More higher education institutions needed

Updated on: Friday, July 17, 2009

New Delhi: India needs to have more institutions of higher education, Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi said.

'In the parliament, the Union Minister Kapil Sibal made a spirited speech defending higher education in the country. But we have not yet reached the place where we should have been. What the US offers in terms of education is an extraordinary opportunity to broaden our horizon and expand our mind,' Tharoor told sources.

Addressing a select gathering of educationists, publishers and bureaucrats at the launch of Renuka Raja Rao's book, the minister, clad in a black bandhgala (formal Indian jacket) said, 'Yes! You Can Study in America: A Definitive Guide for Aspiring Students'.

'We need to have both - more institutions of higher learning and a wider range of subjects. The gamut of subjects that we offer our students is not wide enough. I want to see more higher education opportunities open up for students from all over the country. The vision that has been laid out in parliament for a change in higher education â€“ it must bear fruit,' Tharoor said.

He justified his demand citing a personal example. 'When I left for US in 1975, there were just five IITs in the country. After more than three decades, there are about only seven or eight IITs in the country. By now, India should have had more than 30 IITs,' he said.

Tharoor's new book is ready to hit the bookstores. 'It is a book on which I was working last year with the envoy from Pakistan Shahryar Khan. The book is titled, 'Shadows Across The Playing Field'. It is about cricket in India and Pakistan and its impact on the relationship between both the countries,' Tharoor, who looked smug in his new avatar, said with a laugh.

More higher education institutions needed

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