Higher education and research

Free ACI Student Electronic Membership

2012-01-13T15:17:00.002+05:30

This free electronic membership is designed to expose students, in a technologically-friendly manner, to the benefits of ACI. In addition to access to journals and publications, the E-Membership provides students with the opportunity to receive scholarships and create ties with the community. It is important for the students in their education. It will also help them create ties and gain knowledge from experienced members of ACI and their community.

Students can visit www.students.concrete.org - 24 hours a day, seven days a week - for details and to sign up.

Inform students about this free program and encourage them to become ACI Student E-Members.

Students are required to provide their professor's/advisor's name and e-mail address in the application so that ACI may confirm student status. Students who prefer to receive CI and Journals in the mail can still do so, for a fee.

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Equity and access at UC Berkeley

2011-12-22T07:30:00.002+05:30

Promising "disruptive progress," the engineering college at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, has named an associate dean, Oscar Dubon, for equity and inclusion to help it increase the number of students and faculty members from underrepresented groups.

The college's first step will be to improve its "yield"—the percentage of students who actually enroll after being admitted into either the undergraduate or graduate engineering program. The Dean Sastry believes that more money would make a big difference. "Fellowship support is the primary factor in improving yield" at the graduate level, he says. Winning over high school students is more complicated, he admits, and the college plans to try everything from overnight visits to summer research experiences. The plan also discusses various approaches to improving student retention rates, as well as a long-term strategy for recruiting more minority and female faculty members.

US National Science Foundation model of university-industry cooperation

2011-12-06T13:51:00.000+05:30

I recently came across an interesting programme conducted by the US national Science Foundation to promote research cooperation between industry and university.

The Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (I/UCRC) program develops long-term partnerships among industry, academe, and government. The centers are catalyzed by a small investment from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and are primarily supported by industry center members, with NSF taking a supporting role in the development and evolution of the center. Each center is established to conduct research that is of interest to both the industry members and the center faculty. An I/UCRC contributes to the Nation's research infrastructure base and enhances the intellectual capacity of the engineering and science workforce through the integration of research and education. As appropriate, an I/UCRC uses international collaborations to advance these goals within the global context.

This is a model that could be emulated by Indian universities.

Body shopping in higher education

2011-12-02T15:18:00.000+05:30

The media reports show that there is a spate of higher educational institutions in India (engineering, management) signing bipartite agreements with the foreign universities; mostly with those not known for high academic standing. Why this sudden increase in the Indian institutions? Does it help improve the academic standard of higher educational institutions in India?? I feel curious.

One thing is sure, the academic standard will improve only if the components of research and mutual faculty exchange are involved in such agreements. However the fulfillment of academic term by the students at Indian and foreign campus is prominently highlighted. Who pays for the cost? Parents obviously!

A word of caution for the students and parents: Check the academic standing of the foreign institutions, before you pay through the nose.

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IIT JEE's new avatar

2011-09-24T08:27:00.000+05:30

It is high time, the State level CETs are abolished and all aspiring students appear for one national level examination, IIT JEE. According to the recent decision taken by the IIT council, the marks obtained in the State level Board examination shall be given due weightage.

IIT JEE's new avatar

Engineering colleges technical events

2011-09-20T14:52:00.000+05:30

It has become customery for the engineering colleges to organise some student-related technical event, annually. Such events mostly consist of paper presentation, model-making, project competitions and so on.

Recently I read one engineering college organised a conference on nano-technology. Nano is a very catchy word. How many faculty in the engineering college are carrying out research on the subject? Is there a laboratory available for the purpose in the college? All these aspects are overlooked.

It is high time the University looks into the quality of papers published by the faculty. Serious efforts are needed to guide the faculty to carry out fruitful research work. Most faculty think carrying out research requires huge money. That is not correct and there are ample examples to prove it is wrong. The research must have high impact value, in terms of solving the techno-economic problems faced by the industry, society and the country.

Besides, it is necessary to pay attention to the quality of projects carried out by the students at the undergraduate level. Providing proper guidance to the projects remains a largely neglected area in the engineering college.

