Panaji: The racial attacks on Indian students in Australia should prompt the Indian government to increase the number of higher learning institutions in this country, says Goa NRI Commissioner Eduardo Faleiro.

Faleiro, a former union minister of state for external affairs, said while the attacks demanded the severest condemnation, India should convert adversity into opportunity. There have been at least five incidents of Indian students being attacked in Australia in less than a month.

"This is an opportunity for the Indian government to increase the number of higher learning institutes, both in terms of quality and quantity," Faleiro told reporters at a press conference in Porvorim on Tuesday.

He said the government should also facilitate private institutes to set up international quality educational hubs to tap enterprising students who have to leave India to pursue higher education.

Faleiro was also critical of Goa being projected solely as a tourist haven, especially when it had potential to do a lot more. "We should look at projecting Goa as a cultural as well as an educational centre of excellence," Faleiro said. IANS