Eleventh Plan a knowledge investment plan: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the Eleventh Five-Year Plan was basically a knowledge investment plan and his government's effort has been to create the next big wave of investment in higher education.     

"We are one of the youngest nations in the world and according to observers, India has the potential to create over 500 million trained people by the year 2022 which is over a fourth of the global workforce," he said.     

Singh was addressing students and the faculty of the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati.     

He said the big opportunity for India will come from an education revolution "that we must undertake as our most important national endeavour".     

The government is trying to universalize quality elementary education through the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and a major expansion of secondary schooling has already begun, he said.      

"In higher education, we are building eight new IITs, seven new IIMs, 16 central universities, 14 world class universities and five new Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research," he said.    

The government is fully committed to fulfilling various plans and targets for educational development of the country.    

The Prime Minister stressed the need for facilitating creative partnerships between the public and private sectors in the field of education.