Source: University World News
The UGC of India has set a target to increase the gross enrolment ratio in higher education to 30% by 2020.
UGC
Regulator to Review Quality of PhD Theses Over 10 Years
Source: University World News
The University Grants Commission has launched a review of PhD theses in Indian universities over the last 10 years, amid concerns that doctoral degrees are being granted to candidates whose theses lack originality and quality.
Should Publishing Journal Articles Be Mandatory for PhD Students?
Source: The Wire
PhD programs at most Indian universities are, despite what some would consider to be stringent UGC regulations, poorly run. The fault lies at several levels, not just with the rules, and not only with the UGC either.
University Body Defers Decision On Institutes Of Eminence
Source: University World News
The UGC has deferred their decision as more names have been recommended than the government allowed for.
Revamp of University Regulatory Body Faces Opposition
The Indian government’s move to replace the University Grants Commission, with a new body to allow institutions more autonomy faces opposition in parliament.
The Unwanted Makeover of India’s Higher Education
The UGC’s planned replacement and the ’eminence’ tag for Jio Institute form part of the shock and awe tactics by which the annihilation of Indian higher education is taking place.
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.
New Regulatory Body Will Push HE Quality and Autonomy
The Indian government has put forward two draft acts to replace the higher education regulatory body with a new body.
Jobs Top Priority as UGC Sets Target for 2022 for All Institutes
UGC comes up with a 5-point plan to help Modi get the jobs he is looking for.
India’s Central Universities Have Modern Sensibilities, but Are Conservative
Centralization in the UGC system has had negative effects on the quality of higher education.
Impact Factors Fail In Evaluating Scientists
The journal impact factor has numerous flaws, making it irresponsible for the UGC to rely on it.
Thousands Protest in Delhi Against Alleged Privatization of Education
The UGC recently granting full autonomy to 62 higher educational institutions was what sparked yesterday’s protest.
UGC Asks Deemed-to-Be Varsities to Drop ‘University’ from Names
Source: Times of India
UGC secretary PK Thakur requested that 123 soon-to-be varsities remove the word ‘University’ from their names.
No Plans to Replace UGC, AICTE With Single Regulator
Source: Mint
The government is not considering any merger of the UGC and the AICTE into a single higher education regulator at present.
India Moots Higher Education Regulation Streamline With HEERA
Source: The PIE
India’s government plans to merge the University Grants Commission and the All India Council for Technical Education into one national regulator, HEERA.
UGC Bans Distance Education in Non-University Institutes
Source: Economic Times
Across the country, dozens of B-schools are raking in crores by offering diploma management courses via distance education.
Modi’s Next Bing-Bang Reform Will Make UGC History
Source: The Economic Times
The Modi government is set to replace the UGC and AICTE with a single higher education regulator.
UGC Recast to Free Up Higher Education Put on Fast Track
Source: The Economic Times
The rigid and heavily criticised regulatory regime of the UGC is set to undergo a major overhaul!
Osmania University gets its own international students hostel
Source: The Hindu
After a wait of more than 10 years, Osmania University’s dream of a hostel for foreign students has finally taken shape. The modern hostel was inaugurated recently by chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Ved Prakash.
For the moment, the plush two-storeyed building, which can house 172 students, will only be available for male students pursuing their Masters or PhD courses. The reasons being cited are multiple, including security.
The hostel has 16 two-bed rooms and 18 three-bed rooms on each of the two floors.
“Each two-bed room also has a small kitchenette while a common spacious dining hall and kitchen on each floor is available for cooking. A sports lounge and a reading room with television are other attractions,” says C. Venugopal Rao, Director, University Foreign Relations Office (UFRO).
With a built-up area of nearly 50,000 sq.ft., the hostel was constructed at a cost of about Rs. 6.75 crore. Though there are just two floors now there is a provision for adding two more stories.
In fact, The idea of an International Students Hostel was mooted way back in 2002 and a proposal was submitted to the UGC seeking a financial assistance of Rs. 3.63 crores.
The authorities then planned to accommodate 200 students and an International Transit House with a provision of accommodating 50 girl students. However, the idea fructified only in February 2010 when the foundation stone was laid by the then Vice Chancellor, T. Tirupati Rao.
