“The need for promoting excellence in higher education ought to become the mantra for all institutions across the country," said C. Raj Kumar, founding Vice Chancellor, O. P. Jindal Global University.
Addressing the press in Chennai on Friday, he spoke about how the National Educational Policy (NEP) of 2020 would have a profound impact on the future of higher education. On the occasion, a 10-point Growth and Reform Plan for Indian Universities to promote excellence and achieve global rankings was released by him. Among the points put forth were the need for non-profit philanthropic universities, academic freedom, institutional autonomy and building a culture of research and publications.
When asked whether a country like India could afford to merely focus on the quality of education rather than expansion, especially when a majority of Indians lacked access to higher education, he said a balance of both was necessary.
“If students and graduates of Indian universities can achieve highest levels of excellence after having gone to the United States and other parts of the world , I don’t see any reason as to why we can’t create such universities in India” he said . With regard to Tamil Nadu’s contribution, he said the State had made significant progress with early investments in primary, secondary and higher education and that the growth and development here had contributed significantly towards the IT revolution in South India.
