“India should overtake US in providing access to higher education to all children,” said VIT chancellor G Viswanathan, speaking at the inauguration of the ‘Universal Higher Education Trust’ at VIT campus on Thursday.
The trust has been founded by him with the aim of providing access, support and facilities for all deserving students seeking higher education. Initially focusing on Vellore district, the trust is expected to expand its operations to cover the entire country.
He said the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for higher education in USA was around 83 per cent which was the highest in the world, while in India it was around 15 per cent. By the end of the 13th fifth year plan, “we should aim to overtake the US in achieving higher GER if we want to compete with other countries and emerge as a strong country,” he added.
Special focus would be given to school dropouts to receive professional skill training, he added.
In order to achieve higher per capita income of USD 10,000 as envisioned by the Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, “we need to have more technical colleges, medical colleges, universities, both in private and government sector.”
Vellore required at least five medical colleges and technical colleges to help around 30,000 students from the district who pass out from plus two every year. The government should spend at least six per cent of the GDP on education, he added. Professor K B Powar, chancellor of the Dr DY Patil University, Pune, in his inaugural address hailed the initiative taken by Viswanathan as “revolutionary and first of its kind in the country.”
MLAs Lingamuthu, Kalaiarasu and Aslam Basha spoke on the occasion. The trust also extended scholarships to 90 students to the tune of Rs 9 lakh.