Centre to focus on increasing gross enrollment ratio, building higher education institutions in rural India: Prakash Javadekar

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], September 8 : Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday said that the Centre has set a target of increasing the Gross Enrollment Ratio in higher education from 26 per cent to 50 per cent under National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and added that it will focus on opening more higher education institutions in the rural areas for the benefit of the girl child.
"We have set a big target of increasing Gross Enrollment Ratio in higher education from 26 per cent to 50 per cent in 15 years. We will be adding 3.5 crore, new students, in the sector, thousands of new colleges will be opened up in rural areas, which will improve accessibility. This will be especially beneficial to girl students who generally do not venture out to long distances. Opening up of colleges near their homes will increase their enrolment in higher education in a big way," he said while chairing a webinar on the in Pune.
Highlighting that "equity and affordability" have been given adequate focus under this new education policy, the Union Minister said that the "number of scholarships by the government and universities will be increased and major facilities of educational loans too will be provided."
Emphasising that the teacher education has also been given "high importance" under NEP 2020, he added that "a system of continuous training will be set in and teachers will be appraised based on how much they learn. They need to update their skills continuously."
"National Research Foundation and focus on research and development will institutionalise a continual dialogue among academia, industry and research labs. All three were working in silos, they will now work together," the Union Minister added.
In his concluding remark, Javedkar impressed upon improving an ability to nurture students and said that teachers "must always have new ideas and desire to shape the students."