BENGALURU: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said private educational institutions have grown at a faster pace than public sector institutions. They have made a significant contribution to improving the quality of education in India, as constant financial backing is required to maintain scalability in the education sector.
Addressing students from RV Educational Group of Institutions on the 70th anniversary of RV Teachers’ College and RV Teachers’ Training Institute, Sitharaman said it is not easy for a private educational institution to flourish and expand while providing quality education. It is wrongly perceived that quality education can be availed at an affordable cost or only in a government-run institution. Later, she also inaugurated a gymnatorium constructed in RV College premises.
Compared to growth in education, which has been subsequently speedier but also has the required money for the expansion of institutions and to pay the growing pay scales of staff. Educational institutions in India have always been considered non-profit organisations which reinvest all earnings into further growth.
Sitharaman said, “My collegiate education has been in a Tier-2 city in a private institution, post which I went to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). At no point did I feel inferior just because I came from a Tier-2 city or small private institution.”
On the value system, she said it is critical in the education system, and it must be ensured that values remain universal and help widen the knowledge bank of students. Teachers play an important role in it as no online learning or automated system can teach value-based learning to a student. Higher Education Minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan also highlighted the benefits of the New Education Policy, stating that it has made the education system more skill-based.