When it comes to science, India is way behindso much so that the country's prime minister has called for an overhaul in the way science is taught in schools, the Times of India reports.
"Science is merely taught as a normal subjects just like languages where in transmission of black and white information is central in teaching...
the biggest lacuna has been the way science is taught as a subject in our schools and colleges," Dr. Tariq Ali writes in an op-ed in the Times of India.
"This has severely dented the efforts of inculcating scientific temperament and attitude among the school and college going students which in the long run has negatively impacted our country in becoming an innovation hub."
Among the problems, per Ali: "The maximum emphasis is still being given to the theoretical part of the curriculum and hardly get an opportunity to nurture their curiosity-driven scientific attitude."
India, he writes, is among the highest in the world when it comes to patent filing, but only 28% of higher education institutions in the country actually participate in high-quality research.
"This indicates that 99% of Higher Education Institutions are not contributing to the creation of high quality science and technology knowledge," Ali writes.
India spends just 0.6% of its GDP on science and technology,
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