“Our K-12 schools need to make sure our students have all the academic knowledge and skills they need to enter college or the workforce. Our higher education system needs to offer whatever advanced learning students need to be successful in a career, whether they will become a plumber, a teacher or a business executive.”
Arne Duncan, US education secretary (The Times of India, May 22)
“Some people are trying to create an impression that the state government is against English, but we are not against English, and we have made it compulsory to teach English as a language from class I.”
Karnatakas education minister Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri on the state governments decision to adhere to its policy of not allowing new English medium schools (May 27)
“The Indian Institute of Science should set itself apart by not resting on past laurels but by exploring and covering new ground.”
Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, speaking at IIScs centenary celebrations in Bangalore (May 27)
“Instead of Indian students going out for higher education at great cost, we should allow foreign universities to operate in India. We need more universities and there is need to open up.”
Naina Lal Kidwai, India head of Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (Business Standard, May 28)
“One of the biggest setbacks of our education system is that we give a lot of importance to creating separate compartments for different subjects. Unless people from different disciplines do not come together we will not be able to generate new ideas. Freedom to choose subjects and inter-disciplinary crossovers are imperative to promote innovation.”
Yash Pal, chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (The Times of India, May 28)
“When society has such a large population who are not educated, who are aggrieved, not skilled, unhealthy and unhappy, it is a threat to social stability and economic growth.”
Nazrul Khan, president of the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BBC News, May 28)