During the meeting of Consultative Committee of Parliament for the HRD ministry, Sibal asserted the need for capacity building and to put systems and regulations in place to meet future needs in higher education. While expressing appreciation for the envisaged reforms, Members of Parliament also stated their concern that the envisaged expansion of higher education should not result in a heightened rural/urban and rich/poor divide as also a divide among those who can speak English and those who cannot.
A concern was also raised that till the secondary and higher secondary education sector, especially in government schools, is not improved the poorer sections will not be adequately prepared for good quality higher education. The parliamentarians also raised the issue of poor teacher-student ratio in colleges and declining standards of college education.
Sibal said he has asked the AICTE to write to those state governments where there is a surplus of vacant seats as to whether recognition should be given to more engineering colleges from these states.
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