INDIA: Focus on undoing higher education wrongs

There is vast scope to undo wrongs done to higher education in India and to innovate in terms of improving studies and inclusion, said Narendra Jadhav, a newly-appointed member of the Planning Commission and outgoing Vice-chancellor of the University of Pune (UoP), writes Vishwas Kothari for The Times of India.

In an interview with the newspaper, Jadhav provided an overview of priority areas in the education portfolio, which he is to handle at the Planning Commission. "We are half-way through the implementation of the 11th Five Year Plan," he said. "While the pace of implementation leaves much scope for improvement, we have a golden chance of effecting mid-course corrections by way of the mid-term appraisal of the plan due in December."

Jadhav was positive about the commission working in tandem with the new dispensation at the Human Resource Development Ministry, which is now headed by Kapil Sibal, and the National Knowledge Commission, which has recommended a slew of reforms and initiatives for the overall improvement of higher education. A key recommendation was to split the University Grants Commission's role as a grant-giving and monitoring body.
Full report on the Times of India site