Dear Students,
LAST WEEK WE ASKED: Do you think the new government should take up the revamping of UGC on a priority basis?
BEST RESPONSE
As per a UGC report, in last five years higher education enrollment rose by 18.6 per cent per annum but government budget remained frozen at 1.4 per cent of national budget. This shows that the government has failed to take higher education seriously, its apathy reflected in inadequate budget allocation and in lack of a clear policy on higher education. The result is a dismal pass rate at around 35 percent and a bleak future for the students and the country, which makes revamping of UGC the top most priority of the new government.
OTHER RESPONSES
With the rampant mushrooming of private engineering and colleges of education in the country, the UGC finds it difficult to ensure transparency in giving recognition to these new colleges. So the new government should infuse fresh blood in UGC and attune it with the changing trends in the education sector. The fact that no new deemed university has come up in the country in the last seven years in itself states that the government should now engage UGC in framing standards of quality of education, teaching, examinations and research also.
UGC has been charged with coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of university education besides providing funds. UGC have often drawn flak for restrictive policies, opaque functioning, delay in decision making. In fact National Knowledge Commission has recommended abolishing the regulatory body. As per FICCI, regulatory institution contains supply of good institution, innovation, creativity etc in higher and technical institution. But, regulators are meant to facilitate growth and innovation rather than regulate. So, there's an urgent need to revamp UGC.
The government has many issues that are of utmost urgency, but is revamping of UGC is one of them. Human capital is directly proportional to productivity and productivity is directly proportional to G.D.P of a country. The plan of revamping is being procrastinated from year 2007 and the report of National Knowledge council has been suggested that UGC has indeed been in need of a re-structuring. Delaying the inevitable is not the smartest thing to do.
We can't build a great building on a weak foundation; in the same manner without high quality primary education system it’s worthless to contribute resources on higher education. The major goals of primary education are achieving basic literacy and numeracy while UGC is responsible for determination and maintenance of standards of university education. Estimates show that in India, the percentage of children who can read nothing and those who can read only alphabet is about 52% across the country, which shows where the need of priority is.
Recent case of identifying and declaring 21 universities as fake university shows the functionality and alertness on behalf of the UGC. But in order to bring transparency, accountability and quality for the universities which are operated by private trusts and private institutions, there is a need to empower UGC. Also there is a need to keep check on fees taken by deemed-to-be universities as currently these institutions are out of the purview of UGC. Moreover some states have discretionary policy of admitting students from other states so only empowered UGC can take effective steps to curb this discretionary admission policy.
Certainly, revamping of UGC is of utmost requirement in order to improve quality of education at university level. But it is a time taking process involving long haul effort in developing and maintaining quality institutes. In such a situation, rather than prioritizing it over other tasks, a more suitable measure would be to implement it in gradual phases with constantly monitoring the outcome. Thus, the new government should focus on more subtle issues meanwhile giving due diligence to education sector.
Your responses should reach us at edu@business-standard.com by Monday evening every week. Please ensure that your responses do not exceed 100 words. Avoid attachments and email your full name, institute's name, batch and complete mailing address. The student who gives the 'Best Response' will be awarded Rs 500.
THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: Do you think the new government should review the demand-supply situation in management and technical education seats in the country?
LAST WEEK WE ASKED: Do you think the new government should take up the revamping of UGC on a priority basis?
BEST RESPONSE
As per a UGC report, in last five years higher education enrollment rose by 18.6 per cent per annum but government budget remained frozen at 1.4 per cent of national budget. This shows that the government has failed to take higher education seriously, its apathy reflected in inadequate budget allocation and in lack of a clear policy on higher education. The result is a dismal pass rate at around 35 percent and a bleak future for the students and the country, which makes revamping of UGC the top most priority of the new government.
- Arpita Christian, School of Petroleum Management, PDPU, Gandhinagar.
OTHER RESPONSES
With the rampant mushrooming of private engineering and colleges of education in the country, the UGC finds it difficult to ensure transparency in giving recognition to these new colleges. So the new government should infuse fresh blood in UGC and attune it with the changing trends in the education sector. The fact that no new deemed university has come up in the country in the last seven years in itself states that the government should now engage UGC in framing standards of quality of education, teaching, examinations and research also.
- Piyush Mittal, PEC University, Chandigarh.
UGC has been charged with coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of university education besides providing funds. UGC have often drawn flak for restrictive policies, opaque functioning, delay in decision making. In fact National Knowledge Commission has recommended abolishing the regulatory body. As per FICCI, regulatory institution contains supply of good institution, innovation, creativity etc in higher and technical institution. But, regulators are meant to facilitate growth and innovation rather than regulate. So, there's an urgent need to revamp UGC.
- Nilaya Mitash Shanker, IIT Roorkee.
The government has many issues that are of utmost urgency, but is revamping of UGC is one of them. Human capital is directly proportional to productivity and productivity is directly proportional to G.D.P of a country. The plan of revamping is being procrastinated from year 2007 and the report of National Knowledge council has been suggested that UGC has indeed been in need of a re-structuring. Delaying the inevitable is not the smartest thing to do.
- Taqwin Irtiza Ali Tirmizi, NR Institute of Business Management, Gujarat Law Society, Ahmedabad.
We can't build a great building on a weak foundation; in the same manner without high quality primary education system it’s worthless to contribute resources on higher education. The major goals of primary education are achieving basic literacy and numeracy while UGC is responsible for determination and maintenance of standards of university education. Estimates show that in India, the percentage of children who can read nothing and those who can read only alphabet is about 52% across the country, which shows where the need of priority is.
- Himanshu Khatri, School of Petroleum Management, PDPU, Gandhinagar.
Recent case of identifying and declaring 21 universities as fake university shows the functionality and alertness on behalf of the UGC. But in order to bring transparency, accountability and quality for the universities which are operated by private trusts and private institutions, there is a need to empower UGC. Also there is a need to keep check on fees taken by deemed-to-be universities as currently these institutions are out of the purview of UGC. Moreover some states have discretionary policy of admitting students from other states so only empowered UGC can take effective steps to curb this discretionary admission policy.
- Jignesh Trivedi, School of Petroleum Management, PDPU, Gandhinagar.
Certainly, revamping of UGC is of utmost requirement in order to improve quality of education at university level. But it is a time taking process involving long haul effort in developing and maintaining quality institutes. In such a situation, rather than prioritizing it over other tasks, a more suitable measure would be to implement it in gradual phases with constantly monitoring the outcome. Thus, the new government should focus on more subtle issues meanwhile giving due diligence to education sector.
- Shivam Chhabra, Integral University, Lucknow.
Your responses should reach us at edu@business-standard.com by Monday evening every week. Please ensure that your responses do not exceed 100 words. Avoid attachments and email your full name, institute's name, batch and complete mailing address. The student who gives the 'Best Response' will be awarded Rs 500.
THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: Do you think the new government should review the demand-supply situation in management and technical education seats in the country?