The organisation of technical events mentioned in the first paragraph will be useful only when the institutions improve the quality of teaching and research and also play adequate attention to the students projects. After all we require competent faculty to evaluate the students performance in these events.

Purpose of education

2011-05-18T07:36:00.000+05:30

I think the most important purpose of education is to offer opportunity to individuals to discover their self. Continuous remediation of students' deficiencies is a very important aspect. Educators in India should take a cue from US experience. http://lnkd.in/MbCFwT

Industry stint for teachers: Will that solve the problem

2011-03-11T10:55:00.003+05:30

The Maharashtra State (India) minister for higher and technical education Rajesh Tope on Thursday said the industry experience will be compulsory for teachers in all government run technical institutions. Changes would be made accordingly in the recruitment rules for teachers. The Minister added: “When an individual completes his/her graduation, he/she starts teaching immediately in institutions. If the teacher has some work experience in an industry, it would benefit the students and the faculty as well”. Yes! The standard of higher education has gone down. However, it is doubtful whether sending teachers to the industry will solve the problem. Having worked 36 years in the industry, research and teaching, I have got some idea of the problem. To be specific, the quality of teaching, especially in engineering, has gone down due to the following reasons:

(a) Lack of research in the educational institutions: It should be appreciated that the teacher engaged in research shall definitely become a good teacher in that subject. This is unlike the universities in US and other countries, where majority of the industry-oriented research is carried out in the Universities.

(b) Lack of competence: It is generally observed that individuals go for teaching, when they do not get other jobs. Teaching requires devotion. An individual will do well in teaching only when he likes it.

(c) Inadequate remuneration: The remunerations in the educational institutions are poor in comparison to the industry.

Understanding an industry takes years. Sending a teacher to industry for few months will serve no purpose. It will not add any value to the teaching.

As Abraham Lincoln once said, "Anything that you understand, you are able to explain". That is the problem with many teachers. They are poor at teaching because they do not understand the subject. Quite unfortunate indeed, but that is the reality. That problem is not going to be solved, visiting an industry for few months. We need to understand, students go to college to learn academics. Whole life is ahead to obtain industrial experience. However they will not be able to relate with the industrial experience, if they remain poor at fundamentals.

Effective public speaking

2011-02-08T09:43:00.000+05:30

The students, teachers and researchers must remember the following aspects while presenting their case on the public platform:

Develop a clear and concise speaking style—especially for those for whom English is a second language
Organize your points logically around a central key theme
Understand your audience and determine the best way to make your case
Use visual aids and body language to enhance the impact of your message

In order to obtain detailed guidance on the subject, read the following book:

Scientists Must Speak, Second Edition

Author: D Eric Walters and Gale C Walters

Publisher: CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group

Price: $ 24.95

Reforming higher education

2010-04-18T17:38:00.004+05:30

“There is no need for any government regulation. Let private institutions come up and students can make their choice based on the information on which institutes provide quality education.”

This is what Lord Meghnad Desai, Professor Emeritus, London School of Economics said at the fifth Oxford India Business Forum 2010, at New Delhi, on 25 March 2010.

As a manifestation of the Central Government’s resolve to reform and restructure the higher education sector, the draft Bill on formulation of the National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER) has been placed before the Indian Parliament. The Commission seeks to replace institutions such as the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Noted educationists all over the country have expressed concerns over the efficacy of the Bill bringing in the desired changes in the higher education system. As higher education is an area that concerns a large number of people, the Central Government should be more pro-active in seeking feedback from stakeholders and that should be the norm all the time. The major concerns expressed are as follows:

(a) NCHER Bill undermines the autonomy. It tends towards centralisation of powers and control over academic initiatives. The Preamble lays down two basic objectives, firstly, ‘to provide for the determination, co-ordination, maintenance of standards in and promotion of higher education and research' and secondly to ‘promote the autonomy of higher educational institutions, for the free pursuit of knowledge and innovation and for facilitating access, inclusion and opportunities to all'. There is a mismatch between what is proposed in the preamble and incorporated in the body of the Bill. The terms of the proposed Bill are such that they may not improve the quality of education or make much needed autonomy a reality.

