Infosys founder Narayana Murthy says we should spend big money to train teachers in India

Infosys founder Narayana Murthy was present at the Infosys Prize ceremony, hosted by the Infosys Science Foundation (ISF) in Bengaluru. At the event, he handed out the Infosys Prize 2023 to six individuals for their contributions to scientific research in India. He also talked about the need to pour in more resources to train teachers, and to ensure that they are paid better.

The Infosys founder said that we should be spending USD 1 billion dollars per year to train Indian teachers and improve the Indian education system.

Narayana Murthy on improving education system

Murthy, as per IANS, said that we need to create 2,500 institutions to train primary and secondary school teachers by spending USD 20 billion over the next two decades. He also talked about inviting 10,000 super successful teachers from all over the globe and India. 

He said that a way "of accelerating NEP's outcome is to invite 10,000 retired highly accomplished teachers from the developed worlds and from India in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to create 2,500 'train the teacher' colleges across India."

He then said that in this way, it will be possible to train 2,50,000 primary and secondary school teachers every year.  "These trained Indian teachers can themselves become trainers over a period of 5 years," he added. 

It is a known fact that teachers are underpaid not just in India, but in many other countries as well. Recognising the need to pay teachers better, Murthy said that we should be ensuring better pay and facilities for teachers. 

Narayana Murthy's 70 hour workweek comment

Last month, Murthy found himself embroiled in the middle of a controversy of sorts when he said that young people should be prepared to work for 70 hours per week to elevate the nation's work culture and compete effectively on the global stage. Speaking on the inaugural episode of 3one4 Capital's podcast 'The Record,' Murthy talked about the urgency of changing India's work productivity. He argued that unless India's youth commit to significantly more working hours, the country will struggle to catch up with economies that have seen remarkable progress over the past few decades.

"So, my request is that our youngsters must say, 'This is my country. I'd like to work 70 hours a week," he said and added, "This is exactly what the Germans and Japanese did after the Second World War, they made sure that every German worked extra hours for a certain number of years."

Murthy's comments didn't go down well with numerous people, who expressed their opinion on LinkedIn. While some people downright disagreed with the Infosys founder and called him out for his comments, others agreed with him to some degree and said that his statement had been twisted too much. The internet was soon divided between people who were in favour of Murthy and those who were not.