Pune, Feb 9 : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said that education system of the country is in urgent need of both investment and reform.

"Our education system is in urgent need of both investment and reform," said Manmohan Singh, adding, "At every level of the learning pyramid, we need a modern education system for the 21st Century."

He went on to say that the country needs a system that will prepare "every one of our children for the challenges of the future, and not make them prisoners of the past."

The Prime Minister was in the city to inaugurate the Van Vihar Biodiversity Park and Reserve at Mahindra United World College of India (MUWCI) Campus.

"We need a system that is both compassionate and demanding. No child should ever feel left out for no fault of his or her. No child should nurse a grievance that his creativity has been suppressed. We need a humane, creative and forward-looking system," Manmohan Singh said.

He further said that boys and girls from modest social and economic backgrounds are passing out of "our institutions of higher learning" and writing competitive examinations to secure admission in the best institutions of the world.

"It is they who have shaped the image of brand India across the world," Manmohan Singh said.

The Prime Minister said that Indians are committed to sustainable development and the government will take up such initiatives as are required to address the challenge of carbon emissions and depleting forest cover.

"Our people have for centuries worshipped Mother Nature as their own," he said.

The bio-diversity project of the MUWCI aims to enhance the existing species of flora and fauna in the Western Ghats. The project was launched in 2006 and covers 170 acres of area, comprising the bio-diversity park and conservation reserve.

The project aims to regenerate around 250 acres of forest area and will function as a research source for colleges and institutes, MUWCI said in a statement.

MUWCI Governing Council Chairman Keshub Mahindra, Vice-Chairman of Mahindra and Mahindra M Anand Mahindra and former United Nations (UN) Under Secretary General Shashi Tharoor were also present during the occasion. (ANI)