The Hindu Business Line : `Education needs to be given industry status'

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Chennai Feb.17 Education is really a part of `infrastructure' and therefore needs to be given industry status, Mr Pramod Khera, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Aptech Ltd, has said.

Speaking at the annual convention of the Madras Management Association (MMA), Mr Khera said the existing education system in India was not adequate to handle the needs of the future.

"In the future, government funding for education will not be enough to cater to the growing 16-25 age group. We need to allow privatisation and foreign direct investment (FDI) in education," he said.

He said FDI in education would not mean that foreign universities would take over Indian universities or that campuses set up by them would be preferred over Indian campuses. "FDI will only make our premier institutes, such as IIMs and IITs, more competitive globally," he said.

He cited the example of Singapore, which in the past had invited international institutes to set up campuses in the country (through FDI as well as joint ventures). Today, Singapore has a variety of premier technical and management institutes with active tie-ups with universities across the world. "We need to promote India as a world-class yet cost-effective education centre and an alternative to the US and the UK," he said. Cross-border investments in education and frequent student exchange programmes would help make India competitive in the global market, he said.

Diversity is key

Dr M.S. Ananth, Director, IIT Madras, said more public-private partnership was needed in education. "Just like bio diversity, we need diversity in education", he said.