Kolkata: Universities must reinvent themselves with greater focus on industry, according to Sukanta Majumdar, Union minister of state for education and the northeast region, and Sanjeev Sanyal, member of the economic advisory council to the Prime Minister. They were speaking at an education summit organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata on Friday.Sharing his experience as a botany teacher at Gour Banga University, Majumdar urged vice-chancellors to reframe syllabi to ensure students secure better placements. Sanyal emphasised on the need to improve the quality of education based on practice. He said employers often prefer candidates with sales experience over graduates with no job history.According to Sanyal, big campuses were no longer a necessity and the focus should shift to smaller campuses that foster greater student interaction. He observed that people under-30 increasingly prefer online education.“We must encourage the use of AI and teachers need to upgrade their skills immediately as students cannot wait. The next generation should be inspired to work while they study and support their own education instead of relying on their parents,” he said, suggesting a model similar to how chartered accountants learn while working as apprentices.Sanyal cautioned against allowing foreign universities to operate in India without oversight because their ideologies may differ and not always be appropriate in the Indian context. “Universities need to prove their degrees are relevant and should help students stand on their own feet,” Sanyal added.