The statement in the preamble is in favour of autonomy. Both academic and administrative autonomy are necessary if the universities are to become real centres of learning. But autonomy without democratisation is likely to lead to an authoritarian system. The Bill is silent about democratisation. Even the colleges should become autonomous, as the affiliating system is under severe strain. But the character of the Bill, despite the claims to the contrary, undermines autonomy rather than advancing it. The commission's powers to make regulations are likely to impinge upon autonomy rather than promote it. It has assumed powers far greater than what was exercised by the UGC. Moreover, UGC was essentially an advisory body in academic matters.

(b) NCHER is not sufficiently rooted in academic imperatives. NCHER is mainly a management remedy. The problems that higher education is facing are not essentially because of inefficient management but because of the inability of the system to ensure quality. Whether a new apex body which would exercise ‘national' control is the ideal solution for the problem deserves very serious consideration.

(c) NCHER is not an umbrella organisation. The resolution on the National Policy on Education (NPE) passed by the parliament few years back envisages creation of a single regulating organisation replacing as many as 13 different regulating organisations approved by the Parliament. For example, the education in agriculture and medicine still lie outside the purview of NCHER.

(d) NCHER may remain organizationally inadequate. The commission is a highly centralised body manned by a chairman and six members, supported by a collegium, consisting of core and co-opted fellows to ‘aid, advice and make recommendation to the commission'. The commission is a pretty isolated organisation without any window to the society. The collegium is at best a deliberating body and would not exercise any control over the commission. Eminent personalities like Nobel award winners, Jnanapeeth Award winners shall be appointed members of the collegium. Notwithstanding the eminence of these personalities, they may not be fully aware about the ground realities and problems faced by the higher education in the country. The management of higher education in the country would thus be left in the hands of a committee of seven who have no prescribed channels of feedback. Therefore, even if well intentioned, the commission would be starved of necessary democratic connection.

(e) Compulsory accreditation as envisaged in the Bill may not be effective. There are considerable reservations about the manner in which the accreditation system is working now. Whether a national system can function effectively is doubtful. After many years of the system being in operation, only a small percent of colleges have so far been graded. The National Knowledge Commission (NKC) has proposed the idea of licensing accrediting agencies, probably involving private agencies. It is not clear as to if the provision in the bill which refers to accrediting agencies registered under the commission would involve the implementation of NKC proposal. In principle, the authority to regulate and accredit should rest with public authorities. The process of accreditation should be participative and the purpose ameliorative rather than punitive. It is perhaps time to review the system. One possibility is an internal assessment with external participation at the State level. The accreditation today primarily looks into the ‘process’of imparting education. Rather it would be better to evaluate the ‘product’ of education. The product based evaluation shall call for total review of the methodology. That is what perhaps Meghnad Desai means (see quote at the top)

To sum, the NCHER should be a single umbrella organisation at the national level with necessary monitoring and regulatory functions. ‘Autonomy at all levels’ should be the watchword while drafting the Bill. The collegium, with advisory role, should consist of eminent personalities from the field of education with a feel of local conditions obtaining in different parts of the country. An effective system should be established to seek sustained feedback from the stakeholders as well as to maintain adequate checks and balances over the functioning of the Commission. The accreditation today is ‘process’ oriented. It may be worthwhile making it ‘product’ oriented.

Parents choose correct engineering college

2010-03-27T16:32:00.002+05:30

As a Principal of an engineering college I meet number of parents, especially while seeking admissions, asking about which engineering college or engineering branch will be good for their ward. Here are some tips.

(a)Read the information given in the brochure provided by the Director technical Education (DTE) and also that provided by the college

(b)Go to the website(s) of the college and click on the “Compulsory Disclosure” and read the information carefully. If the college has not disclosed the proper information, report to DTE

(c) It is necessary to visit the concerned college and the department where you intend to seek the admission. Look for the following information:

(i) College management and their track record

(ii) College principal and his reputation

(iii) Department head, his/her reputation, number of faculty and their qualification, teaching experience

(iv) Department laboratories, equipment

(v) Research currently undergoing in the Department and the involvement of faculty members and students in therein. This is important, as the quality of teaching is almost proportional to the quality of research.

