Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu said investing in people through healthcare, quality education, jobs and skills would help build the human capital.

“It’s time for India to pursue a much more aggressive education plan by exploiting the new technology opportunities,” he said.

The Vice-President was addressing the platinum jubilee celebrations of Andhra Vidyalaya College of Arts, Science and Commerce here on Friday in which State Education Minister G. Jagdish Reddy took part.

Though India has made considerable progress in human development, it still grapples with the challenges of illiteracy, secondary schooling, low quality public services and gender discrimination, he said. The education imparted in schools, colleges and universities must lead to self discovery, enlightenment and awakening of an individual.

He said the demographics would be a game-changer in economic development and could transform the pace and pattern of economic growth. By 2020, the median age in India would just be 28 years compared to 37 in China and the U.S., 45 in Western Europe and 49 in Japan.

There should be renewed focus on gender equality and women safety through gender sensitisation programmes and it should begin at home, schools and colleges. The institutions should do everything in their power to encourage more and more young women to avail themselves the opportunities of higher education, he said.

Advising the educational institutions to pay attention to equity in access to education, Mr. Naidu said women and girls, Scheduled Castes and Tribes, differently-abled and minority groups should to have a barrier-free and equitable access to higher education.