Kerala - Kochi

Two-track education system mooted

Thanu Padmanabhan

KOCHI: Thanu Padmanabhan, internationally renowned cosmologist, has recommended a two-track educational system in the country where the “top one per cent will be given a different way of going through the science courses”.

In an exclusive interview to The Hindu here on Wednesday, Prof. Padmanabhan, Padmasree awardee and Dean of Core Academic programmes at Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), said the country does not have an educational system in place that caters to the top one per cent of students.

“The top one per cent has to be treated as very special. But we do not have a scheme for that,” he said.

Terming the issue of lack of interest in basic science programmes among students as a multi-dimensional aspect, Prof. Padmanabhan said the current educational system does not cater to the bright students.

“If you take our B.Sc and M.Sc programmes, it caters to the average and slightly above average students. But it does not grasp the imagination of the A Plus Plus students. This is a small fraction. But this is the fraction that is eventually going to get us a Nobel Prize,” he said.

Referring to the example of a music academy to supplement his viewpoint, Prof. Padmanabhan said that not all the students in the academy become an M.S. Subbulakshmi.

The legendary M.S. Subbulakshmi cannot be produced by training an average person. But music academies have a role to play. They will definitely take certain kind of people and increase their technical skills so that they can perform at that level. Similarly, B.Sc and M.Sc programmes are for the 90 per cent of the students,” he said.

Stating that bright students do not opt for B.Sc programmes as they think that such programmes do not cater to them, Prof. Padmanabhan said, “All of us have the responsibility to transmit the excitement of doing pure sciences to the next generation.

“The present generation lacks role models. When I was studying in school, we had iconic models like Homi J. Bhabha. We felt that we should also be like them. But, the current generation of scientists have not interacted with students in that level by writing articles and organising outreach programmes. The previous generation of scientists had done that,” he said.

Pointing out that the government is pumping so much of money in to the promotion of pure sciences, Prof. Padmanabhan said it is not publicised properly.

“Information that there is a lot of scope for pure sciences is not reaching parents or students,” he said.

Explaining that astronomy is going to be a major growth area in the next 10 years in the country, Prof. Padmanabhan said the amount of money the government is spending on astronomy-related sciences is so huge that issues like unemployment (in the field) are not real.

“People will get employment (in astronomy), as much as in any other area. Even if you study engineering, it is not guaranteed that you might get the best employment,” he said.

Explaining that the IUCAA has made a tremendous impact across the globe in research in the field of astronomy and astrophysics, Prof. Padmanabhan said the scientists in the institute are working with the best groups in the world.

“We are leading from the front in cosmology research,” he said.

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