The Hindu Business Line : Private players in education field `inevitable'

THE low Government spending on higher education in Kerala has made it inevitable for an increased role for private players in the education sector in the State, according to some of the participants at a seminar on `Role of Private Universities in India's Economic Growth' organised by the ICFAI National College regional office and National College, Aluva.

Inaugurating the seminar, Justice (Retd) V.R. Krishna Iyer stressed the need for social justice that can be brought about through affordable quality education being made available to the common man. In this respect, he lauded the role played by ICFAI and suggested that its model of operation is worthy of emulation by others.

Prof M.V. Pylee, former Vice-Chancellor of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) in his keynote address said that the traditional universities that were once centres of excellence found it hard to perform due to lack of funds.

In this context, the private universities have an increasingly major role to play.

Outlining the global scenario in education, Prof R. Prasad, Dean, ICFAI, stressed on the relevance of private universities if India were to emerge as a knowledge superpower in the near future.

In the next 15 years, he said, India will be the only major country that will have over 55 per cent of its manpower below the age of 30 years. "This population then can either be an asset or a liability depending on how we harness their potential," he said.

According to Dr Suresh Arckatty, Consultant, Training and Placement, the path chosen by the ICFAI has yielded positive results. Mr Nandakumar Menon, Principal, also spoke on the occasion.