After IT, its destination Education

Updated on: Thursday, December 15, 2011

India should open up its market for the education sector, this will improve the quality and help the country become an education destination, said Kris Gopalakrishnan, executive co-chairman, Infosys.

“I am all for the opening up of the education sector. India has benefitted from globalisation. The fears that competition will kill local institutions is unfounded and it can be seen that the sectors open to FDI investments like automotive, media, banking, IT are all doing quite well,” said Gopalakrishnan on his recent visit to Bhubaneswar.

He was invited to deliver the 9th Foundation Day Lecture, of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB). He added that as India has become a software destination; the country also has the potential to become an “education destination”.

On the industry-academia knowledge gap and deteriorating quality of education, the Gopalakrishnan said, “There is a need to improve the quality of education. Infosys is working with 450 engineering colleges and their faculty skill improvement in the areas of corporate transition, soft skills training etc.”

The current education system lacks practical knowledge; they teach development software but not maintenance of software, students are taught coding but not code testing which is now in demand. A finishing school is required for students before joining the industry, Gopalakrishnan added.

On fear of big foreign university muscling down our top institutions he said, “We need to have confidence in our people here who are very good at their work. Students are not foolish they know where to get the best. We have foreign students coming to XIMB and staying for 5-6 months to study. This is because India is a good place to learn.”

Gopalakrishnan on XIMB’s Foundation Day gave a lecture on “Innovations in the 21st century”. The focus of the lecture was the relevance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the industry. He called for sustainable development and consumption which was possible only with a new model or a fundamental change in the present model of growth.

Also present were Rajive Kaul, chairman, Board of Governors, XIMB and director, NICCO Corporation Ltd; and Fr P T Joseph, director, XIMB.

After IT, its destination Education

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