Shimla: Himachal Pradesh government is trying to push the percentage of students opting for higher education by modernising the education system in the state, Chief Minister PK Dhumal on Saturday said.
"Himachal government has elaborate plans to modernise higher education system in the state and push the percentage of students going for higher education to 50 from the present 18 percent," Dhumal said in an address at Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry at Nauni here.
The government had planned expansion of medical, engineering and other higher education infrastructure in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode and creating
opportunities through collaboration between industry, universities and research institutes, he said.
Dhumal said the aim of the state government was to excel in governance and reach out to the poorest of the poor, including SC/ST/OBC at the grass-root level and ensure that
the fruits of development percolated to these underprivileged target groups.
Underlining the need for evolving research priorities in emerging areas of development like "value addition, food processing, organic farming, carbon trading, environment,
technology, eco-friendly insect pest and disease management strategies," Dhumal said that enhanced use of e-governance would help in bringing transparency.
"To address environmental issues critical for ensuring sustainability, the land use activity and forestry education needed to be strengthened and a network of all Hill research
institutions should be created for sharing knowledge," the chief minister said in his address on "Revitalisation of Higher Education to Meet Knowledge Challenges of 21st Century".
He also emphasised the need for multi-disciplinary options and said that the phenomenal growth of knowledge in science and technology during recent years had made it
possible to address complex problems from the perspectives of different disciplines.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, October 30, 2010, 21:52