The Hindu : Front Page : “Public-funded institutes vital to higher education”

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“Public-funded institutes vital to higher education”

Special Correspondent

The big challenge before the country is to expand facilities for higher education, says Jairam Ramesh

— Photo: A. Muralitharan

ENLIGHTENING VIEWS: Minister of State for Commerce, Industry and Power Jairam Ramesh lighting the traditional lamp at a function at SRM University in Kattankulathur on Thursday to mark the inauguration of The Hindu Business Line Club for academic year 2008-09. University Chancellor T.R. Pachamuthu and S.A. Bhat, Chairman and Managing Director, Indian Overseas Bank, are also in the picture.

TAMBARAM: Higher education institutes, funded by the State and managed by the private sector, are needed for the expansion of higher education in India, Minister of State for Commerce, Industry and Power Jairam Ramesh said on Thursday.

Speaking after inaugurating The Hindu Business Line Club programmes for academic year 2008-09 at SRM University at Kattankulathur, Mr. Ramesh said the whole country could replicate the Kerala model of 60 per cent of primary schools being funded by the State and managed by the private sector.

“Public funding is important to ensure quality and private management for excellence,” he said. “The big challenge before the country, which aspires to become a super power, is to expand facilities for higher education. Private institutions have an important role to play in extending higher education to the weaker sections.”

Pointing out that only 8 per cent of the college-going age group were studying in colleges and universities, Mr. Jairam Ramesh said the figure was lower among the Scheduled Castes (5 per cent), the Scheduled Tribes (1.5 per cent) and religious minorities (3.5 per cent).

He himself was a product of the Indian Institute of Technology, he said, appealing to all sections to give up the obsession with such elite institutions that had “done more to the American economy than the Indian economy.” Many private colleges and universities that admitted students from diverse backgrounds produced students who were the foundation for India’s economic transformation.

A majority of the technical institutions in India are in the four big States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. And a majority of the students in the leading private universities in Tamil Nadu are from outside the State, especially from the northern and eastern India, including Bihar and Jharkhand, where the educational system had “collapsed,” he said, hoping that private universities would soon be established in those States too.

Lauding Business Line for not being carried away by the events in the past 15 years, he said the newspaper presented a “well rounded picture of the economy, and not just information about Sensex and IT.”

“Technically sound”

S.A. Bhat, Chairman and Managing Director, Indian Overseas Bank, said a majority of the nationalised banks were thriving on the business of older generation, and there was a notion that these banks were not technically sound to cater to the needs of the youth. “I want to dispel this notion: nationalised banks today are equipped technically.” Only government banks came forward to lend loans to students for higher education.

N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, listed seven important features that characterised an institution. The first was academic curriculum and programmes, conducting of examinations, whether they were held once a year or continuous assessments.

The second was a good faculty, the institutions’ ability to attract talented people. The third feature, Mr. Ram said, was students, and the fourth, infrastructure: pleasant campus, good hostels and libraries. “Facilities at SRM University are the most impressive,” he said. And getting good placements for students was an important feature followed by its linkages with other educational institutions and the industry. Finally, vision was the most important feature for an institution to make education accessible to the youth, given that millions in India still lived below the poverty line. Education should be of quality and at the same time accessible, excellent and affordable, he said.

Chancellor T.R. Pachamuthu spoke. P. Sathyanarayanan, Vice-Chancellor, recalled the institution’s association with The Business Line Club since 2004.

K. Venugopal, Joint Editor, Business Line, proposed a vote of thanks.

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