UGC accreditation must for technical institutes
Source: The Pioneer via PwC – EdLive
According to the HRD Ministry officials, the UGC is in the process of coming out with regulations in this regard. At present, the AICTE is the lone regulatory authority for technical education providers. The step has also been taken following cognisance of a feedback study by the Union HRD Minister M M Pallam Raju. The study found 53% technical graduates not meeting the standards of the industry today. A dismal 13% of the technical graduates were found industry-ready, while 17% worth trainable. “This is being done to bring greater accountability in the technical and management education in the country. There have been reports about various irregularities in the accreditation process so far by the AICTE. Giving UGC the mandate will create checks and balances,” said an HRD Ministry official. The regulations could be notified by February 2013 so that it comes into effect during the coming academic session.
The UGC, presently, regulates only the general academic programmes across the country and very recently it has also been tasked to regulate the entry of foreign educational institutions in India. The HRD Ministry, through UGC, sought to make it mandatory for every higher educational institution and every programme to get accredited by an accreditation agency to certify academic quality. Sources said the Ministry has also written to state governments to create accrediting agencies to regulate systematically the technical and management institutions for imparting quality education. The UGC has been tasked for this work as the National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill, 2010 is still pending in the Parliament. It could not be taken over during the just concluded Winter Session while chances of tabling during the Budget Session of the Parliament are also bleak.
To set technical standards for institutes, the HRD Minister also announced a new accreditation body under the AICTE on the lines of the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) with identical functions. It was argued that the need for the new body was an effort towards capacity building and to follow the best practices of different countries to come out with new methodologies of evaluation as AICTE has 60,000 programmes or institutes awaiting clearances.
UGC may allow pursuit of two degrees at the same time
Source: The Times of India via PwC – EdLive
If the UGC has its way, then students enrolled in a regular degree programme will soon be able to simultaneously pursue an additional degree programme through open and distance mode from the same or a different university. Additionally, students can pursue a certificate, diploma, advanced or postgraduate diploma programme simultaneously either in regular or open and distance mode in the same university or from other institutions. An expert panel of the UGC made these recommendations, apart from making out a strong case for universities to promote joint degree programmes in association with other university or institutions of higher learning. The UGC has urged the vice chancellors of universities to give their views on the recommendations within a fortnight to enable the panel to take a final call.
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.
Ved Prakash appointed as UGC Chairman
Source: Deccan Herald via PwC – EdLive
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has finally appointed Ved Prakash as the Chairman. The post was lying vacant for nearly last two years. His appointment has been cleared by the Cabinet’s Appointment Committee on the recommendation of the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry. The Ministry had set up a selection-cum-search committee to recommend names for the post of the higher education regulator. The panel shortlisted 20 candidates; besides Prakash, it recommended the names of Chief Statistician, T C A Anant and S Parasuraman, Chief, Tata Institute of Social Sciences for the top post.
Prakash, a recipient of the US Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship, has held a number of important positions in national and international organisations and has been the acting chairman of UGC for over 23 months.
UGC’s scheme to promote innovative learning
Source: The Times of India via PwC – EdLive
The UGC has invited proposals from universities to introduce a scheme, ‘Innovation Universities’. Financial support will be given to universities during the XIIth plan for innovative teaching, innovative research programmes and organisational innovations. Only universities which have received Grade ‘A’ by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) can apply. The basic objective is to promote innovative ways of learning, sharing and collectively growing within and without. The scheme is meant to support bold and big ideas that require substantial support and flexibility, ideas that usually do not fit into any of the existing patterns of funding and do not see the light of the day. The proposed scheme does not cover up gradation of the overall infrastructure of the university, creation of new departments and centres in the established disciplines or those covered by existing schemes such as areas and women studies, routine improvements in teaching, teachers training and updating of curricula and supporting professional associations and bodies of researchers and regular implementation of the UGC regulations and guidelines about quality improvement and assessment.
Study centre tech degree is now invalid
Source: The Times of India via PwC – EdLive
Terminating the validity of degrees and diplomas in technical courses issued by various deemed universities and institutes to the students of the region through distance learning programmes, the Punjab and Haryana High Courts held that the issuance of such academic certificates is illegal. The candidates cannot be deemed to be qualified in the purported subjects in the absence of approval from the UGC.
