Unprecedented expansion of education system at all levels: PM at NIT Director's meet

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Thursday said that UPA government has laid special emphasis on education and the last nine years have witnessed unprecedented expansion of the education system at all levels.

Addressing the conference of Directors of National Institutes of Technologies (NITs) here, Dr. Singh said: "As I have stated on several occasions earlier also, the UPA government has laid special emphasis on education. The last 9 years have seen unprecedented expansion of the education system at all levels- primary, secondary and higher."

"In higher education, during the 11th Plan, 65 new Central Institutions were established, including 21 Central Universities, 8 Indian Institutes of Technology, 7 Indian Institutes of Management, 5 Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, 2 Schools of Planning and Architecture, and 10 National Institutes of Technology. Enrolment in higher education grew from about 166 lakh to about 260 lakh during the Plan period," he said.

"The Gross Enrolment Ratio or GER for higher education grew from 12.3 percent in 2006-2007 to 17.9 percent in 2011-12. The growth of enrolment in Engineering saw a phenomenal 25 percent increase during the Eleventh Plan," he added.

Dr.Singh said that during the 12th Plan, the government is focussing on expansion, equity and excellence with a greater emphasis on quality of higher education, while consolidating the gains of the 11th Plan.

Dr. Singh further asked the Directors of NITs to address the massive challenges that lie ahead in Science and Technology education in the country.

"As far as higher education in Science and Technology in our country is concerned, there are massive challenges that lie ahead. To give an idea of where we stand today, India's research output as global share of scientific publications was a mere 3.5 percent in 2010 whereas China's share was 21 percent in 2007," he said.

"The total number of patent applications filed by Indians in 2010 comprised only 0.3 percent of the total applications filed globally. India's share of global R and D investment is as low as 2.2 percent which is much lower than 9.2 percent of China and 32.4 percent of USA. The Directors of NITs have a very important contribution to make in our collective

Asserting that the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) are all institutions of national importance, Dr. Singh said: "They contribute substantially to the technical man-power requirements of the country's expanding economy. This is evident from the fact that in the year 2012-13, their intake of undergraduate students was over 15000 and that of post-graduate students about 11000."

"They are expected to produce engineering graduates comparable in quality to those produced buy our premier institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology," he added.

Dr. Singh further said that it has been a fascinating journey for the institutions that we today know as National Institutes of Technology.

"Eight of these institutions started as Regional Engineering Colleges in the early sixties. The expenditure on running these institutions was borne in equal proportion by the Central and State governments. By 1986, the number of RECs had increased to 17 and in 2003-2004 these 17 colleges were converted into National Institutes of Technology. The total number of NITs now stands at 30," he added.