File photo of Union minister Smriti Irani.
Union minister Smriti Irani today said that the Human Resources Development (HRD) ministry was known for "political friction" for long, but it will now be known for "political consensus".
Speaking at an interaction during the Hindustan Times Summit, Ms Irani said that many global ranking bodies did not take into consideration the uniqueness of Indian institutions like classical Tamil institution, which is the reason they do not figure in the top ranks.
"The first day I joined office, I told people in my office that for too long this office was known for political compulsions, for political friction....Now this office will be known for political consensus and for resonance of people's will," she said.
The new education policy will also reflect this consensus as the views of people across the country have been sort by the ministry, she said.
During a meeting with the representatives of a global ranking body, Ms Irani had told them that India has a classical Tamil institution here but it does not figure in their rankings, she said at the Summit.
Because that particular institute studies a language that may not be of much use in England, it is very important to our country, she added.
Asked about the edge that students with private English medium schooling have in the country, she said that children in tribal areas studying in Navodaya Vidyalayas were doing better in many areas than others.
The minister said that it is correct that there is a "language bias".
"If there was no language bias, I would not have to struggle so hard for Sanskrit," she added.
Ms Irani said while we are not isolating ourselves by looking only at our national rankings, we are also telling foreign agencies about the uniqueness of our institutions.
Hoping that the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) would be out by April, she said that not all foreign rankings are universally-accepted and often they are disputed.
IITs may not be getting that much celebratory recognition across the world, but some remarkable research in areas flexible electronics, affordable bomb detection, drones and other areas is happening there, she said.
The Union minister also said that the government is trying to propagate skill training from the school level. She said that NCERT is working on developing a prototype of an aptitude test.
It is in the pilot stage right now, which can inform the parents and the education system what the aptitude of the child is and for which skill, she added.
Ms Irani said that the ministry is working in increasing the industry interface with students. She said the industry interface should not be limited to engineering division but also humanities sector.
Speaking about the New Education Policy (NEP) that her ministry is working on, Ms Irani said that views of people across the countries including from thousands of villages.
She also said that under the recently-launched GIAN initiative hundreds of foreign academics would come and teach in government institutions in an year. She said 37 state Universities have expressed interest in this initiative.
On a question related to ad-hoc teachers in Universities, she said that we need to recognise that the government cannot be selective and has to depend on academic leaders in Universities in such matters.
She said the government is willing to provide support in such matters.
She also spoke on the need for attracting best talent to teaching.