Speaking at the 78th convocation of the Osmania University here, Thorat said a target of 15 per cent enrolment rate in higher education -- equivalent to seven million more students by 2012 (end of 11th Five-Year Plan) -- has been set.
He said the Union Human Resource Development Ministry is working on a target of 30 per cent enrolment by 2020.
Increase in enrolment will have to come from groups like girls, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, OBC and the poor who have low access to higher education, he said.
"Quality in higher education needs attention. To monitor the quality of universities and colleges, the UGC has made accreditation mandatory for all institutes of higher education," Thorat said.
Andhra Pradesh Governor and University Chancellor E S L Narasimhan, who was also present, suggested that PhD degree holders could take up teaching as there were a lot of vacancies in colleges and it would also help in improving quality of education.
"To further improve the quality of education, PhD holders can take up teaching as profession for two or three years on the lines of compulsory rural postings for doctors," he said.
As many as 350 PhD degrees and 70 gold medals in different courses were presented at the function.