Achuthanandan demands central university for Kerala

New Delhi, Dec 8 (UNI) Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan today urged Union Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh to set up a Central University for enhancing the quality of higher education in his state and offered all necessary assistance from the state government in this regard.

"A Central University will help the state to enhance academic standards by directly improving quality and also by contributing to the quality improvement of other state universities through various interactions," he said in a letter to Mr Singh.

He said the proposed university could be a non-affiliating university on the pattern of the Delhi-based Jawaharlal Nehru University.

"Initially, the University can have post-graduate and research courses with outstanding faculty and latest curriculum. It can be open to students from all parts of India and from other countries." Mr Achuthanandan, who is here to attend tomorrow's National Development Council (NDC) meeting, said Kerala had always shown excellence in the literacy and cultural sphere.

"Establishment of a Central University will definitely help to nourish this excellence as we are reaching to a stage where the literacy and cultural excellence of the state is not matched by the quality of its higher educational institutions." In this context, Mr Achuthanandan pointed out that Kerala had always been open to international ideologies and changes taking place in the world.

"But this international outlook also needs to be nourished, otherwise the threat by localism, isolationism and parochial smugness will undo what Kerala has achieved through its interaction with other countries," he pointed out.

He said a Central University with a pan-Indian reach would open a window to the rest of the country and also to the world in general.

UNI SH PA DB2039