President Pranab Mukherjee speaks after inaugurating the Maharaja Agrasen University at Kalujhanda in Himachal Pradesh yesterday.

IANS/Baddi, Himachal Pradesh

President Pranab Mukherjee yesterday expressed concern over the declining standards of higher education, and called for identifying at least one department in each university that could be made a centre of excellence.

“It’s possible to revive the lost glory of our higher education system and take at least a few of our universities into the global top league,” Mukherjee said while inaugurating the Maharaja Agrasen University at Kalujhanda, near here, in Solan district.

“But for that,” he said, “we have to make innovative changes in the way our institutes of higher learning are administered, and education in them rendered. We must allow adequate flexibility in different aspects of academic management.”

Advocating the need to instil a culture of excellence in students, Mukherjee said every university should identify at least one department that could be made into a centre of excellence.

“The evolving demographic profile of India, with two-thirds of its population expected to be in the working age group by 2025, presents before us an opportunity for greater development,” the president said.

“This demographic dividend is for our taking, but for that, our youth must be qualified and trained to participate in national progress.”

He said the country has adopted a strategy of high economic growth to mitigate poverty and ensure development by touching the lives of all citizens.

The president said the investment in education was an investment in future, and that India has “expanded the higher education sector significantly.”