(vi) Research papers published by the faculty in the international journals

(vii) Results and consistency: Students in the university merit list (first ten) for last three years.

(viii) College fees: should be proportional to the reputation

Seek admission for your ward, once you are satisfied with these aspects.

India: Union cabinet clears foreign universities bill

2010-03-16T20:00:00.005+05:30

The Union Cabinet: India on 15 march 2010 cleared the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operation) Bill, 2010, for introduction in Parliament. It seeks to allow foreign education providers to set up campuses in the country and offer degrees.

Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said: “This is a milestone which will enhance choices, increase competition and benchmark quality. A larger revolution than even in the telecom sector awaits us.”

The Foreign Universities Bill, 2010, has been pending for the last four years owing to opposition from various quarters, including the Left parties, over certain provisions. Last year, it was referred to a Committee of Secretaries, which brought modifications to certain provisions.

The Bill was approved by the Cabinet, presided over by Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, without any change. It prescribes an eight-month, time-bound format for granting approval to foreign educational institutions to set up campuses. They will go through different levels of registration process during this period. Finally, they will be registered with the University Grants Commission or any other regulatory body to be put in place that will scrutinise the proposals of the aspiring institution as per India's priorities and advise the government whether to allow it to operate in India.

Though 100 per cent foreign direct investment through the automatic route is permitted in the education sector since 2000, the legal structure does not allow granting of degrees by foreign educational institutions here.

Three other reform bills, slated to be taken up in the Cabinet, were deferred to the next meeting. These are the Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill, the Educational Tribunal Bill and the National Accreditation Authority Bill. A Group of Ministers has already cleared the Bills.

Higher educational institutions, including IITs and IIMs, today hailed the government's go ahead for a bill to allow entry of foreign education providers in India and sought to allay any threat posed by the institutions from abroad.

Four years ago, when India first flirted with the idea of opening its doors to foreign universities, optimists said Harvard, Yale and Oxford would line up to get in. Now it seems few big-tags are interested in investing in India, although, Imperial College, Duke College, Georgia Tech and Schulich School of Business (York University) — are among those who have so far met senior officials in the HRD ministry and spoken of setting up a full-fledged campus.

One thing is for sure, the foreign universities in India shall initiate a competition among educational institutions, give boost to the research activity in the universities. These universities will also be able to offer attractive pay package to the faculty to attract good candidates.

The establishment of foreign university campuses in India shall provide an option to the students going to foreign countries in large numbers to obtain higher degrees.

This Bill along with the three other related Bills (mentioned as above) will be an effective package after the approval of the Parliament.

As whole, it appears to be a good move. Three cheers to the HRD Minister !

Relevance of MBA

2010-02-25T13:33:00.004+05:30

Many engineers prefer to join MBA after BE. There is fundamental difference between MBA and BE. Whereas BE is knowledge-based, MBA is skill-based. For example an engineer wanting to design a reactor or design a structure must know and understand the mathematical formulae required for the purpose. On the other hand, there is no formula or a set path to manage a business. Managing a business is a skill till date. Every businessman evolves his style of management, based on the manpower (skill sets), equipment and materials required for the purpose. The structured training in management helps him manage better. The importance of work experience before joining MBA needs to be understood in proper perspective.

After graduation, one joins a job. The real nature of the job, say production, services, finance, marketing, etc., is known only after working in a particular area for few years. After some years (3 - 5) of working, one comes to know about the additional skill sets required to become efficient and successful in the profession. That is the stage when MBA course, with a specialization in the relevant area of management, should be joined.

As an engineer, I would say, every graduate engineer joining the industry should go for postgraduate qualification in management. After some years of work experience, most engineers rise to the level of GM and above. At that stage, the management skills are more important than the technical knowledge.

