MUMBAI: The old idea of education SEZs could soon see a revival, thanks to Niti Aayog 's master plan for Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR)'s robust economic growth. The think tank has recommended formation of ' EduCities ', spanning over 100 hectares, integrating multiple colleges and universities.
Niti Aayog said that MMR's emerging new city of Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area (NAINA), aka Third Mumbai , and the MTHL (Mumbai Trans Harbour Link) influence area "could be the perfect hubs for India's next generation of integrated EduCities".
Its report said Mumbai is one of the largest business hubs in the country with an "excellent global connect" and MMR could "naturally expand" into becoming India's leading higher education hub of "high repute".
It further said that these EduCities should have top-notch faculty and researchers, student housing, and sports, recreation, retail and blue-green infrastructure, which is a strategic blend of man-made and natural elements in urban settings.
"Discussions with several investors in education sector suggest that there is substantial interest in MMR since it can fulfil the requirements of educational institutions in terms of affordable land/buildings and supporting amenities such as student housing, recreation, and entertainment infrastructure," said the report.
Educationists agree that MMR holds the promise of becoming a higher education hub. Provost of HSNC University Niranjan Hiranandani said with access opening up and connectivity getting better, it is only natural that "multiple centres" will be created. "As Mumbai is the financial capital, there is an IT and data hub, and with a thriving industrial belt between Mumbai and Pune, education will definitely receive a big push."
The Niti Aayog report also pointed to the potential impact of a large educational system on job creation. "MMR is not included in the current list of the top 10 districts in India in terms of the number of colleges. The top districts, Bengaluru (1,000+ approved colleges), Hyderabad (491 colleges) and Pune (475 colleges) have benefited greatly from being on top of this list and have created a large job ecosystem."
The World Economic Forum estimates that there will be nearly 20 million additional digital jobs required globally by 2030, across fields like information security, content creation, system administrators and telecom.
The Niti Aayog report said MMR should target the skilling of at least 10-12L people cumulatively by 2030 in courses like electronics assembly, computer and digital courses, animation and visual graphics, fashion technology, supply chain, caregiving and nursing, and aviation and hospitality services, and ensure that at least 40% of them are women.
Dr Balasaheb Pawar, trustee of Shiva Education Trust, which runs close to 50 professional, degree and diploma colleges, said the new mega education cities should focus on offering top-end professional courses that are of extremely high quality.
Many echoed his thoughts, saying Navi Mumbai already has a large concentration of colleges offering traditional undergraduate courses like BA, BCom and BSc. The new cities would allow for integrated universities to implement National Education Policy in an unbridled manner, thus allowing students to pick a variety of courses from a large campus, they said.
Niti Aayog said that MMR's emerging new city of Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area (NAINA), aka Third Mumbai , and the MTHL (Mumbai Trans Harbour Link) influence area "could be the perfect hubs for India's next generation of integrated EduCities".
Its report said Mumbai is one of the largest business hubs in the country with an "excellent global connect" and MMR could "naturally expand" into becoming India's leading higher education hub of "high repute".
It further said that these EduCities should have top-notch faculty and researchers, student housing, and sports, recreation, retail and blue-green infrastructure, which is a strategic blend of man-made and natural elements in urban settings.
"Discussions with several investors in education sector suggest that there is substantial interest in MMR since it can fulfil the requirements of educational institutions in terms of affordable land/buildings and supporting amenities such as student housing, recreation, and entertainment infrastructure," said the report.
Educationists agree that MMR holds the promise of becoming a higher education hub. Provost of HSNC University Niranjan Hiranandani said with access opening up and connectivity getting better, it is only natural that "multiple centres" will be created. "As Mumbai is the financial capital, there is an IT and data hub, and with a thriving industrial belt between Mumbai and Pune, education will definitely receive a big push."
The Niti Aayog report also pointed to the potential impact of a large educational system on job creation. "MMR is not included in the current list of the top 10 districts in India in terms of the number of colleges. The top districts, Bengaluru (1,000+ approved colleges), Hyderabad (491 colleges) and Pune (475 colleges) have benefited greatly from being on top of this list and have created a large job ecosystem."
The World Economic Forum estimates that there will be nearly 20 million additional digital jobs required globally by 2030, across fields like information security, content creation, system administrators and telecom.
The Niti Aayog report said MMR should target the skilling of at least 10-12L people cumulatively by 2030 in courses like electronics assembly, computer and digital courses, animation and visual graphics, fashion technology, supply chain, caregiving and nursing, and aviation and hospitality services, and ensure that at least 40% of them are women.
Dr Balasaheb Pawar, trustee of Shiva Education Trust, which runs close to 50 professional, degree and diploma colleges, said the new mega education cities should focus on offering top-end professional courses that are of extremely high quality.
Many echoed his thoughts, saying Navi Mumbai already has a large concentration of colleges offering traditional undergraduate courses like BA, BCom and BSc. The new cities would allow for integrated universities to implement National Education Policy in an unbridled manner, thus allowing students to pick a variety of courses from a large campus, they said.
