New Delhi, Nov 5 (IANS): President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said education must deepen students' linkage with society and develop scientific temper.

Speaking here at the launch of "IMPRINT India", a joint initiative of IITs and IISC, the president said: "Knowledge is individual. We must follow a multidisciplinary approach that allows students to learn and seek knowledge holistically."

"Our institutions must impart education to students that helps expand their intellect, form their character, instill in them spirit of studies and love for the motherland."

The president said that at the altar of expansion "quality should not be sacrificed. Greater number of institutions translate into greater number of seats, enhancing access in higher education".

He said the Indian institutes have broken into the list of world's top 200 institutes for the first time.

"I compliment the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, which is ranked 147th, and the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, which got 179th rank in the US World University Rankings list of the world's top 200 institutions," the president said.