Kolkata : Education is a collaborative exercise said, the Minister of HRD, Shri Kapil Sibal in the Higher Education Conclave organized by Indian Chamber of Commerce on Monday 2nd April 2012.

It is not the responsibility of the Central and the State Government to implement quality education in the country. Neither the industry will take the responsibility of a value-based education. Education sector has to be looked upon holistically. It has to be aligned with Nation-building.

Moreover Sibal said about demographic dividend which is getting reduced due to the lack of quality education in the country. Sibal told that MHRD had introduced 14 legislations in the Parliament which are all pending for approval. According to him, the political system of India is paralyzing the growth of India in the educational arena. He said, ” We are not working collaboratively for the betterment of education sector of the country. Every time we are putting the responsibility on the shoulders of the Government but it is neither the responsibility of the government nor the industry. it is the responsibility of every citizen, teachers and educational institutes in the country.”
He also said that Education is the national mission to empower the youth and to do that we have to give access to knowledge for the youth of the country. Also he stressed upon the need to be flexible for educational institutes in designing curriculum so that every child has the option to choose his or her discipline based upon his or her own interest.”Unfortunately the University system does not provide the same for which there is a gap in the Higher education scenario in India,” said Sibal.
Moreover he said that Universities have become mere affiliation bodies rather than emphasizing more on research and development. He also told that administrative level of higher education institutes should focus on collaborative thinking process and academic council should stop focusing on vested interests of few people.
” A major reform is needed in maintaining uniformity on Higher Education as well as in the administrative level of higher educational institutes,” said Sibal.

Also he stressed on the National Knowledge Network where 604 universities are connected with each other with 31000 colleges where the intellectual resources of these universities can be shared among the students of various colleges. A Professor of a particular college in this network can teach students of different colleges in different areas on a particular course and by attending the course a student can get credit in University examinations. Apart from this he stressed upon the National Vocational Education Qualification Framework where a student can register from Class 9 in different vocational courses like tourism, hospitality, telecommunication, Infrastructure and many other courses so that he has option to choose his career between academies and skill development.

He also stressed upon NCHER and NAAC bill which would revolutionize the educational sector of India and said that the world would need one-third of its workforce from India by 2030. Heritage Group of Institutions was one of the Co-sponsors of this event.