Deemed doomed

2010-01-19T14:25:00.005+05:30

The HRD ministry has decided to de-recognize as many as 44 "deemed universities", spelling uncertainty for nearly two lakh students enrolled with them. The ministry's decision amounts to an acknowledgement of irregularities in conferring the "deemed" tag to these institutions.

The 44 "deemed" universities are spread across the country, including one promoted by a minister, three government-sponsored ones and some in the National Capital Region. These deemed universities were found deficient on many grounds -- ranging from lack of infrastructure to lack of evidence of expertise in disciplines they claim to specialize in, according to the findings of a high power review committee appointed by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

The ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) emphasized that the affected students would be taken care of. The ministry's task force recommended that institutions not found fit for deemed university status revert back to the status quo ante as an affiliated college of the state university of jurisdiction, so that students complete their ongoing courses and obtain degree from the affiliating university. Similarly, medical and dental colleges not found suitable can affiliate to state university or state medical university. While these safeguards have been recommended, the students are nonetheless likely to go through a phase of uncertainty as they move from one university to another.

In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court of India, the HRD ministry said the review committee found only 38 institutes fit to have the deemed university status. Another 44 were found "deficient" in some aspects which need to be rectified over the next three years. With Supreme Court likely to approve HRD's action, it is unlikely that government will have to face any litigation.

The HRD ministry's review committee found the following glaring omissions in case of 44 deemed universities:

* Undesirable management structure where families rather than professional academics controlled the functioning

* Several institutions had violated the principles and guidelines prescribing excellence in teaching and research and were engaged in introduction of thoughtless programmes
* Little evidence of noticeable efforts in case of emerging areas of knowledge
* Little evidence of commitment towards research
* Institutions increased their intake capacity disproportionately
* Undergraduate and post-graduate courses were fragmented with concocted nomenclatures
* Higher fee structure than prescribed

A model for academic-industry cooperation

2009-12-09T14:32:00.005+05:30

Collaborations among universities and businesses are crucial not only to making new discoveries but also to ensuring that breakthroughs in science and technology find their way to the people who need them. Academics have a history of either giving away too much of their intellectual property to corporate partners or of making it too difficult for companies to license the technology. The solution is to find a middle ground.

James Weyhenmeyer, Senior Vice Provost for Research with the State University of New York (SUNY) shows the way. He sites an example of a deal signed in 2007 for the University of California Berkeley, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to work with energy producer BP on a US $500 million research program to explore how bioscience can be used to increase energy production and reduce the impact of energy consumption on the environment. The following are the highlights:

(a) The intellectual property consisted of a "yours, mine and ours" model, which meant each party retained the rights to all of the work done at their campus facilities but had to share ownership of projects developed at joint sites (BP set up labs on both campuses)

(b) It included a clause that gave the energy company a royalty-free, nonexclusive license to commercialize the results of the collaboration

(d) In the event this group developed a blockbuster technology, Lawrence Berkeley and the universities could renegotiate with BP for a bigger piece of the pie.

This deal can become a model for others to follow

Ref: When universities and businesses collaborate, it's "yours, mine and ours" by Larry Greenemeier, Scientific American Observations, Dec 8, 2009

Boost for research

2009-11-23T07:41:00.003+05:30

India's apex industry chamber, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)), is set to sign three MoUs for cooperation with three leading US institutions. The MOUs will be signed by the Prime Minister during his visit to US.

The first MoU with IC² Institute at the University of Texas at Austin calls for the implementation of new, distinctive programmes in India with the aim of helping Indian innovators bring their ideas to the world. The interdisciplinary research unit of The University of Texas at Austin, the IC² Institute has advanced the Theory and Practice of Entrepreneurial Wealth Creation.

With sponsorship from the Lockheed Martin Corporation, FICCI and IC² Institute teamed together in March 2007 to launch a first of its kind initiative "The India Innovation Growth Programme" with the prime objective of assisting Indian innovators across the country and across a diversified range of sectors to take their R&D work to global markets.

