India needs a world class higher education system: Vice President

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : The Vice President of India M . Venkaiah Naidu on April 22, 2019, said that a world-class higher education system was the need of the hour. Addressing students and faculty members of REVA University after inaugurating the State-of-the-art Architecture Block on its  campus at Bengaluru, he said that India’s quest for development would remain unfulfilled if we fail to create opportunities for quality higher education till the last mile.

Pointing out that concerns have been raised over the imbalance between excellence and inclusion, the Vice President called for revamping of higher education system to make it more equitable and inclusive.

Naidu said that we have tremendous talent and we cannot afford to let this talent lie dormant due to lack of avenues for quality education, especially higher education and skill training. He called for putting vulnerable sections of the population, the women, the differently-abled and the economically weak at the center of the strategy to expand higher education. Observing that rapid industrialization and economic growth would create opportunities for around 250 million skilled workforces by 2030, Naidu asserted that India would emerge as the global supplier of skilled manpower in the coming years.

The Vice President said that despite the progress made from the time of Independence, higher education system in India still suffers from a number of lacunae ranging from inadequate enrolment to quality issues to lack of equity and insufficient infrastructure. Observing that research was the cornerstone of higher education systems world over, the Vice President called upon institutions of high learning to create an environment for students to be innovative and creative, according to a PIB release.