State govt to set up team of experts to help colleges, univs reach milestones
Wants To Have 3K Accredited Colleges By 2021
Yogita.Rao@timesgroup.com
Mumbai:
The state government has prepared a blueprint for enhancing the
quality of higher education in the next few years. Increasing the number
of accredited colleges from 1,174 to 3,000 by 2021, helping 700 more
colleges to attain ‘A grade in NAAC, bringing reforms in curriculum,
classroom pedagogy are some of the goals set by the state.
Since most universities and colleges in the state
performed poorly in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF),
the higher and technical education department plans to set up a
Maharashtra State Assessment and Accreditation Assistance Cell (MSAAC).
The cell’s primary work will be to push institutions into getting
accreditation and to equip them to prepare self-assessment reports based
on the requirement of the ranking agencies. The state plans to empanel
some experts from NIRF to help colleges and universities in
understanding their requirements. Help will also be taken from colleges
and universities that have performed well in the rankings.
While Savitribai Phule Pune University was ranked among the top 10 universities in the country, Mumbai University
dropped from the 101-150band to the 151-200 in NIRF. No other
university in the state performed well. Among colleges, only St Xavier’s
from the city managed 74th rank.
State’s project director for Rashtriya Uchchatar
Shikshan Abhiyan (RUSA), Meeta Rajiv Lochan, said colleges need to focus
on increasing their research output and students’ placements. “The
ranking agencies consider these as important parameters.
Many of our
colleges, however, do not have postgraduate departments or research
centres. Students’ placement cell is another essential parameter where
our colleges need improvement,” said the director. The state also plans
to help colleges increase the number of research proposals sent to
funding agencies. “Some of the colleges in our state are doing really
well, we need to just facilitate them and take them to another level,”
the director said.
RUSA will use a software used by Punjab University
and customise it for colleges and universities in the state. Since the
process of getting NAAC accreditation has moved online, institutions
will have to depend heavily on data processing and the software will
help them in organising their data too.
City's top colleges such as St Xavier’s, Jai Hind,
Ruia and Mithibai that want to transform into universities, or the ones
that will form cluster universities like HR, KC and Somaiya will have
to compete with colleges and universities from across the country to get
funding from the Centre. As the central government funding under RUSA
will go only to a limited number of institutions in the country, the
education department has chalked out a multi-pronged approach to help
them to improve their pitch note. For example, the grant of Rs 55 crore
for upgrading autonomous colleges to universities will be given only to
three colleges in the country. The state has around 45 eligible
colleges.
A college principal said the state is actively
taking interest in enhancing the quality of higher education and are
conducting regular workshops and seminars to create awareness about
different grant opportunities. In the past, RUSA has helped setting up
six research hubs in colleges and universities for transfer of
technology to the industries, considered to be one of their most
successful achievements.
TIMES VIEW:
Quality improvement measures are much needed in institutions of higher
education in the state. The vision document prepared by the education
department should be followed in totality if we need results. The
government should ensure such initiatives are not abandoned midway but
taken seriously by all stakeholders. It also needs to ensure smooth flow
of funds. The grants offered by the Centre will also act as an
incentive for colleges to do well. Instead of expecting every college to
achieve the lowest target, facilitating colleges doing exceptionally
well is a good move.
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