Kochi: Kerala’s Higher Education Minister R Bindu has blamed people’s false pride as a reason for the aggressive outflow of students from the state to foreign countries for higher studies.

The minister said it would not be right to conclude that a fall in the quality of higher education in the state was pushing students out of the state.

“The reason (for the student outflow) is neither lack of quality here nor the high quality of education there alone,” Bindu said at a press conference at the Ernakulam Press Club on Thursday.

“Kerala is a place where social fantasies sell well,” she said, comparing the ongoing student migration to the aggressive demand for engineering degrees that led to a mushrooming of colleges in that sector and a consequential fall in the employability of many graduates.

“Many students are going abroad for studies under bad conditions. The reason for this cannot be a fall in the quality of education here alone. Many may not be able to ensure a secure life there. We should also consider the fact that globalisation has made inflow and outflow of people from one country to another easier,” she said.

Efforts on to build a knowledge economy
Bindu said that the government has been committed to making the state a ‘neo knowledge economy'. “The government is making efforts to retain talents here as well as attract talent from outside. Our aim is to facilitate brain gain instead of brain drain,” she said.

Will survive controversies
To questions on a series of controversies relating to top appointments in universities that have been challenged in courts, the minister said “people with vested interests were behind the controversies.”

“The government has been consistently giving priority to the higher education sector and universities have been benefiting a lot. The controversies have cast a shadow on this, but we will move ahead surviving it,” she said.

Experts to come as Chancellors
Asked about the proposed Bill to remove the Governor as chancellor of varsities in the state, the minister said the Bill will be introduced in a democratic manner. She hinted that the Bill proposes to appoint experts in various academic fields as chancellors.