New Delhi, Nov 5 (IANS): Improving the quality of education is central to achieving the GDP growth aims set by India, Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor said Monday.

"The biggest challenge is that there has been no significant improvement in terms of quality education delivery. The issues of skill gaps, skill shortages and unemployable graduates still persist," Tharoor said at the FICCI higher education summit.

"A study of infrastructure quality of 1,471 colleges and 111 universities by the UGC revealed that 73 percent of the colleges and 68 percent of the universities fall under the medium or low quality," he said.

The minister said that for India to "sustain its growth momentum... a world class higher education system is an important prerequisite," he added. UGC, or the University Grants Commission, is a statutory organisation set up in 1956 coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of university and higher education.

Tharoor took over as minister of state in the human resource development ministry last week.