Bharathiar varsity plans a `virtual' leap
A PROJECT for establishing a virtual learning campus at Bharathiar University was being submitted to the Department of Human Resource Development, and another (for Rs. 50 lakhs to Rs. 1 crore) was being planned for uplinking facilities with the educational satellite Edusat, said S. Sivasubramanian, Vice-Chancellor, Bharathiar University.
He said the uplinking would be done through the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Project papers were "almost ready" for submission to the Ministry of Information Technology, for establishing fast, efficient and secure fibre optic interconnectivity all over the University campus.
Plans for an indoor stadium (Rs. 1.25 crores) would be sent to the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, and a scheme to establish a bio-park (Rs. 2 crores) on the campus would be submitted to the Department of Environmental Science.
Another project for establishing a technical-business incubation centre for Rs. 1 crore would be sent to the Department of Science and Technology (DST), which was keen to promote worthwhile projects.
He said that the Centre for Women's Studies being established on the campus would focus on tribal and rural women, and carry out clustering and networking of nearby centres dealing with women's issues.
The emphasis would be on tribal women in Udhagamandalam and Valparai, besides rural women in areas such as Tirupur and Dharmapuri.
Core faculty and supporting staff would be appointed soon.
The UGC had already identified faculty for whom it would pay salaries.
The university would take up activities relating to women's studies, not carried out by other institutions.
Besides seminars and workshops, the Centre would conduct training programmes to develop entrepreneurial skills among women, and enable them to know about their rights.
There were also plans for remedial coaching for academically weaker women students.
"Simultaneously, we will carry out data collection, research, analysis and interpretation on tribal welfare and rural development, and also make recommendations for implementation by agencies concerned," he said.
With 86 affiliated colleges spread over Coimbatore, Erode and Nilgiris districts, the University would be able to send its core faculty to colleges in various areas, in order to organise programmes for women in the region.
Another plus point was that 46 per cent of the students in the University were women.
Asked about the reasons for the UGC choosing Bharathiar University for setting up the Centre, Mr. Sivasubramanian said that the main reason was the knowledge base of the University in areas such as sociology, population studies, economics and management, in which research studies on women's issues were being carried out.
A.A. Michael Raj
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