Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Rajat Gupta on IITs


... [I]f we are honest, we will say we have created a fantastic Joint Entrance Exam. We have then done a reasonable job of teaching them. These institutions –the IITs and IIMs –have created a brand because of the success of their alumni. Not because of their research output. Not because they have created huge amounts of innovation. We have to create innovation and research to make the IITs truly competitive. On that front we have to a long way to go.

[...]

The government has an important role to play—including in creating institutions of higher learning. But there is no reason why higher education should be the sole purview of the state. It should create a framework where the private sector can be deployed to create institutes of higher learning. Obviously, the government has a responsibility of setting standards and of regulating.

In the next 10 years, India will have more people of employable age than any other country in the history of the world. To deploy them effectively, we need a large system of higher and vocational education. All of these areas should be open to the public and private sectors and also public-private partnerships.

From this short interview.

0 Comments: