SEZ for higher education likely

National Association of Software and Service Companies advocated the creation of Special Economic Zones for higher education, on the lines of those in industries.

The SEZ concept should be tried on a pilot basis in higher and professional education, Nasscom president Kiran Karnik told reporters at Sathyamangalam, about 70 km from Coimbatore.

"As we need huge investments in education, we can encourage more private participation in the sector," he said adding this could pave way for quality education, since the government has limited resources to invest.

Though it was a 'sensitive subject', it would be worth trying out, Karnik said.

"We can do it on a small basis in different parts of the country. Only then we will be able to know the advantages and pitfalls," he pointed out.

Rules and regulations were putting a lot of constraints and was inhibiting the growth in the education sector. The fee and quality parameters should be decided by market forces, Karnik said.

However, one needed to go 'cautiously', since there were concern on this front, as commercialisation has already happened in the basic sectors such as primary education and healthcare, Karnik added.

Karnik was at Sathyamangalam in nearby Erode district, to inaugurate Nasscom's initiative of IT-ITES Industry-academia meet, jointly organised by Bannari Amman Institute of Technology.