Stating that a nation cannot develop unless its people are well-educated, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday rued that only 1.25 lakh of 2.5 lakh students who clear the Class XII exam each year in Delhi get admission to colleges and universities in the Capital.
He also talked about shortage of higher education institutes in the city because of which students with 97%-98% do not get admission.
Mr. Kejriwal was speaking during inauguration of phase-II of the Indraprastha Institute of Information and Technology-Delhi (IIIT-D) campus. The IIIT-D phase-II campus comprises a new academic block, lecture hall block, faculty residence block, hostel blocks and sports block. With opening of the new campus, the total capacity of IIIT-D has now reached 3,000 students from 1,000 in 2015. Over 85% of the students at IIIT-D are from Delhi schools.
Budget on education
Mr. Kejriwal said after bringing a “revolution” in government schools, they will do the same for higher education next.
“We have doubled the budget on education, and have been expanding campuses of institutions like Delhi Technical University, Ambedkar University Delhi and III-T Delhi as much as possible,” he said.
He said higher education institutions in the city should strive to be among the top 10 institutes in the world and that his government will provide the funds required to achieve this goal. He added that his government will organise a summit inviting teaching professionals of Indian origin from across the world to discuss ways to improve the education system in Delhi. He urged the students become job creators by contributing to solving the nation’s problems and not just be jobseekers.
Talking about new campus, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said its completion in about two and a half years was a testament to the government’s commitment towards education.
