Encourage interaction between institutions and industry: VP

New Delhi, Apr 29 (KNN) The Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu urged the institutions of higher education to develop an industry focus and encourage students to take up live projects, internships and enable them to constantly interact with industry and corporate bodies.

He was speaking at the 55th Annual Prize Distribution Ceremony of Shyam Lal College in New Delhi .

Talking about India’s incredible demographic dividend, Naidu stressed upon the need to educate the burgeoning youth population and equip them with employable skills to harness the immense youth power to make India a global leader.

Opining that neglecting education would adversely impact growth of the nation as a whole, the Vice President said that there was an urgent and imminent need to re-think and re-engineer the entire education system.

Naidu also suggested increasing investment in education from the current 3% of GDP to at least 6% by 2022, as recommended by NITI Aayog.

He wanted institutions especially schools in rural areas, to ensure not only 100% enrolment but also make sure that all children learn at a high level of proficiency and make sure that no child was left behind.

 Naidu called for a re- look into the way students are trained in colleges and schools and said that there is need to move away from textbook knowledge, rigid ideas and examination marks and to focus on well informed, open debates.

On the occasion, Vice President distributed prizes to meritorious students and lauded the efforts of the institution in providing education to poor and marginalized sections of society at the heart of the national capital. (From PIB inputs)