The educational sub-committee of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) is of the view that there is a need for legislation permitting establishment of and regulating vocational universities in every state, in order to ensure quality.

This was one of the major suggestions made at the inaugural session of the two-day 10th national summit of CII on quality education titled ‘Building quality India: Role of educational institutions,’ going on at the Nimhans convention centre.

The chairman of the sub-committee and Chairman and CEO of Encore Software Vinay L Deshpande said the CII had conducted a professional study in four southern states to assess the gaps in skill levels among various categories of graduates from schools and colleges with reference to the needs of various industries.

Union Minister of State for Planning M V Rajasekharan, in his lecture, emphasised the need to look into absenteeism of teachers. He said India is led by knowledge but sadly quality of teachers and elementary education are poor. “Absenteeism among teachers in India is 47 per cent, which is not acceptable,” he said.