to recast the courses available to meet the demands of the future. "Liberal arts education should get equal importance as science and technology. Our universities have made progress in interdisciplinary approach," he said.

"I am happy our universities have combined courses in mathematics with music and Artificial Intelligence (AI) with animal husbandry but much more work is required on this account," Kovind added. The President also called for pedagogical changes in the curriculum. "The world of tomorrow will be driven by knowledge, machine intelligence and digital pathways. To prepare ourselves for this transformation and to leverage its limitless opportunities, we have to recast our higher education with new courses and deeper research orientation. Ideation, innovation and incubation should be given primacy in our curriculum," he said.

The 15th FICCI Higher Education Summit and Exhibition 2019 at the Vigyan Bhavan here, which was also attended by Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokrhriyal 'Nishank', began on Wednesday with delegates from more than 65 countries, including regions such as Africa, CIS, Middle East and Asia, participating. The three-day event is focused on "Creative Economy Nation Building: Higher Education as the catalyst".