Mumbai: Eminent academicians and industry experts at the 'VIKAS 2025' conference held at the University of Mumbai underlined the urgent need for deeper collaboration between the education and industry sectors to build a resilient ecosystem that equips students to contribute meaningfully to national development. The conference, titled VIKAS 2025 – Venturing into Industry Knowledge, Apprenticeship and Skilling, was organised jointly by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the University of Mumbai at the Sir Cowasji Jehangir Convocation Hall, Fort campus.The one-day regional conference for the western zone saw participation from over 500 delegates from Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat. Notable dignitaries included Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil, former UGC Chairman Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar, current UGC Vice Chairman Prof. Deepak Kumar Srivastava, former NCVET Chairman Dr Nirmaljeet Singh Kalsi, MU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Ravindra Kulkarni, among others.Speaking at the event, Patil emphasised that universities must evolve from being mere knowledge centres to becoming hubs of entrepreneurship. “Only when education and industry work hand-in-hand can our students transition from job-seekers to job-creators,” he said. He described apprenticeship and skill development as vital elements of self-reliance and empowerment, and asserted that VIKAS Vision 2025 would serve as a blueprint for building a stronger Maharashtra and a self-reliant India.Patil highlighted several initiatives being undertaken by the government, including the restructuring of curricula to include industry-relevant subjects, promotion of technical innovations, involvement of industry professionals as university advisors, and the establishment of startup incubation centres on campuses. He also stressed the need to embed industrial apprenticeship into the education system and view education as a continuous process of skill and technological enhancement.Former UGC Chairperson Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar, in his address on AEDP and Integration of Skill Courses as Part of Regular Degree Programmes, noted that while around 4.5 crore students are currently pursuing higher education in India, nearly 70% are enrolled in BA, BCom and BSc programmes, and only 5% in engineering. He said this presented a challenge in making general education graduates industry-ready. In response, the UGC has developed guidelines for integrating skill-based education within regular degrees and is restructuring undergraduate and postgraduate programmes to reflect these needs.Prof. Kumar proposed a model where students undertake two years of classroom learning followed by two years of hands-on experience in industry, and suggested that 50% of academic credits come from core subjects and the remaining from multidisciplinary skill modules. He announced that once implemented, these integrated programmes would be made available to students through the UGC's SWAYAM Plus platform.UGC Vice Chairman Prof. Deepak Kumar Srivastava elaborated on the national-level vision of the VIKAS 2025 initiative, stating that similar regional conferences will be organised across the country.MU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Kulkarni shared that the university will launch 20 integrated degree programmes with apprenticeship components (AEDP) at the undergraduate level from the 2025–26 academic year. He said the university had already signed a Memorandum of Understanding with BOAT-WZ (Board of Apprenticeship Training – Western Region) and was entering partnerships with several national and state-level industry bodies.