MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)
(a): Improvement of quality of higher education is an on-going process and the Central Government has been making constant efforts towards this.
Several initiatives have been launched for improving the quality of higher education in the country. These include the Global Initiative for Academic Networks’ (GIAN) to support international faculty assignment in Indian higher educational institutions; Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Training (PMMMNMTT) to address issues related to training of teachers; the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) which outlines a methodology to rank institutions across the country.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has formulated Guidelines on Adoption of Choice Based Credit System on 12th November, 2014. It has also laid down several regulations for setting minimum standards of higher education in the country. The UGC is implementing schemes for providing quality skill development through higher education namely; Community Colleges, B.Voc Degree Programme and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay KAUSHAL Kendras in the Universities and Colleges in the country.
During the Twelfth Five Year Plan, Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) seeks to achieve equity, access and excellence in State Higher Educational Institutions. The overall quality of existing State higher educational institutions is sought to be improved by ensuring their conformity to prescribed norms and standards and adoption of accreditation as a mandatory quality assurance framework. Academic, administrative and governance reforms are an essential element of RUSA.
(b) Private Universities are reviewed by UGC as per the provisions contained in UGC (Establishment of and Maintenance of Standards in Private Universities) Regulations, 2003. Expert Committees are set up by the UGC to ascertain fulfilment of criteria by these Universities in terms of programmes, faculty, infrastructural facilities and financial viability.
Deemed to be Universities are regulated by the UGC (Institutions Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2010 and its amended version in the year 2014 and 2015. A provision has been made in these regulations to review the status of these Institutions through reviews conducted by the UGC with the help of Expert Committees. Institutions Deemed to be Universities are asked to submit compliance reports in respect of the deficiencies pointed out by the UGC Expert Committees.
(c): No, Madam. The criteria for funding under RUSA remains focused on outcome and performance of the State and on prior utilisation of funds and progress of projects in the States. The Centre: State funding pattern for the States has been revised from 65:35 for general category States to 60:40. The Centre: State funding for special category states remains at 90:10.
(d) & (e): Yes, Madam. The UGC has informed that in order to bring about qualitative improvement in Higher Education, the UGC has initiated several measures which include introduction of Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS). The UGC has prepared mainline and specialised model syllabi for undergraduate programmes and made it available to the universities with a view to facilitating the implementation of CBCS.
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