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| Tuesday, Novemer 27, 2007
Higher education for all is Government’s aim: Ponmudy
“A few deemed varsities indulging in commercialisation
of higher education”
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu is committed to ensuring that all sections,
especially the rural masses and the downtrodden, gain access
to higher education, Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy said
on Monday.
The State had taken steps — such as the shift system in
government colleges and free bus passes — to enhance the
quality and quantity of higher education, he said, inaugurating
the 82nd annual meeting of the Association of Indian Universities,
hosted by Anna University-Chennai.
A few deemed universities were indulging in rampant commercialisation
of higher education, which needed to be curbed if the higher
education system was to produce scholars of international calibre,
Mr. Ponmudy said. That was one of the reasons for the government
to moot a proposal to bring all universities under a common
administrative set- up through the Common University Act.
The higher education system had to gear up to meet the demands
of the supply chain that was creating more jobs, despite the
lack of quality manpower, Dayanand, Dongaonkar, secretary general
of the association, said.
The updating of the higher education system was a continuous
process, and the universities should be aware of this responsibility,
Y.C. Simhadri, president of the association, said.
Anna University had a mission to bridge the gap between rural
and urban students in access to higher technical education,
Vice-Chancellor D. Viswanathan said.
Despite encouraging statistics on the quantitative aspects of
higher education, “the picture is not entirely rosy.”
“The statistics is almost entirely the contribution of
certain pockets of excellence. In proportion to the size of
the population, these educated youths constitute only a meagre
percentage. It is a moment of introspection, for the system
must look within, and not outside, for solutions,” he
said.
A major cause of concern about higher education in India was
its regulatory system, Lakshmi Narayanan, chairman, National
Association of Software and Service Companies and vice-chairman
of Cognizant, said in his keynote address. It was time the country’s
academic leaders evolved a new self-regulatory regime in which
maintenance of standards rested with academicians. While government
bodies could set quality standards, enforcement should remain
with the governing bodies of universities/autonomous colleges.
Foreign varsities
There was also a need to deliberate on allowing established
foreign universities to open campuses in India as a means of
globalising talent, he said.
Courtesy: The Hindu
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