Governor SC Jamir (centre) at the vice-chancellors’ meet in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 25: The 88th All-India Vice-Chancellors’ Conference of the Association of Indian Universities started here today with a national seminar on the central government’s Rashtriya Uchchatara Shiksha Abhiyan.

About 500 persons, including vice-chancellors, academic administrators, senior functionaries of various higher education agencies, Union human resources development ministry officials and dignitaries from abroad, attended the meet.

Governor S.C. Jamir inaugurated the conference and stressed the need for quality education. “Despite an ever-growing number of varsities, quality education is still a dream. We have over 650 universities, 16 National Institutes of Technology and 30 lakh colleges across the country. But, we have sacrificed quality in our mad scramble for quantity,” he said.

Association of Indian Universities president R.B. Lal said private universities should get funds under Rashtriya Uchchatara Shiksha Abhiyan to improve higher education in the country.

“The future of higher education does not only lie with state universities. Private campuses, too, have a crucial role to play. Personally, I feel the ministry of human resources development should consider private universities for RUSA aid,” Lal said.

During the three-day event, discussions on the higher education policies in the country will be held. The main theme for deliberation in the meet will be on RUSA. During the sessions, the vice-chancellors will discuss whether the scheme is viable or not and if yes, whether it will bring out desired results in elevating our higher education system to world-class standards. The resolutions of the seminar will be sent to Union human resources development ministry for incorporating in the scheme and making necessary amendments before its launch. “The meet will contribute towards a positive image of the state in the field of quality education among academicians and education administrators from various parts of the country and abroad,” said founder of KIIT and host of the conference A. Samanta.