Attempts by the government of India to impose new rules on centrally funded universities that would restrict academic freedoms and the right to protest or strike are being reversed.
reforms
Replacing the UGC Won’t Solve India’s Problems
It is being billed by the Modi government as an attempt to introduce ‘minimum government, maximum governance’, but Indian higher education needs much more deep-rooted change.
Higher Education Blown By Light Winds of Change
Several new proposals for Indian higher education promise incremental change to the system.
Apple Cofounder Says Indian Education Lacks Creativity
Source: Study International
“That’s a lot like Singapore study, study, work hard and you get an MBA, you will have a Mercedes but where is the creativity?”
Reforming India’s Healthcare
Source: BBC World Service
India plans to extend healthcare coverage to 500 million people. But how to persuade city doctors to serve rural areas?
Education Agents Searching for GST Solutions After Tax Code Shake-up
Source: The PIE
Can passing on GST on to institutions and pleas for tax exemption be solutions for Indian education agents’ increased tax bills?
100 Indian Institutions Vying for ‘Eminence’
Source: University World News
100 of India’s top educational institutions are vying to be named ‘institutions of eminence’ as part of the country’s higher education reforms to upgrade around 20 institutions into ‘world-class’ universities.
India’s Education System Needs to Be Far Better Than It Is
Source: Times of India
Bill Gates believes there is a need to reform the Indian education system and has ideas on how to do it.
Changing Higher Education to Achieve Social Inclusion
Source: University World News
Higher education can be used for the social and economic mobility of underprivileged sections. This is achieved usually by providing admission to a set of students from these sections in universities and other institutes of higher education through the reservation of a quota of seats.
Teacher Training in India Set for Regulatory Overhaul
Source: Mint
The National Council for Teacher Education promises drastic action against teacher training colleges, 3000 of which could be barred from taking admissions for the next academic year.
UGC hints at a separate board for undergraduate education
Source: The Times of India via PwC – EdLive
In a questionnaire sent out to colleges and universities, the UGC asked, among other things, whether it would be ‘appropriate to have a state board of undergraduate education on the lines of CBSE or school boards or an undergraduate board in each university’, so that varsities can focus on postgraduate education and research.
The UGC is trying to overhaul the process of college affiliation and ensure that more colleges benefit from its funding. In its questionnaire, the UGC has asked colleges and universities to list reforms that can be introduced to improve the education system. It feels that colleges are being neglected by universities. Out of the 33,000-odd colleges in the country, only 7,000 are recognised by the UGC and receive funds for the development. Most colleges do not have permanent affiliation, which is why they are losing out. The exercise is to get many more colleges under the UGC’s purview.