TN Guv Ravi says State universities churn out poor PhDs, flags lack of collaboration

CHENNAI: Governor R N Ravi on Friday took a dig at the State Education System, saying that the quality of education is poor in the state varsities.

Delivering a special address at the "Conclave for Excellence in Higher Education in Tamil Nadu" event at Raj Bhavan here, Governor Ravi said, "State-run government varsities in Tamil Nadu have no integration with their peers. Our state excels in higher education but falls back in the quality of PhDs. There is a need to improve it. Although there are a large number of PhD holders, the quality of the PhD is not satisfactory."

"Students should be advised to take the NET, and JRF exams while going for post-graduation. A mere PhD degree will not help. The quality of a PhD degree should be high. Higher education institutions must ensure the lacuna is addressed," he said.

Lauding the TN higher education institutes which secured the top ranks in the NIRF, Governor Ravi said, "It is great that 20 HEIs are among the top 28 HEIs in the country. We should not stop this as we move towards the first place. Anna Varsity has been the first to rise and now it is gradually occupying the premier position in the state."

"Agriculture, Engineering and various HEIs have been promoted this year in the NIRF. Earlier, the HEIs in TN, used to collaborate with foreign varsities but now the situation has changed and every varsity has a new good character," he noted.

"Some of the private varsities have high standards for PhD courses, while various state-run government varsities have excellent standards for PhDs. If a country wants to grow, it must build intellectual property rights. China owns 46 per cent of the intellectual property keeping in mind that we need to undertake high-quality PG courses to enhance our country's intellectual property rights," he added.