Arjun Singh and Oxford University Chancellor to address FICCI Higher Education Summit

The Summit will focus on Challenges and policy issues in the education sector. The Summit will be inaugurated by the Union Minister for HRD, Mr. Arjun Singh. Lord Chris Patten, Chancellor Oxford University who is leading a delegation of 50 leading UK Universities will deliver the Keynote Address. The other participating countries are USA, Canada, Singapore, Nigeria and Australia.

The Challenges are many of quantity and quality of education delivery funding, inclusivity, R&D, employability of graduates and equitable access to the benefits of international cooperation and the policy and regulatory response slow and halting, said Dr. Amit Mitra, Secretary General, FICCI while sharing the agenda of the Summit.

Dr. Mitra said, there is a desperate need to formulate a road map for the reform of the higher education sector as the industry and services sectors have already started experiencing an acute shortage of professionals trained in various disciplines of higher learning. He said, two primary surveys on entry and operational barriers in higher education and industry academia linkages have been conducted to help in identifying the barriers and solutions that can be presented to the Government.

The Conference will focus on several important issues like Higher Education: The Change Agenda, Public Higher Education: Adapting to Change; Private Higher Education: Accelerating Growth with Responsibility; Research For Knowledge Leadership; Leveraging Technology in Higher Education: Distance Education & e-Learning; Quality Assurance Mechanisms: Key Issues; Industry-Academia Partnerships in IT, Healthcare/Pharma /Biotech and Manufacturing and Promoting India as an Education Hub.

Dr. N M Kondap, Vice Chancellor, NMIMS University & Co-Chairman, FICCI Education Committee, pointed out that the issues were of quality, the need to move forward for effective industry-institution linkage, establishment of accreditation agencies by assessing the competence levels of institutions of higher education, incentivisation of faculty and joint ventures with foreign universities.