New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi said on Saturday that minorities needed to get greater access to modern education and technical knowledge.

Speaking at the eighth convocation of Jamia Hamdard at Vigyan Bhavan here, Gandhi said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had expanded scholarships to benefit minorities, Dalits, tribals and other backward classes.

Gandhi said it was the responsibility of the government to provide education to all and to improve the quality of education in the country.

Citing Jamia Hamdard as an example of excellent convergence of private initiative and government support, she called upon the private sector to play a greater role in the education sector.

Also present on the occasion were Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh.