New Delhi, Oct 4 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Atishi on Friday said universities should not be evaluated solely on the basis of their placement records but also on job opportunities their graduates create.
Addressing the second convocation of Netaji Subhas University of Technology here, Atishi, who also holds the education portfolio, highlighted the importance of fostering entrepreneurial skills among the youth.
"The biggest challenge our youths face today is unemployment. I am pleased to know that 81 per cent of NSUT graduates secured jobs.
"However, I believe universities should not be evaluated based on placement percentages alone, they should be assessed based on how many jobs their graduates generate. This is the need of the hour," the chief minister said.
She also said, "Our goal should be to not only secure the best job but also to create job opportunities for others."
Atishi also shared success stories from the Delhi government's Business Blaster programme which provides financial support to school students for establishing startups.
She announced the expansion of the Business Blasters programme to all Delhi government universities within a month, aiming to fuel entrepreneurship and tackle unemployment.
"When our students emerge as entrepreneurs. India will rise to become the number one country in the world," Atishi asserted.
Calling for a paradigm shift in the education system, the chief minister said there is a need for educational institutes to re-orient their functioning.
"Our education system primarily prepares students to secure good jobs through good studies. We need to take a step forward from this paradigm... To address unemployment, our institutions now need to focus on making students job providers rather than job seekers," she said.
Sharing anecdotes of young entrepreneurs from the Business Blasters Programme, the Atishi said, "Ashish, a student of the Delhi Government's Shakarpur school, whose father is a security guard and mother is a homemaker, started a logistics company called 'A.K. Logistics' with four friends using Rs 10,000 as seed money. Today, their company earns Rs 2 lakh per month and employs 50 people."
She also spoke of another student whose father sells plastic utensils. Along with his team, the class 12 student started an eco-friendly business, using sugarcane fibre instead of plastic for making disposable tableware and now provides employment to 40 people, Atishi claimed.
"Another student from SKV Loni Road, whose father works as a carpenter, started her own gluten-free chips business and made a profit of Rs 9 lakh over the past year, employing 21 homemakers," she said.
The convocation ceremony was also attended by Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, who serves as the chancellor of the university and HCL co-founder Ajai Chowdhry along with other dignitaries.
In his address, Saxena underlined that India's youths are its biggest national asset and their contributions will play a key role in nation-building.
This year, the university awarded 2,244 degrees, including five PhD degrees, 72 MBA degrees, 133 MSc degrees, 125 MTech degrees, 110 BBA degrees, and 1,725 BTech degrees, among others.