Terming higher education a  'sick child', Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh [Images] on Wednesday lamented it was not serving the cause of young people and asked vice-chancellors to work on a roadmap to provide quality and inclusive education.

"Higher education is a sick child of education. It is now serving the cause of the young people of India," Singh said while inaugurating a two-day national conference of vice-chancellors in New Delhi.

Addressing the conference on the 'Development of Higher Education: Expansion, Inclusion and Excellence', organised by the University Grants Commission (UGC), he said there was a big divide between the rich and poor in terms of access to education.

"Keeping the divide in view, you should define what should be the content, extent, methodology and basic ingredients of higher education," Singh said. Later, responding to suggestions of vice-chancellors, Singh said, "Inclusion and access with equity are the core issues that confront us today."

He noted that the required resources were available for expansion of higher education and also asked the states to take more interest in education.

Earlier, Planning Commission member B Mungekar also expressed concern over the quality of higher education.
"Today, not more than nine to 10 per cent graduates are employable. There is a totally diverse economic and social reality. The task is to drastically restructure the education system," he said.