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Tamil Nadu
By Our Special Correspondent
Prof. Nigavekar said the Indian higher education scenario included 296 universities and 12,186 colleges, which had 8.8 million students and 500,000 teachers. These 8.8 million students represented only 6 per cent of the youth population eligible (age group 17 - 23) for higher education. While 17 per cent of the student population was in engineering, medical and other professional courses, the other 83 per cent pursued arts, science, commerce, humanities and law disciplines, "only because these were the disciplines which still remained affordable to all". The Tenth Plan had set itself a target of bringing 10 per cent of the eligible youth into the college and university system. This would mean an increase of another 15 million students. Most of them would come to humanities, arts and general disciplines. Thus, even while placing importance on producing quality engineering and technology graduates, the policymakers and industry leaders could not ignore the aspect of ensuring equity, the UGC Chairman said addressing a seminar on higher education, organised here by the Confederation of Indian Industry. Pointing to the fundamental role of education in economic growth, he said that in the context of the emerging knowledge-based economy, what the country needed was a large body of knowledge workers to work in areas such as IT-enabled services. Realising these issues, the Commission had directed the universities/ colleges to offer courses through which undergraduates could simultaneously undergo a certificate or diploma programme to earn specific skills even within general humanities, sciences and arts disciplines. The Chairman, All-India Council for Technical Education, R. Natarajan, said that while educational quality had to be improved, the debate was on the strategy — whether to create islands of excellence or raise the overall standards slightly. But if all institutions had a uniform quality, excellence would not be relevant. But to improve quality, there should be a demand for quality from all stakeholders. A former Deputy Chairman of Tata Consultancy, F.C. Kohli, explained a prototype being developed in Maharashtra to improve the standards of three colleges to the level of IITs, with the involvement of industry and banks' involvement. He said India required to use this model to improve 50 - 60 top class colleges to the levels of IITs to meet the demands of the new economy. The chairman, CII's national committee on higher education, S. Mahalingam, and the industrialist, T. Kannan, wanted academic and educational planners to understand the requirements of industry, so that the curriculum could keep pace with scientific and economic changes.
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