Education needs to be re-invented, connected to industry: Gandhi

The Indian education system needs to be "re-invented" with a connect drawn between higher education and the needs of the industry, said Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi here Saturday.

Answering a query at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here, a confident-sounding Gandhi said in India education and industry are thought of in two separate ways.

But on the other hand, modern university and modern education are "essentially a network that connects industry, connects government, NGOs, students with a connect point within the university", he said.

Gandhi said some of the Indian universities, like the IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology), are exceptional, but India lacks the level of networking and modern knowledge systems required.

He said it is time to establish a connect between industry and higher education.

"What role does industry have in our higher education? There is a deep connect, but there is a disconnect, so bring that together at the university level," he stressed.

Gandhi also said that access to the education system needs to be increased.

"Just increase the access to education, we can do that with modern technology which is a very powerful tool. The IITs have a lot of value, but it is not being utilized in the right manner," he said.

In primary education, while enrolment has gone up a lot needs to be done in terms of quality of the teacher and building connectivity, "but broadly speaking we have to completely re-invent the education system", he stressed.

"We will not be able to do this by using the same old tools, it has to be done with opening up access, bringing people into it, ideas from the business into it," Gandhi said