“One of the major handicaps of our education system is that it has failed to equip the youth with a set of skills that would enable them to earn a decent living,” Governor of Maharashtra K. Sankaranarayanan, said on Friday.
Speaking at the 60 Founder’s Day of NIA Educational Institutions in Pollachi, the Governor said it was easy to find an engineer, doctor or management graduate, but difficult to find a plumber, carpenter or an electrician.
Universities“We have nearly 500 public and private universities in the country offering higher education and professional education, but there is not a single university to provide skill development vocational training to youth.
“Germany has at least 60 institutions exclusively for precision skill development training and it is not surprising that the country has emerged a global leader in the manufacturing sector,” Mr. Sankaranarayanan said. Talking about another major challenge, the Governor said it was to ensure food, water and energy security to 1.21 billion population of the country.
“Our institutions of science and technology and agricultural universities will have to find ways and means to produce sufficient food grains to meet the requirement of our people.
“The challenge is daunting considering the fact that the area under cultivation is declining, in addition to severe constraints on availability of water and climate change,” he said.
He urged the students, who would turn into future science and technology leaders, to play a critical role in addressing these challenges.
K. Shanmuga Sundaram, Managing Partner, Dr. Sengaliappan Hospital, was conferred with the ‘Kongu Naattu Sadhanaiyalar’ award for his contribution to the field of medicine. K. Kandhasamy and V. Sathya Shekar were conferred the Jewel of NPTC Awards 2014.
N. Mahalingam, Chairman of Sakthi Group of Companies, presided over the function.
