‘Stop treating education, skilling, employment as separate words’: Dr Narayana Bharath Gupta | THE WEEK Education Conclave 2026
Andhra Pradesh Higher Education Commissioner Gupta said workforce development is important, requiring a fundamental shift in education design and delivery that extends beyond examinations and degrees
Andhra Pradesh's Higher Education Commissioner, Dr. Narayana Bharath Gupta, advocating for a paradigm shift in education at THE WEEK Education Conclave 2026, emphasised that the purpose of learning should transcend mere examinations and degrees, focusing instead on cultivating a workforce prepared for future economic demands by integrating education, skills, and employability
Andhra Pradesh's Higher Education Commissioner, Dr. Narayana Bharath Gupta, advocating for a paradigm shift in education at THE WEEK Education Conclave 2026, emphasised that the purpose of learning should transcend mere examinations and degrees, focusing instead on cultivating a workforce prepared for future economic demands by integrating education, skills, and employability
Andhra Pradesh's Higher Education Commissioner, Dr. Narayana Bharath Gupta, advocating for a paradigm shift in education at THE WEEK Education Conclave 2026, emphasised that the purpose of learning should transcend mere examinations and degrees, focusing instead on cultivating a workforce prepared for future economic demands by integrating education, skills, and employability
Calling for a fundamental shift in the way education is designed and delivered, Dr Narayana Bharath Gupta, commissioner for higher education, Andhra Pradesh, said that the purpose of education must extend beyond examinations and degrees to creating a workforce equipped for the economy of the future.
Speaking on ‘A New Vision for Enhancing Education Standards’ at THE WEEK Education Conclave 2026 in New Delhi, Gupta said education, skills and employability can no longer be treated as separate domains. "We have to stop treating education, skilling and employment as three separate words," he said.
Highlighting Andhra Pradesh's transformation agenda, Gupta recalled how the state witnessed a technological revolution under Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in the 1990s and said it is now preparing for a new wave of innovation in areas such as quantum computing and semiconductors.
He said the state government had begun questioning whether the existing education system was capable of meeting the needs of an economy being built for the next two decades. "For a long time, we measured education through syllabus completion and examination results. The question now is whether our education system can feed the future economy," he said.
According to Gupta, Andhra Pradesh currently has around two million students pursuing higher education and nearly nine million enrolled in schools. He noted that the state's student-faculty ratio in higher education stands at 16:1, which is better than the national average.
The commissioner also highlighted plans to develop Amaravati as a major higher education hub, with 17 private institutions being established in the capital region. On curriculum reform, he stressed the need to retire obsolete courses and redesign programmes around sectors expected to drive economic growth. Andhra Pradesh, he said, has identified five strategic clusters, including semiconductors, and is restructuring academic offerings accordingly.
Gupta further underlined the importance of personalised and adaptive learning models, arguing that future education systems must be flexible enough to meet the needs of individual learners while remaining closely linked to industry requirements.