The Hindu : Front Page : Higher education council soon

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Thursday, Jan 11, 2007
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Higher education council soon

Staff Reporter

Government's bid to address problems facing the higher education sector

M.A. Baby speaks on prospects of higher education.

KANNUR: Education Minister M.A. Baby has said the Government will constitute a higher education council as part of efforts to address the problems facing the higher education sector.

"The Government is committed to introducing social justice and merit as criteria in the education sector," he said while delivering a speech on `Prospects of higher education in Kerala' at the second day of a seminar on higher education organised by Kannur University here on Wednesday.

Stating that the Government could not allow a situation where money alone was the criterion to get access to education, he said the Government would go to any extend to ensure that social justice and merit were the basis for admission in higher education institutions.

The Government was planning to institute scholarships to identify and encourage meritorious and talented students, the Minister said.

He called for a qualitative and quantitative change in the higher education sector. The fundamental problem in the State was that higher education was not playing a high role to address the problems, he said. Despite major achievements, the education sector was in a serious crisis, he added.

Today much of the Government's time had to be devoted to the self-financing education sector, the Minister said adding that unaided recognised residential schools were a greater danger to the education sector than the self-financing professional colleges. Mr. Baby said issuance of no-objection certificates to all who applied for self-financing colleges amounted to a violation of rules. Dwelling on the ways to solve the educational crisis in the State,the Ministersaid the Government was planning to implement clear-cut policies on the basis of democratic and scientific studies over the next four years.

A committee had already been constituted to submit a status report on the issues in the school education sector, he said adding that another committee was formed to study problems in the higher secondary sector.

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