The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : UGC chief calls for reforms in higher education

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 03, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

UGC chief calls for reforms in higher education

Staff Reporter

COIMBATORE: It is not enough to bring about expansion, inclusiveness and quality in higher education, it is also imperative to look into the reforms that can be brought about in the higher education system, University Grants Commission Chairman Sukhadeo Thorat said on Saturday.

“Reforms cannot be brought about without the intervention and suggestions from the institutions themselves. With this in mind, the UGC has planned four regional conferences between September 11 and 20 to be attended by the Vice-Chancellors. They can use this forum to deliberate on the reforms. A national conference will be held on October 9 and 10 to finalise the deliberations,” he said.

Listing the challenges in the higher education system, he hoped that the issues would be addressed in the 11th Plan. “The Ministry of Human Resources Department and the UGC are working on this. Various steps and schemes are likely to be taken for promotion of higher education.”

The first and foremost issue that needed to be addressed was the low enrolment rate (10 per cent) in higher education. It should be increased to at least 20 per cent in the next five years to sustain the country’s economic growth, he said.

Another issue that needed attention was the imbalances and disparities in the system. “There are gender, social, inter-social, rural-urban and religious disparities. The girl ratio in higher education is a mere seven per cent as against the 11 among males. Urban ratio is 27 per cent, while those going in for higher education from rural areas are considerably less.”

Increasing quality

The third most important issue was that of increasing quality. “There are disparities even here. Some colleges and universities are good, while some others are not. Only 35 per cent of the institutions are meeting the eligibility criteria to receive UGC grants. Nearly 50-60 per cent of the institutions are graded “D” by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council. Thirty-five per cent are in the “C” grade. Quality should be given priority.” He wanted more institutions to join the list of Centres with Potential for Excellence.

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