December 18, 2025 08:55 am (IST)
Follow us:
President calls for improvement in quality of higher education in India
Kolkata, Apr 1 (IBNS): President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday inaugurated in Kolkata the Centenary Building of Asutosh College.
Governor of West Bengal Keshari Nath Tripathy, State Higher Education Minister, Partha Chatterjee, Chairman of the Governing Body of Asutosh College Saugata Roy and many other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
Addressing the gathering, the President said that the quality of higher education in the country must improve.
"The 11th Five Year Plan had made provisions for improving the quality of higher education in the country. India has over 700 Universities and around 36,000 Degree colleges. Nearly 2 crore students participate in tertiary education. Despite these numbers, internationally education rating agencies have not placed any of these institutions within the best 200 of the world. On the whole, the quality of education in the country is still low," said he.
He appealed to the management of Asutosh College to endeavor to further improve the standard of education in their highly acclaimed college.
The President said that while the population of Europe and China are ageing, India will have more than half of the working population of the world.
"This human resource can become a dividend if it is utilized properly. Otherwise it will become a liability to the country, he added. Hence, their skills need to be developed to make them employable. This is why a plan has been developed to impart skill development training to more than 50 crore population by 2022 so that they find jobs both inside and outside India," said he.
"Shri Mukherjee observed that during pre-independence era, luminaries like Sir C.V. Raman, Shri S. N. Bose, Shri J.C. Bose brought laurels to India from Calcutta University. But, after independence Dr. Hargovind Khurana, Dr. Chandrashekhar and Dr. Amartya Sen got the Nobel Prize for their achievements in foreign universities though their foundations were in India. It is therefore absolutely critical that the right environment be created for excellence in higher education in the country," he said.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Latest Headlines
Only BS-IV and above vehicles will be exempted, Supreme Court clarifies pollution order
Wed, Dec 17 2025
‘Indian manufacturing is declining’: Rahul Gandhi’s remark in Germany's BMW plant sparks row
Wed, Dec 17 2025
Urban warfare, drones, counter-terror ops: Inside India–UAE Exercise Desert Cyclone-II
Wed, Dec 17 2025
Strategic message from the seas: Indian Coast Guard ship Sarthak reaches Chabahar Port
Wed, Dec 17 2025
India summons Bangladesh High Commissioner after provocative 'seven sisters' remark
Wed, Dec 17 2025