PM 'pained' by high cut-offs in admissions

Mumbai: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed dissatisfaction over the high cut-offs in admissions to centres of higher learning like the IITs, saying he is "pained" by such limits imposed on opportunities.

"Every year when I see how many hundreds of thousands of students apply for admission to these institutions, and when I see how high have become the minimum cut-off marks for admission, my heart is pained by the limits we are placing on the opportunities available to our youth," he said.

Singh made these remarks in his address at the Golden Jubilee convocation of the IIT-Bombay on Saturday.

During the last eight years, Indian higher education, secondary and technical education, have experienced a quantum jump, Singh said.

"As we celebrate the Golden Jubilee of IIT Bombay, we feel a sense of pride. But that pride must be tempered by the concern that we still do not have the required number of such institutions to offer adequate developmental opportunities to all our bright young women and men," he said.

"That is precisely why our government took the initiative to expand the opportunities for higher and technical education in India," he said.

During the last eight years, Indian higher education as well as secondary and technical education, have experienced a quantum jump in terms of investment being made and the number of seats being created for students, he said.

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