Shashi Tharoor terms Indian education system as over-regulated and under-governed

The India educational system is over-regulated and under-governed, former Union minister of state for human resources Shashi Tharoor said on Saturday. 

"I believe that our educational system is over-regulated and under-governed. We have too many rules and regulations. We have too much emphasis on controls from the top on uniformity. "We have an apex institution in the UGC and the ministry of human resources development, that tell the universities what kind of syllabus they can teach, how many years a course must last, what the size of a classroom should be.. but (they are) least concerned about the learning outcome of the educational experience," said Tharoor. 

Tharoor, a Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, was speaking at the University of Hyderabad on 'Educational Policies in today's Era' organised by the National Students Union of India (NSUI). 

He, however, said he is not critical about any particular university or the institution and there are several quality institutions which produce quality students. 

According to him, the lack of employable qualities in the students prompt companies such as Tatas, Wipro and Infosys to establish their own institutions. 

Talking about the freedom of speech in educational institutions, he said debating and arguing are also part of the education and the students must learn from extra-curricular activities too. 

"Education does not take place only in classrooms. You must learn in the classroom. You must learn in the library. But you must also learn from experience of being a student. "From attending talks, from going to lectures, from arguing with your fellow students... All this is part of the education. And what is lacking in the present regime is the adequate appreciation of this," he said.