The programme has successfully completed three years and has signed 73 business deals in India and around the world. Major deals have been signed under the programme in the sectors of waste management, rural technology, life sciences, avionics and green technology. The FICCI and IC² Institute have also jointly assessed 200 technologies from 26 DRDO labs across India and 7 licensing agreements have been finalised in India

The second MoU with the Polytechnic Institute of New York University commits the organizations to a culture of innovation in India. Under this pact, NYU-Poly and FICCI will design and host activities to promote an understanding of how partnerships between government, industry, and educational institutions can spur advances in research and bolster economic activity in India.

The two organisations have agreed to bring their respective strengths to meet India's growing demand for world-class research and development facilities that attract global talent. NYU-Poly, New York City's most comprehensive engineering and technology institutions of higher education, will showcase the successes of American models of private-public partnerships at events in India.

FICCI in turn will engage academic, research, government, and business entities in the cultivation of public-private partnerships.

The third MoU with the Institute of International Education, Inc. (IIE) outlines an agreement to partner to promote and facilitate educational and training exchanges between the United States and India. The IIE, a leading not-for-profit educational and cultural exchange organization in the United States, will collaborate with FICCI to facilitate more student exchanges and build academic partnerships between the two countries.

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Teachers must research

2009-10-18T07:58:00.004+05:30

Teachers’ Participation in Research Programs Improves Their Students’ achievements in studies

The Program advocates assert that program participationenhances teachers’ skills in communicating science tostudents. They measured the impact of New York City public high-schoolscience teachers’ participation in Columbia University’sSummer Research Program on their students’ academic performancein science. In the year before program entry, students of participatingand nonparticipating teachers passed a New York State Regentsscience examination at the same rate. In years three and fourafter program entry, participating teachers’ studentspassed Regents science exams at a rate that was 10.1% higher than that of the non-participating teachers’ students.Other program benefits include decreased teacher attrition fromclassroom teaching and school cost savings.

The above results apply better in case of higher education. That is what experience shows.

Ref: “Teachers’ Participation in Research Programs Improves Their Students’ Achievement in Science”,

Samuel C. Silverstein, Jay Dubner, Jon Miller, Sherry Glied, John D. Loike, Science, 16 October 2009, Vol. 326. No. 5951, pp. 440 – 442,

DOI: 10.1126/science.1177344

Indian ancestry

2009-09-24T07:35:00.004+05:30

The outcome of an extensive genetic research suggests that the population of India was founded on two ancient groups that are as genetically distinct from each other as they are from other Asians, according to the largest DNA survey of Indian heritage to date. Nowadays, however, most Indians are a genetic hotchpotch of both ancestries, despite the populous nation's highly stratified social structure.

A team led by David Reich of the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Lalji Singh of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, India probed more than 560,000 DNA-letter differences, called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) across the genomes of 132 Indian individuals from 25 diverse ethnic and tribal groups dotted all over India.

The researchers showed that most Indian populations are genetic admixtures of two ancient, genetically divergent groups, which each contributed around 40-60% of the DNA to most present-day populations. One ancestral lineage — which is genetically similar to Middle Eastern, Central Asian and European populations — was higher in upper-caste individuals and speakers of Indo-European languages such as Hindi, the researchers found. The other lineage was not close to any group outside the subcontinent and was most common in people indigenous to the Andaman Islands a remote archipelago in the Bay of Bengal.

Indian populations, although currently huge in number, were also founded by relatively small bands of individuals, the study suggests. Overall, the picture that emerges is of ancient genetic mixture, followed by fragmentation into small, isolated ethnic groups, which were then kept distinct for thousands of years because of limited intermarriage — a practice also known as endogamy.

Ref: Elie Dolgin, "Indian ancestry revealed", Nature, 23 September 2009, doi:10.1038/news.2009.935

R&D required in electronics technology

2009-09-21T07:27:00.007+05:30

India which boasts of being an IT superpower, is heavily dependent on imports of electronic goods from countries like the U.S. and China to meet its domestic demand. In spite of having a tax exemption of 150 percent, the Indian industries spend very little on the research and development.

The joint study done by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) and Ernst and Young points out that the Indian industry spends only $10 million on research and development.More than 70 percent of electronics appliances demand is met through imports, the study revealed.

