CB Bureau Setting the foundation stone of the campus of IIT
Patna at Bihta, on April 19, Union Minister for Human Resources Development
Kapil Sibal said political parties, civil society and media must reach a
consensus for formulation of policies to take forward higher education in the
country.
‘Our country cannot make progress without providing
education to its youths, particularly at the university level, and for this
political parties, civil society and the media need to rise beyond “politicsâ€
for formulation of the national higher education policy,’ Sibal asserted.
Sibal also pointed out that the gross enrolment ratio
(GER) in the universities across India stood at 14 per cent, as against a
minimum of 50 per cent GER in the developed countries. He reminded that
improvement in the GER would be directly connected to producing intellectual
property and generating real wealth.
It emerges that the country needs 40,000 to 45,000
colleges in 2020, as against about 26,000 colleges at present, and 1,000
universities by 2020 as against the approximately 700 universities at present ”
if it wants to treble the GER from the present figure of 15 million to 45
million by that period.
Stating that it was not possible for the Centre to
fund the required infrastructure for higher education given the resources at
its disposal, Sibal advocated public-private partnership in this sector. An
area of concern is the shortage of teaching staff in the universities and
colleges. Sibal suggested that the varsities run post-graduate and doctoral
courses to produce teachers.
Sibal informed that the HRD ministry had created a
National Knowledge Network (NKN) to directly address the issue of lack of quality
education in certain universities and colleges in the country. All colleges and
universities in the country will be online under the scheme, and as part of the
network, students of a particular university can attend classes in another
university or college on the internet.
It would be a boon for teachers and students as it
would add value to their respective pursuits, Sibal said.
Special
residential schools mooted
A day earlier, chairing the first Round Table
Conference on Educational Development of Women, SCs/STs & People with
Disabilities, Sibal had said that there was need to develop a special national
plan for the skill development of people with disabilities. He said a special
plan would help afford greater opportunity to disabled persons.
The minister said that special residential schools and
colleges for the disadvantaged should be set up to ensure better access and
quality for them. He asked the HRD ministry’s school and higher education
departments to help formulate a public-private partnership-based model for the
same to ensure its sustainability.
Dr Mithu Alur, who is founder-chairperson of ADAPT
(formerly Spastics Society of India) and is also working on a pilot project to
map disabled children in and out of schools, said the first surveys have shown
that several disabled children are there with and without schooling, and that
schools are seldom well-equipped to address their needs.
For a more comprehensive data on school education, it
has also been decided to do an exhaustive mapping of schools in the country. In
the current system, District Information of School Education (DISE) undertakes
an annual survey of education, which is the basis for preparing the educational
development index in India.