Indian minister targets wholesale education reform

India needs more quality educational institutes particularly in remote areas, President Pranab Mukherjee said Friday. Mukherjee also pitched for improvement in the standards of higher education. The demand for higher education more than the supply, and there was a need to improve the standards of education, said Mukherjee at the 26th convocation of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) here. He said the absence of educational institutes in remote areas resulted in low enrolment in higher education. He commended the IGNOU for making education available to the poor and to those who want to study for self-enrichment and to upgrade skills. Minister of State for Human Resource Development Jitin Prasada was present on the occasion. Addressing a gathering of students and academics, Prasada said: "Distant learning is the future in India as there is a scarcity of land (to set up) more educational institutes in the country."