New Delhi,10 May: United Progressive Alliance Chairperson, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, has said that the Government would soon open 370 colleges in educationally-backward districts, most of whose population is minority-dominated. Mrs. Gandhi, while addressing the eight convocation ceremony of the Jamia Hamdard University at Vigyan Bhavan here, stated that, "The Government has recently recognised the responsibility that the minorities group, in particular, need much access to professional education and modern skills training."
She further added that, "There is an urgent need to focus on the traditionally disadvantaged sections of the society; which is why we have formulated hugely-expanded scholarships for minority groups, Scheduled Castes and Tribes, OBCs and girls." "There is an immediate need to improve the quality of all educational institutions, as I believe it is the fundamental responsibility of the Government to give education and that too with increasing enrolment of students. This does not cover only buildings and faculty. We also need to develop Information Technology and adopt state-of-the-art teaching methods", asserted Mrs. Gandhi. Referring to the Jamia Hamdard University as an example of brilliant conglomeration of private initiative and government support, she asked the private sector to play a greater role in the education sector. Also present on the occasion were, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh.