BENGALURU: Higher Education Minister Dr MC Sudhakar on Wednesday said facilities available to students in many colleges remain “primitive” and are inadequate to equip them with job-ready skills.

He was speaking after launching the logo, QR code and promotional video for the Career 2 Campus (C2C) Summit, which will be held in Bengaluru on May 15 and 16.

The summit is being organised in collaboration with multiple state departments, Collegiate and Technical Education, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood, IT, BT and Science and Technology, Commerce and Industries, Medical Education, and Agriculture. According to the Higher Education Department, the summit is a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, bringing together several state government departments on a single platform.

“We must accept that our syllabus and facilities in educational institutions are still primitive when it comes to equipping students with job skills. Many graduates, including those with master’s degrees from the US, remain unemployed due to lack of skills. We have also seen private companies recently lay off thousands of employees,” Sudhakar said.

He added that summits like C2C help strengthen industry–academia collaboration.

Decision on State Education Policy soon

Responding to a question on the State Education Policy (SEP), Sudhakar said the government is likely to decide in the upcoming Cabinet meeting.

“Most components of the SEP have already been implemented in universities. The curriculum and question paper formats are based on the policy. However, some elements, including setting up a body similar to NAAC to assess universities and measures to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio, are yet to be implemented. The Cabinet will take a decision soon,” he said.