Improve quality of higher education: FICCI tells Oscar Fernandes

New Delhi: A leading business chamber Friday wrote to the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development, Oscar Fernandes, voicing concern over the steep cut-offs announced in Delhi University and the "dismal" quality of higher education in the country.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) said the high cut-offs were "an indication of the desperate situations that today's children and parents are faced with due to the dearth of quality higher education institutions in the country".

"Dismal show of quality higher education is further substantiated once again by the recent QS rating of universities across Asia, in which only IIT Mumbai features in the top 200," said the letter.

"Immediate steps should be taken by the government to initiate reforms in higher education. Its topmost priority should be to nurture the youth, make them self-reliant and employed by appropriate policies and programmes," it added.

In its first cut-off list, Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) affixed the cut-off for its B.Com (Honours) course at 100 percent for non-commerce aspirants. For B.A. Economics (Honours), the cut-off is 98.25 percent.

A majority of India's population is between 15-64 years, resulting in a substantial working population. However, in the absence of appropriate education and training, India may lose out due to a lack of skill sets to meet the industry needs, it said.

According to the letter, recent surveys conducted by FICCI have showed that about 60-65 percent of the employers were somewhat satisfied with the current engineering and general graduate skills in the country.

India's higher education system has seen immense growth since independence. However it suffers from various challenges like access, inclusion, quality, management and resource crunch, it added.

"For the higher education system to keep pace with the rapid economic, technological and societal changes, reforms in the pipeline need to be implemented on a fast track," it said.

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(Photo: IANS)