Pranab vows turnaround in education by 2020

The United Progressive Alliance is structurally transforming the education sector to achieve a dramatic rise in the number of students enrolled in the country by 2020.

This was stated by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee at the first convocation of the Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management in Shillong on Saturday.

Mukherjee said India’s gross enrolment ratio (GER) would be raised to 30 per cent by 2020 from 12.4 per cent now. The GER is the percentage

of students among the total school age population in the primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

“Increasing the GER to 30 per cent will require additional infrastructure and increased capacities in the higher education system. We have taken a slew of measures to make this a reality,” he said.

Mukherjee said the government also made the National Knowledge Commission more energetic, besides “striking the right notes” for producing 500 million skilled people by 2022 under the Prime Minister’s Council on National Skill Development.

The knowledge commission focuses on key areas like basic education, science and technology, agriculture, industry and e-governance, besides improving knowledge services.

Mukherjee also presented postgraduate diplomas and medals to the institute’s first batch of 63 students. The institute had recorded 100 per cent placement with an average annual pay of Rs 9.8 lakh a couple of months ago.

“We webcast the entire convocation, the first for any IIM,” said Arijit C. Majumdar, chief of corporate relations and external affairs of IIM Shillong.

First Published: Apr 04, 2010 00:34 IST