Udupi, March 15: Vice-Chancellor of Mangalore University K.M. Kaveriappa said on Friday that it was necessary to increase access to higher education in the country. He was presiding over the inaugural of the 15th national conference of Indian Colleges Forum here

Prof. Kaveriappa said that access for students to higher education in the country stood at 9 per cent compared with the world average of 23 per cent.

If the higher education sector continued to grow at the present pace, it would require 60 years to reach the world average, he said.

Though Japan has a population of 13 crore, it has over 600 universities. The U.S. has a population of 28 crore but it has over 1,200 universities. In contrast, India with 100 crore population has only 400 universities and 20,000 colleges, he said. Only 20 per cent of students in the country took to professional education. People in 350 backward districts of the country had no access to higher education.

All this made it necessary to increase access to higher education to students in the 15 to 23 year age group, which constituted 35 per cent of total population of India. “The young population of the country should be made resourceful,” he said.

Inaugurating the conference, the former Vice-Chancellor of Mangalore University M.I. Savadatti said the present day education was not available at affordable price.

The education system is neither teacher-oriented nor learning-oriented, it is examination-oriented. It is necessary to provide value-based education so that a good work culture could develop and help in the growth of the economy. “College principals should take up leadership in this regard and lead by example,” he said.

Hindu