ERODE: With over 48.6 per cent of students enrolled in colleges, Tamil Nadu ranks first in the country in the domain of higher education, said Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami. With its 13 State-owned varsities, 829 arts and science colleges, 718 colleges of education, 585 engineering colleges and 520 technical institutions, the government is keen on helping poor students pursue higher education, he noted.
It is highly invested in supporting first generation graduates, providing free and quality education, granting aid for students of Tamil medium study and those involved in research, arranging for free hostel facilities, and providing welfare aid like bus passes laptops and bicycles, for the growth of education, the chief minister said.
When the late chief minister J Jayalalithaa assumed office in 2011, only 32 per cent of the youth were pursuing higher studies. It was the steps taken by her to offer concessions, welfare aid, financial aid and more that led to this revolution in education and pushed the State’s higher education enrolment to 48.6 per cent, when the nation’s average is only 25.8 per cent, he noted.
Last financial year, the government gave permission to start many technical education institutions and 29 arts and science colleges.
This year, an arts and science college was opened in the name of the late president APJ Abdul Kalam at Rameswaram. The government has earmarked Rs 460.25 crore this year simply for reimbursing the fees of first generation graduates, he pointed out.
The government also passed an Act to create universities of international standard under the private sector and permission was granted to starting two such varsities. It allotted `382 crore to improve infrastructure in 10 State-owned varsities and 65 government arts and science colleges. Meanwhile, it opened many schools, and upgraded many others, to allow more students to join government institutions, he noted.
Ministers KA Sengottaiyan, P Thangamani, KP Anbazhagan, and KC Karuppannan, MLAs KV Ramalingam, KS Thennarasu, ND Venkatachalam, VP Sivasubramaniam, EMR Raja, and S Eswaran, former minister PC Ramasamy, Collector C Kathiravan, trust authorities SD Chandrasekar, S S Kandasamy, PKP Arun, and many others attended the function.