The Hindu : UGC framing rules for foreign varsities

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 16, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

UGC framing rules for foreign varsities

By Our Staff Reporter

TIRUCHI MARCH 15. The University Grants Commission (UGC) is formulating guidelines for regulating the foray of foreign universities into the country, the Additional Secretary of the UGC, Tilak Ram Kem, has said.

While several foreign universities were setting shop in the country, the credentials of some of them were not found to be good. Some were not accredited even in their home countries and were trying to explore the Indian market. With several students being lured into joining the universities, the UGC had decided to usher in a system of checks and balances. The regulations would be drawn in consultation with experts from various parts of the country and soon be forwarded to the Union Government for approval, Mr. Kem told mediapersons during an informal chat here today.

The foreign varsities would have to go through a process of registration and comply with the UGC norms and assessments. The UGC did not intend to discourage the universities from entering the country but had planned to hold some more discussions to make the regulations foolproof and acceptable to all.

Mr. Kem said the UGC had decided to identify colleges of excellence in various parts of the country, which would get "differential funding." The identified ones would get additional grants for development of specific thrust areas based on their strengths. The move was aimed at correcting the imbalance in the UGC funding. Though the colleges catered to the higher education needs of nearly 80 per cent of the estimated 10 million students in the country, the universities got the lion's share of the Government funds. The UGC had initiated the process of identifying about 100 colleges initially. More colleges would be included in due course. The UGC had also introduced such a system for universities and five varsities had been identified.

Earlier, delivering the college day address at the Kurinji College of Arts and Science in the City, Mr. Kem appealed to the colleges, especially deemed universities to explore avenues for "export of education" by establishing offsite campuses both within the country and abroad. He cautioned the college managements and policy-makers against neglecting humanities in view of the craze for science and technology.

The UGC had introduced vocational courses and upgraded the curriculum of courses aimed at helping students to take up self-employment and tap the potential of the service sector. Mr. Kem appealed to the students and faculty to utilise the schemes offered by the UGC. More students should opt for the NET-junior research fellowship programmes, though the examinations were highly competitive. With the dearth of qualified manpower in both arts and engineering educational institutions, the teaching profession offered immense employment potential, he added.

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