Experts say in addition to setting up more varsities, government should also use information technology to impart education
Even as the government of India goes about establishing new IITs and IIMs, experts believe that digital learning can play an important role in imparting quality education to nation's bright minds. Speaking at the 20th Annual Management Education Convention of Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS) in collaboration with Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, Dr Vijay Govindarajan, professor at Tuck School of Business (Dartmouth-US) and chief innovation consultant at GE, stressed that the fastest way to close India's education gap is through digital and information technology.
“At present only a few thousand students are able to study at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). But another 100,000 are equally smart. So why can't the IITs come together and create an e-IIT and expand its reach,” he questioned. “Most of the institutions in the country are either facing a faculty shortage or have poor faculty. We need to rethink and reinvent our education system fundamentally. The education gap cannot be closed by merely building more universities,” he said. Pointing out that establishing more universities would mean acquiring land and putting together the necessary infrastructure, Govindarajan said India must instead make good use of digital technology. “Information Technology (IT) will allow our students to have access to global faculty.”
