Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday said that the government has decided to make "appropriate changes" to the syllabi from kindergarten to post-graduate levels (KG to PG) to make them more industry-friendly.

Chavan said, "We need to change our traditional syllabus. Education skills of students passing out of colleges should match the demand of the industry. At present, educated students are there, but they do not have the skills needed by the industrial world, and hence they remain jobless. We have to change this scenario by giving vocational training. It can be done only by overhauling our syllabus. As a part of it, we have decided to take help from prominent industrialists."

Chavan was talking on the "KG to PG syllabus and development in state" subject at Sahyadri Guest House. The function was attended by Godrej Group chairman Adi Godrej, Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry, state chief secretary JS Saharia and other eminent people.

"The future economy will be knowledge-based. Those who have knowledge and skills will get jobs and thrive in competition. So, the need of the hour is to acquire knowledge. For that, educational institutes have to improve themselves to impart quality education. Our institutes and universities should have global-level syllabus. Then only will we be able to compete with other world-class universities," Chavan added.

As a part of this exercise, the state government has decided to change its junior level to higher and technical-level curriculum. "...We have decided to add vocational training courses to the syllabi at various levels. As a result, no one will remain jobless in future. Either they will get jobs in suitable industry or will be self-employed. To impart quality education, we have also decided to recruit trained teachers for each educational institute," he said.

Saharia said prominent industrialists have promised to help the government in this initiative. "To improve the levels of higher education, we have received the state-appointed committee's report. The committee comprises scientist Anil Kakodkar, Dr Ram Takwale and Dr Arun Nigavekar. We will incorporate the committee's suggestions in our existing syllabi. We are sure that these steps will help reduce unemployment ratio in the state," said Saharia.

SNDT university's prof Mangesh Kadam said such a move will prove harmful in the long run. "We cannot focus only on industry. Subjects that help the person grow socially and politically are equally important," he said.