This is what Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan wants higher education institutions to focus on

Addressing higher education institutions, Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Education, Government of India, said that they should be targetting exponential growth so that a workforce that is ready to take on the future can be nurtured. He also asked them to use technology to decolonise education even further.

It was while the Union Minister was at a two-day Visitor conference that he shared these statements on Wednesday, June 8, also the day when the conference concluded, as stated in a report by PTI.

"The age of incremental change is gone and I call upon higher educational institutes to target exponential growth towards building a future-ready workforce," he said.

Speaking about the challenges and opportunities in the new world propelled by technology, the minister said, "India has shown its technological prowess in various initiatives like UPI, Direct Benefit Transfer, Aadhaar and we must build upon this strength and make a future-ready workforce to embrace the changes arising out of Industrial Revolution 4.0."

The minister also spoke about the increase in the number of start-ups who are entering the unicorn club and this, he said, was an indicator of an entrepreneurial ecosystem that is going all guns blazing. He also asked that students should be nurtured as job givers, not seekers.

At the conference, delibrations on several topics were held including international rankings of higher education institutions, collaborations between academia-industry and policymakers, integration school, higher and vocational education, and education and research in emerging and disruptive technologies.

It is President of India President Ram Nath Kovind who is the Visitor to the 161 central institutes of higher education.

The President also hosted and even honoured a few donors whose contributions helped build a culture of giving back and the objective of "Atmanirbhar Bharat" in central higher education institutions.

The Union Education Minister called for bolstering the alumni networks and the efforts that are being taken in direction of internationalisation of education in India, which includes the study in India programme.