Develop skills in youths to make them employable: President Pranab Mukherjee

KOLKATA: Citing ageing populations of Europe and China, President Pranab Mukherjee today said the country needs to utilise its working population of youths by making them employable or else it will become a liability.

Addressing a function here, he said the quality of education in the country is still low and suggested efforts to bring Indian educational institutions among the world's best.

The President said while the population of Europe and China are ageing, India will have more than half of the working population of the world.

"This human resource can become a dividend if it is utilized properly. Otherwise, it will become a liability to the country. Hence, their skills need to be developed to make them employable," said Mukherjee during the inauguration of the centenary building of Ashutosh College here.

"This is why a plan has been developed to impart skill development training to more than 50 crore population by 2022 so that they find jobs both inside and outside India," he said.

The President said the quality of higher education in the country must improve.

He said the 11th Five Year Plan had made provisions for improving the quality of higher education in the country.

"India has over 700 universities and around 36,000 degree colleges. Nearly 2 crore students participate in tertiary education. Despite these numbers, international education rating agencies have not placed any of these institutions within the best 200 of the world. On the whole, the quality of education in the country is still low," Mukherjee said.