State has shifted higher education focus to research & innovation: Minister

Higher Education Minister R. Bindu has said that Kerala is transforming its higher education system from a teaching-centric model to one driven by research, innovation and social relevance.

Inaugurating the Kerala Higher Education Expo 2026 in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, she added that the State aspired for a knowledge society rooted in social justice, inclusive development and public good, that is distinct from profit-driven Western models. She also exhorted institutions to generate practical knowledge and solutions that directly address societal challenges.

The expo is part of the National Research Conference that got underway at the Government College for Women here under the aegis of the Higher Education Department and the Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC).

Emphasising the role of research, Dr. Bindu said higher education institutions should focus on developing products, processes and services beneficial to key sectors such as agriculture, health, industry and environmental protection. The research outcomes, she added, must improve the quality of life of people in Kerala.

According to the Minister, the government has identified research and development as a foundational pillar of higher education reforms and long-term socio-economic transformation. Over the past decade, especially in the last five years, Kerala has undertaken a paradigmatic shift by placing research, innovation and knowledge translation at the core of higher education.

She also stressed that sustained public investment has been made in research infrastructure and human capital through inter-university Centres of Excellence, RUSA-supported infrastructure projects and laboratory modernisation programmes. Besides, research talent has been strengthened through schemes such as the Chief Minister’s Nava Kerala Postdoctoral Fellowship and Kairali Research Awards.

Five translational research centres are also being set up across university campuses to convert basic research into applications in healthcare, agriculture, environmental sustainability and emerging technologies.

Kuvempu University Vice Chancellor Sharath Ananthamurthy, who was the guest of honour, called for a fundamental rethinking of knowledge production in higher education, and stressed that learning must serve social justice rather than corporate monopolies.

Reflecting on the transformation of education since the post-General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATT) era, Prof. Ananthamurthy said that the global shift towards knowledge societies had often resulted in the corporatisation of learning. Knowledge production increasingly became a tool for a few powerful entities to convert ideas into monopolised products, and thereby, distancing education from its social purpose, he pointed out.

Presiding over the inaugural session, KSHEC Vice Chairperson Rajan Gurukkal, called for a “methodological revolution” in State laboratories. Research, he opined, must move beyond academic output to impact-oriented translation.

Principal Secretary (Higher Education) Sharmila Mary Joseph, KSHEC Member Secretary Rajan Varughese, Director of Technical Education Jayaprakash P., Government College for Women Principal Umajyothi V. and KSHEC Registrar Beenarani G.S. also spoke on the occasion.