| | 8 JUNE 2021HIGHERReviewIN MY VIEWLAYING THE RIGHT FOUNDATION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION"There is no substitute for hard work". This profound statement is attributed alter-nately to Thomas Alva Edison and James J. Hill. If this statement was uttered by the British mathematician and astronomer Fred Hoyle (of Fred Hoyle-Jayant Narlikar theory of Gravity fame), he would have modified it like this: "There is no substitute for hard work put in for the furtherance of the intelligence". Well, this is my conjecture. Fred Hoyle (1915-2001) was a firm believer in the Intelligent Universe. To put it loosely, he believed, as outlined in his book, "The Intelli-gent Universe", that the purpose of life is not to procreate. But to preserve and expand the intelligence of every indi-vidual and that of the universe as a whole.In that sense, we, the humans, are the chosen ones. Ev-ery indicator tells us that humans have profoundly contrib-uted towards the sustenance and expansion of intelligence. And to continue to do this, Higher Education is an import-ant requirement. This brings us to the topic of the day: Lay-ing the right foundation for higher education. In my view, the hidden part in this title is the second half, which says, "for the furtherance of global intelligence".Higher education is the third level of education which one starts acquiring after successfully completing the sec-ondary (and obviously also the Primary) education in the schools. Universities impart this higher education because, the higher education gained from the universities has po-tential to make you universally knowledgeable (read intelli-gent) and competitive. Individuals and nations, both are striving to improve the performance and quality of higher education. At an in-dividual level, the higher education prepares the student for the better job market dynamics at the base level. But that is not all. Higher education aids in personal development, one can go much deeper into a subject of one's liking and dis-cover something new, thinking skills are developed, social status is enhanced and there are many more such benefits.Nations put much emphasis on higher education for the all-round development of the society. India is no exception. In the New Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020), some of the points outlined in higher education are:"Quality higher education must aim to develop good, thoughtful, well-rounded, and creative individuals. It must enable an individual to study one or more specialized areas of interest at a deep level, and also develop character, ethi-cal and Constitutional values, intellectual curiosity, scien-tific temper, creativity, spirit of service, and 21st century capabilities across a range of disciplines including sciences, social sciences, arts, humanities, languages, as well as pro-fessional, technical, and vocational subjects..."By Kashyap Mankad, Founding Member & Technical Director, Saras-3D, IncKashyap Mankad,Founding Member & Technical Director
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