No. of seats for higher education gone up from 1.1 lakh to 1.5 lakh since 2015: CM Arvind Kejriwal

Number of seats for higher education in Delhi has increased to 1.5 lakh from 1.1 lakh in the year 2015, said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday.

The Chief Minister said that quality higher education was one of the key pillars of the government's philosophy.

"There is no developed country in the world, which does not have a robust education system. The path for India to become a developed nation is to provide good education to our children irrespective of their socio-economic background," Kejriwal said.

The chief minister said this after laying the foundation stone of two new campuses for Ambedkar University.

Chief Minister Kejriwal further stated that the government is working towards bridging the gap between the number of students passing out from class 12 every year and the number of seats available in colleges of Delhi.

 

"When we came to power in Delhi, only 1.1 lakh seats were available in the colleges in Delhi and that has now improved to 1.5 lakh.

"A total of 2.5 lakh students pass out of Class 12 each year, so a gap still remains and many students have to drop out of education after Class 12. We need to cater to 1 lakh more students," Chief Minister said.

In order to enable the needy students get employment, we are planning for world-class skill centres and skill-based courses through which they can directly enter the job market, Kejriwal added.

The two new campuses of Ambedkar University are set to come up in Rohini and Dheerpur village. With the completion of the two new campuses, the strength of Ambedkar University is set to increase to 8000 as compared to the existing strength of 3400.

Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Higher Education Manish Sisodia said that Universities were being encouraged to focus on research, vital for governments to plan.

"Universities and governments do not just have a financial relationship. Universities have to lead the government in the right direction by providing important insights and the government has to provide leadership to universities and back them for them to flourish," said Deputy chief minister Sisodia.