More than 35 percent of electronics appliances imports in India are sourced from China. One wonders how India is going to compete with the so called 'Asian Tiger', increasingly depending on it in such critical areas.

The study, which is based on inputs from 89 companies, also stated that the Indian electronics and appliances market has less than two percent share in the global market, while share in production is less than one percent.

The Indian industry in general is seen as interested in making quick buck importing goods or technology even when such imports are of semi knocked down(SKD) form or completely knocked down(CKD) type.

The Government of India must provide more incentives, in tax and capital, to industries consistently investing in R&D

Higher education reforms: autonomous colleges

2009-07-29T07:22:00.004+05:30

The Indian government is thinking of freeing colleges from universities and letting them run their own show. This was announced by human resource development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal during his meeting with principal secretaries and secretaries of higher education from the states.

In order to become independent, colleges will first have to excel in many areas. Should they improve further, they could be allowed to become universities.

The Centre plans to create a three-tier system of affiliated colleges, autonomous colleges and universities. Their standards will be judged through an accreditation system formulated by the States so that students know the quality and resources of institute they attend. That would introduce competition among the educational institutions.

The government wants to regulate the fees and the admission process in private and unaided colleges and create a regulatory mechanism to prevent the business of capitation fees. States have also been asked for ideas on how to insulate the selection of vice-chancellors from politics.

A three-month deadline has been set for the education secretaries to prepare a vision document on the targets to be achieved in higher education by 2020. That must contain the state's targets for higher education till 2020, details of the current conditions, the number of universities and colleges, what the state thinks of their quality and a plan to increase Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in higher education. The document will help the government plug loopholes, boost the sector and set benchmarks for 2020.

The government has ambitious plans for enrollment. It plans to bring a 5% increase in GER by the end of the 11th Plan and raise it to the global average of 30% by 2020. The states were also pulled up for pinching pennies on the education. According to the Ministry, the Centre's education spend, as a percentage of GDP, has increased to 0.91% in 2009 from 0.53% in 2000-01, while the states' spend has declined from 3.76% to 2.73%.

National Knowledge Commission on Higher Education

USA-India Educational Exchange

Full interest subsidy on educational loans for poor students

Brain drain

2009-07-16T12:24:00.002+05:30

Over 2.64 lakh students, who have gone abroad for studies, are spending approximately USD 5.5 billion (about Rs 27,000 crore) every year, Lok Sabha (Parliament of India) was informed. Most of the students who go abroad for higher education, seek jobs in the foreign country, resulting in a permanent loss of talent for the country.

This huge outflow of money and the brain can be at least partly reduced if the universities and the technical institutions in India deliver what their foreign counterparts do.

It is essential that conducive atmosphere is created in India so that the reputed foreign universities come here. The entry of foreign institutions in the higher education shall generate healthy competition and help improving the quality of education as a whole.

Higher education: Harvard, Stanford, MIT, welcome to India

2009-07-12T07:21:00.003+05:30

The Human Resource Development Minister of India, Kapil Sibal, says foreign universities like Harvard are welcome in India. He expressed that these universities will come to India on certain terms and conditions. Everyone's view will be taken into consideration and decision will be taken according to the national interest.

The foreign universities are investing in the developing country like Malaysia. The expenses incurred in educating a child there are just half of that in Australia. If the universities are giving the same education in Malaysia at half the price, they are welcome to do the same in India too.

The academic standard of Indian universities is poor, especially in the area of research in science and technology. The top world universities give considerable emphasis on research. The competition with foreign universities shall motivate Indian universities to improve academic standard and pursue research. It will also be a good career opportunity for the competent faculty.

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Higher education: thrust area in India Finance Budget 2009

2009-07-07T06:54:00.003+05:30

The newly elected United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has made higher education its thrust area with a view to increasing the gross enrollment ratio to 15 per cent by the end of the 11th Five Year Plan.

