Ahmedabad: There is an urgent need to
improve quality of higher education and train faculty in
institutes imparting higher education in the state, experts
said at a seminar Sunday.
The seminar on `Higher Education and Skill
Development` was jointly organised by Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the State
Education Department.
"We do face shortage of staff and faculty in the
institutes of higher education," said State Education
Department Principal Secretary, Hasmukh Adhia, adding that the
government has started recruitment to fill up the vacancies in
the educational institutes.
According to him, Gujarat, with the support of policy
framework, can become a hub of higher education in the country
as there is good infrastructure and also industry to absorb
the students from the institutes.
IIT Gandhinagar Prof S L N Murthy made a presentation
on the policy framework needed to support growth of quality
higher education and existing policy impediments that
restricts the growth.
His presentation also underlined the role of State
government to facilitate expansion of quality higher education
both in public and private institutes in the state.
Partner of Ernst & Young Pvt Ltd Amitabh Jingan and
Executive Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) Debashish
Mishra jointly made presentation on the role of private sector
in higher education and how private sector can complement the
State government`s interventions in meeting demands of higher
education and industry.
The participants deliberated on the present scenario
of higher education in the state, challenges and how it can be
improved in order to churn out skilled manpower for the
industry.
PTI
