New Delhi, Dec 30 (KNN) The government will focus on employability of the students coming out of the institutions of higher education and new employment opportunities will be generated by imparting skills sets to more and more people, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said today.
 
Addressing the Diamond Jubilee Celebration of the University Grants Commission, the Prime Minister said, “Our Government is committed to carry forward the work of strengthening the Higher Education system with even greater energy and sense of purposefulness in the future. In the coming years we will not only continue our focus on the 3 Es of Expansion, Excellence & Equity, but also add a fourth E of Employability” . 

The recently launched Rashtriya Uchttar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) recognizes the importance of the State higher education institutes which cater to a majority of the students receiving higher education in our country. It aims to create 278 new universities and 388 new colleges and to convert 266 colleges to model degree colleges by the end of the 13th Five Year Plan, besides providing infrastructure grants to 286 State universities and 8500 State colleges. 


With the recent approval of the National Skill Qualifications Framework (NSQF), the country now has an integrated and unified qualifications framework linking technical & vocational education on the one hand with general education on the other.
 
 
“This is a part of our efforts to encourage skill development in a big way so that a trained workforce is available to meet the needs of our growing economy and new opportunities for productive employment are created in large numbers. It will now be possible for people who have acquired training through non-formal channels to get their skills certified and therefore get better opportunities in the formal job market.” Singh said. (KNN Bureau)