New Delhi

India's higher education ecosystem has undergone a fundamental transformation making it flexible, interdisciplinary, inclusive and innovation driven, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Thursday.

Inaugurating two-day Vice-Chancellors' Conference of Central Universities in Gujarat's Kevadia, Pradhan also said the total student enrolment has touched 4.46 crore, a 30 per cent increase since 2014–15.

"...the female enrolment has grown by 38 per cent and female GER (gross enrolment ratio) now exceeded male GER...PhD enrolment has almost doubled and female PhD scholars have grown by 136 per cent, GER for Scheduled Tribes has increased by 10 percentage points, for SCs by over 8 points," Pradhan said.

The minister asserted it was important to raise the GER in higher education to 50 per cent by 2035 by taking definitive actions in critical areas such as redesigning curricula, building digital systems, training faculty and promoting multidisciplinary approaches.

"For attaining this objective, it was imperative for the vice chancellors to act as catalysts in shaping the mind-set and aspirations of students. Universities must follow student-first approach, students should be the centre of all our reforms as they constituted the core of our national strength for the future," he said.

Pradhan called upon the VCs to ensure that the institutions are built for the future where youths are skilled and future ready and students are empowered to be job creators, social entrepreneurs and ethical innovators.

The conference, as part of marking the five years of implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, will bring together leaders of central universities to review institutional progress and collectively shape the path ahead.

The conference will cover key aspects of higher education -- teaching/ learning, research, and governance -- through 10 thematic sessions spread over the two days, aligned with the key pillars of NEP-2020 -- equity, accountability, quality, access and affordability.

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Some of the participating institutions include the University of Delhi, Central University of Haryana, Assam University, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Central University of Rajasthan, Central University of Kashmir, Visva-Bharati, National Sanskrit University, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Sikkim University, Tripura University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and University of Allahabad.