The decision will primarily affect thousands of employees in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, who received promotions on the basis of such degrees and diplomas. The Division Bench, comprising Justices Hemant Gupta and Rajiv Narain Raina, passed the judgment stating that the UGC and AICTE did not approve of this practice.
UGC to relax rules for selection of heads in state universities
Source: The Times of India via PwC – EdLive
It has decided to relax norms for selecting vice chancellors in state universities. UGC said, “The move followed requests from several state governments to ease the standards. The selections norms prescribed by the UGC will not be mandatory for state-run universities. UGC has mentioned recently that, it is the responsibility of the state to maintain quality and transparency in the selection process. The present UGC norms insist that a VC candidate should be an academician with a minimum of 10 years experience as professor in a university system or 10 years of experience in an equivalent position in a reputed research and/or academic administrative organisation. With the recent move, these norms will no more be mandatory.
LLM to be a one-year course
Source: The Times of India via PwC – EdLive
The Masters in Law (LLM) programme will now be of one-year duration instead of two.
The UGC has given its nod for this. The aim behind the move is to stop the best legal minds from going abroad to pursue similar programme in less time and retain the best talents in the field. According to the prevailing system, a student has to spend at least seven to eight years after intermediate to gain a masters degree in law. The UGC had set up an expert committee under N R Madhava Menon, Founding Vice Chancellor, National Law School of India University, Bangalore to examine the proposal. The committee endorsed the move and recently submitted its report to the UGC. The committee was set up after the HRD Ministry had backed recommendations made by the roundtable on legal education in 2009. Only India, Bangladesh and Pakistan impart two-year LLM. The duration had led to students taking up master’s programme in universities abroad.
UGC launches dedicated academic job portal
Source: The Indian Express via PwC – EdLive
In keeping with the demand of job aspirations of NET or PhD qualifiers, UGC has launched a dedicated academic job portal enabling candidates to register and create their profile online. The portal, www.ugc.ac.in/jobportal, will facilitate the employers to search and browse academic profile of available candidates and post job vacancies. The HRD Ministry had also strongly advocated for such a website taking in view of the aspirations of the prospective candidates and higher education institutes for an academic job site. “This portal is going to serve the two constituencies namely the job seekers and employers. While it will help students create their academic profile and bring them to the notice of the universities, colleges and other potential employers, it will also enable the employers to post their job vacancies for talent hunt,” said Ved Prakash, Acting Chairman, UGC.
The portal will also provide browsing, searching, filtering of academic profiles created by qualified candidates on a number of parameters. In addition, universities and other institutes as employer can also verify the NET qualified candidates through the same interface.
Magadh University (MU) to open centre for media studies
Source: The Times of India via PwC – EdLive
The MU has decided to open a media centre on its sprawling campus at Bodh Gaya. The UGC has approved the proposal and is likely to grant 90 crore INR to the university to build the centre. According to Arun Kumar, VC, MU, “The main objective behind opening the media centre is to provide an opportunity to students of the university in the field of journalism and mass communication. Besides, the centre will be assigned the task to make documentary films on educational, social, cultural and historical heritage, which will be exchanged with other universities in the country.”
UGC wants credit system in colleges
Source: The Time of India via PwC – EdLive
The UGC has reminded all colleges in the state to implement the choice-bad credit and semester system (CBCSS)
at the earliest, as it will be linked with accreditation as well as UGC funding. Incidentally, a committee appointed by the Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) to study the implementation of CBCSS, had recommended a partial roll-back to the annual system. The letter, sent by the Joint Secretary of the UGC to all colleges stated that the UGC’s action plan for academic and administrative reforms during the XIth Plan should be implemented at the earliest. The action plan comprised aspects such as semester system, choice-based credit system, curriculum development, admission procedures and examination reforms. Also these reforms are necessary for the promotion of quality education. The KSHEC recommendations, based on the report of the Hridayakumari Committee, which was set up to study the working of the system and to suggest improvements, had given 11 recommendations based on its findings. It had also asked the government to modify the system.
Accreditation to be made mandatory for all varsities and colleges
Source: The Hindu via PwC – EdLive
To enhance the quality of higher education, the UGC has decided to make accreditation mandatory for all universities and colleges coming under its purview. All universities, institutions of higher learning and colleges in the country in future have to obtain accreditation certificates from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), Bangalore, to get funds from the UGC for various academic and research programmes.
