Falling standard of higher education is alarming: President

President Pranab Mukherjee today expressed concern over the falling standard of higher education in the country even though he said the proliferation of private sector has led to greater access.
"Some private institutions have ably complimented the efforts of the public sector institutions in meeting the high demand for the tertiary education of our society" Mukherjee said after inaugurating the Shiv Nadar University here.
He added that private institutions account for about 60 per cent of students enrolled in higher education.
Stating that there were only 20 universities in 1950, Mukherjee said today there are 712 universities in the country and the number of colleges has increased from 500 to more than 36,000.

"Though (private sector) proliferation has led to greater access, its negative fallout on the standards is alarming. Its declining quality for standard, particularly in the areas of higher learning...
"... If not reversed quickly, we will land ourselves in a scenario of having a large number of people with degrees but not enough manpower with proficiency to meet the emerging requirement of our industrial and other sectors," Mukherjee said.

The President said that it was essential to establish
linkages between innovation and the market. Future Universities must establish strong linkages with various stakeholders in society, he added.
An important necessity of modern Universities is to have a chain of inspired teachers who can ignite the minds of students and encourage them to think out-of-the box, Mukherjee said.

"Young boys and girls should be encouraged to have problem-solving minds to enable them to solve problems through their ingenuity," the President further said.
He said that since 2014, the Festival of Innovations (FOIN) is being held in Rashtrapati Bhavan adding that there he has seen how a large number of persons from obscure places and remote villages have tried to solve the problems of society through innovation.
Haryana Education Minister Rambilas Sharma said knowledge, innovation and responsibility have been Indian patents since ancient times.
"Knowledge is not only our past, but is our future," he said. Haryana Governor Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki was also present at the event.