The key announcement in this regard was made by the Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his budget speech on Monday, in the form of a student loan for economically weaker sections. Under this scheme, eligible students will be provided full interest subsidy during the period of moratorium. It will cover loans taken by such students from scheduled banks to pursue any of the approved courses of study, in technical and professional streams, from recognised institutions in the country. An estimated 0.5 million students would benefit from this scheme.

He also extended the scope of Section 80E of the Income-tax Act — providing tax exemptions for educational loans to pursue higher studies in specific areas — to cover all sectors including vocational studies after school.

While the Plan outlay for higher education has been raised from Indian Rs. 6,8000 million in 2008-09 to Rs. 9,5960 million, the allocation for school education and literacy remains static at Rs. 26,8000 million. However, the non-Plan outlay in both departments has gone up sizeably; primarily owing to the increase in salaries following the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.

Ref: Hindu Daily, Tuesday, 7 July 2009

Full interest subsidy on educational loans for poor students

Higher education: welcome reforms

2009-06-27T12:15:00.002+05:30

As a part of the HRD ministry's current move to overhaul the education system in India, the existing regulatory bodies like UGC, AICTE, Medical Council of India, NCTE and Distance Education Council shall be replaced by one single body. This is in line with the recommendations made by National Knowledge Commission and the Yashpal committee. Welcome move indeed !

It will go long way reducing the prevailig malpractices and also contribute towards improving the quality of higher education

The Yashpal committee laments the ill-growth of private educational institutions and deemed universities.The committee recommends granting of deemed universites be put on hold till unambiguous, rational guidelines are evolved. The Committe observes that the behaviour of some private universities has become a matter of serious concern to students and parents. A detailed probe into the basic reasons for the concerns revealed that many of them were professional colleges that got approval from the regulatory bodies for university status. Immediately after, they began admitting five to six times their capacity, without a corresponding increase in faculty strength or infrastructure. The classes were conducted at strange hours like factory operations. The students who paid huge capitation fees felt cheated. The students from the underprivileged sections could not get admission in many of them, due to heavy capitation fees”.

Another big part of the plan is a legislation to prevent, prohibit and punish educational malpractices. The draft Bill has been sent to the Law Ministry. It proposes to give teeth to the government to deal with institutions that do not meet promises made in their prospectus, be it fees, quality of teachers or infrastructure. The recognition to deemed universities, 127 new ones in the past five years, is being reviewed.

Accreditation shall be mandatory for higher education institutions.The entry barriers would be very tough.Once passed, an institute can become a deemed university and even a full-fledged university.

A law to regulate foreign education providers is on the anvil. The Bill proposes to regulate fees and ensure Indian laws are followed. Whether these institutions would have to abide by the quota rule,would be decided on a case-by-case basis. Big foreign universities might be exempted from quotas.

The economically weaker sections will be offered interest subsidy on the educational loans. The scheme might be a part of the budget 2009.

On the planning board is also a scholarship scheme under which money will be directly credited to bank accounts of 41,000 boys and an equal number of girls in colleges.

The Government proposal on educational reforms is a result of continuing discussion and debate that go back to the previous UPA regime and are being monitored by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has accorded priority to the sector.

Deemed universities: let them bloom

2009-06-09T07:09:00.001+05:30

From the press reports it appears that the new UPA government has begun the process of revamping the country's education system, as it has decided not to accept any further applications for Deemed-to-be-University status. Union Human Resource Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday told that, the new mechanism would have steps to check capitation fees by professional colleges and setting up of a national council for higher education as a regulatory body.

It is not clear whether this is a temporary or permanent halt. If temporary, it is welcome till the effective system of checks and balances is put in place. However permanent ban will be a negative step on the long run. The deemed universities have certain unique advantages over the conventional state-run universities. There is no limit to reaching the academic heights, if the attitude of management is proper. It can also quickly respond to the requirements of industry and research due to short response time.
The state run universities with large number of affiliated colleges, are beset with bureaucracy, which is a means of rampant political and governmental interference. What happened in these universities in last sixty years is likely to continue, until systemic changes are brought in.

If India is to achieve progress in academics, it will be only through deemed universities, with adequate checks and balances on their functioning.