Panel slams HRD Ministry for expansion without quality

March 24, 2009: The Indian Express

New Delhi: Yet another panel has frowned upon the Government policy of expansion in higher education without ensuring quality across existing institutes and colleges.

Criticising the “nervous and hurried response¶ of the government by creating a few institutions of excellence, the Prof Yashpal led Committee on Higher Education has noted that this move without “addressing the issue of deprivation that the state funded universities are suffering from would only sharpen the existing inequalities¶.

“More numerical expansion, without an understanding of the symptoms of poor education, would not help. There is an urgent need to revitalise higher education and free it from an intrusive bureaucracy, mindless regulation and commercial pressures,¶ the committee, in its report submitted to Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Arjun Singh earlier this month, states.