Bengaluru: The combination of the eloquent Dr Devi Shetty and journalist Shekhar Gupta meant Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar had to face a barrage of incisive questions, who was undoubtedly well-prepared. Javadekar, who faced his interviewers and a discerning audience with flair and a sense of humour, was part of Bengaluru’s first-ever Off the Cuff.
They started off with Javadekar making light of the political class’ supposed neglect of the English language. “I love every language and I believe, personally, that we should respect and promote all languages, English included. I can’t make it the national language, though,” he added laughingly.
He has, since he took charge of the HRD ministry, been quite vocal about his top priority: to raise the quality of higher education and build a system that encourages innovation above all else.
As he described the challenges in the education sector, which he admits exist on every front, Javadekar said, “Parents need to be taught how and what to teach their children! China equips 10 million children a year with skills, we have a lot of catching up to do on the vocational-training front,” he stated. Setting up 20 world class universities in India is part of the ambitious ministry agenda.
Ensuring that he lent a ear to opinions through the course of conversation, involving the audience at various points, he said, “Accountability is an issue. Fixing this means involving stakeholders at every level and increasing societal participation to ensure that it actually happens.”
Institutional autonomy and the right to dissent have been major talking points recently, to which he said, “Controversies can be avoided. I believe in the process of dialogue.”
The HRD ministry deals with 270 million students across India, he pointed out. “Everybody is interested in what we do. We need a system that performs better, with universities that have been given more autonomy than they have now.”
On his association with the ABVP, Javadekar said, “I was an ABVP worker and I’m not going to shy away from this. It’s not a terrorist organization! I continue to keep in touch with leaders across organizations, not just ABVP. There is always room for dissent, but national interest and the Constitution are important too,” he said.
