UGC to review amendments

The University Grants commission’s expert committee intends to revisit existing amendments about upgradation of colleges to universities and the affiliation system in India.

The issues will be reviewed in the vision document being drafted for the Eleventh Five Year plan, UGC Secretary Tilak R. Kem said here recently. He was in Chennai to launch ‘Universal Education’, a monthly magazine on higher education.

Mr.Kem said that good colleges that offered quality education should get the chance to develop as universities. However, such colleges must not exploit education for commercial or political gain, he cautioned.

The UGC Secretary urged colleges to equip their students with ‘employable’ skills to suit the global market. Madras University Vice-Chancellor S.Ramachandran said only about nine percent of young people in India were enrolled in higher education programmes. Even Malaysia, Indonesia and China had higher percentages, he said.

Mr.Ramachandran said that India needed more universities and better infrastructure in all higher education institutions. If quality courses were developed, India could attract more students from African and East Asian Countries. Distance education and virtual courses should be given more thrust, he said.

Anna University Vice-Chancellor D. Viswanathan called for co-operation between universities so that resources are put to optimum use. For example, funds could be wasted when constituent college ends up purchasing the same equipment, he said.

Isari Ganesh, Chairman of Vel’s group of colleges, donated Rs.1 lakh for the growth of the newly launched magazine. The monthly English publication costs Rs.20 per issue.

UGC to review amendments