Mission possible
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The UGC is now on a `think big' campaign — it's mission being to build a strong rural India, to create network resource centres and to implement e-learning procedures in all colleges.
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V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice-Chairman, University Grants Commission. — Photo: K. Ganesan
HALF A million teachers and 11 million students in India in colleges and universities. Never in its 50-year old existence has the University Grants Commission found itself so relevant as it is today.
The apex body for higher education is no longer a mere fund-disbursing agency. "It is no longer like a college or university here and there. We in the administration look at it from a holistic angle. This shows we have to identify priority areas if our system has to meet the challenges," says V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice-Chairman, UGC.
The funds are now given for more areas under various heads even as steps are being taken to remove rural-urban college discrimination, according to Prof. Pillai who was in Madurai recently.
Network and connectivity
Ninety five per cent of undergraduate education in the country takes place in colleges, and hence the UGC, Prof. Pillai says, has identified three areas: science education, liberal arts and humanities and social sciences.
How to provide facilities for innovation in colleges has already been discussed and a plan chalked out. This plan provides for creation of Network Resource Centres in all 6,000 UGC-recognised colleges in the country to help them get `connectivity'.
One-time grants
For all colleges located in rural areas, a one-time additional grant of Rs. 30 lakhs is being given for strengthening the infrastructure. The criterion is that the college should be located in a backward area as per the Revenue Department records.
The UGC is keen on implementing e-learning procedures in all colleges. There are 50 Educational Multimedia Research Centres for the UGC to impart this training to teachers on how to modify classrooms and augment the existing system.
Thrust on rural India
This is an additional role taken by the apex body for the cause of `rural India'.
Five hundred Gandhian study circles are being started in colleges and 50 in universities for making students work for integrated development. But what is still causing concern is that the industry is yet to assume a pro-active role to support higher education. "The industry's direct support to universities and colleges is not there. In fact, they must sponsor a few courses that are industry-oriented," Prof. Pillai says.
With foreign universities set to enter the country, the UGC is taking up an additional task — to get foreign students for Indian institutions. With another 500 colleges and 10 universities set to get the status of Potential for Excellence in the next three years, and with technology being tried out as never before, the UGC's only mantra right now is `think big'. "And we are doing it," Prof. Pillai says.
Shastry V. Mallady
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