Speaking on the sidelines of the recently held NAAC accreditation award ceremony, UGC Chairman (acting) Ved Prakash said, “An order will be issued soon to make accreditation mandatory for all universities and colleges to come under the UGC. The rule to make accreditation mandatory will be soon vetted by the Human Resource Development Ministry. The accreditation helps an institution to identify its strengths, weaknesses, challenges and opportunities. All educational institutions coming under UGC must obtain accreditation once in three years.”
UGC draws flak for changing national eligibility test rules
Source: The Times of India via PwC – EdLive
Academics and teacher aspirants have criticised the UGC for its decision to change the eligibility criteria for lectureship after the National Eligibility Test (NET) results were announced. The UGC had earlier mentioned a minimum qualifying percentage in three individual papers of the NET, but after the results were out a third criterion – aggregate of all three papers – was brought in. Candidates said that the UGC only prescribed minimum required marks in papers 1, 2 and 3 to qualify for lectureship when the notification for the test was announced. There was no mention of the requirement of an aggregate score in the NET. Candidates claimed that based on the answer key for NET published by the UGC earlier, at least 70% were able to secure the prescribed minimum marks in the individual paper. But the aggregate score requirement ensured that only 7.69% finally qualified for lectureship. Academics questioned the benefit of high academic standards when none could meet them. “There is a huge shortage of college teachers, but the eligibility criteria are being raised.”
Take a call on setting up body to look into affairs of educational societies: HC
Source: The Indian Express via Pwc -EdLive
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday asked the Centre, Punjab government and the UGC to take a decision on constituting a body to look into the affairs of educational trusts and societies, along with non-government institutions dealing with education. A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain asked the three bodies to decide on the representations filed in this regard by NSUI Punjab unit’s former state coordinator Dinesh Chadha.
Central varsities looking at PPP model to raise funds
Source: The Indian Express via PwC – EdLive
The 40-odd central universities are mulling novel fund-raising mechanisms such as bringing in public-private partnerships (PPP) for infrastructure creation and permitting more supernumerary seats for foreign students. At a meeting of vice-chancellors of central varsities held in August, it was decided that they should tap external sources for financial support besides the UGC grants. The vice-chancellor of Central University of Himachal Pradesh has been deputed to draft possible options for PPP. Vice- Chancellors raised the issue of existing restrictions on offering of supernumerary seats for foreign students — an issue that the HRD ministry and the UGC have agreed to re-examine.
Meanwhile, the UGC has been asked to finalise norm-based grants for operating (non-plan) expenditure of universities with the right incentives for central universities to mobilise resources. Norm-based funding process for central universities is likely to be adopted from the next academic session, 2013-14. In order to enhance the overall brand value of central universities, the UGC will assist them in establishing niche areas of excellence. To ensure the centrality of research at universities, 40-50 research parks will be set-up across the country and the vice-chancellor of Hyderabad University will coordinate these efforts. Following the Yale model of connecting research to public utilities is on the cards with vice-chancellors of the Central University of Jharkhand and University of Delhi working on it.
Bring government universities under new regulations
Source: The Indian Express via PwC – EdLive
Academics have expressed reservations over the special exemptions granted to government-run institutions in the new regulations released by the University Grants Commission (UGC) with regard to collaborations with foreign universities. The UGC recently approved regulations through which foreign universities could venture into India and collaborate with Indian institutions. While this was widely seen as a backdoor measure, given the fact that opposition pressure in Parliament had kept the Foreign Universities Bill out of light, the governing body provided wide-ranging prescriptions for such partnerships. According to the regulations, only institutions with an ‘A’ rating from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) would be eligible for such an agreement. The institutions must also have at least five years of experience in providing post- graduate courses. However, government- run institutions, both at the state and central levels, have been exempted from both these clauses.
Chairman of the Board of Governors at IIT-Kanpur, M Anandakrishnan, said that the regulations, which were yet to be notified, would ensure that only respectable institutions could get into such collaborations. However, he opined that the clause exempting the government-run institutions from such minimum qualification, such as NAAC accreditation, should be dropped. “There is still scope for change as the norms are yet to be notified. Government institutions should not be excluded from such quality norms,” he pointed out.