Day: July 20, 2019

UGC guide to student induction programme released: HRD

In a bid to develop an everlasting bond between teacher
and students, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has come up with a
new guide.
Union Minister of Human Resource Development Ramesh
Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ today released UGC Guide to Student Induction
Programme – “Deeksharambh” in New Delhi.

To promote Deeksharambh – Student Induction Programme (SIP) in Higher
Education Institutions and its stakeholders, UGC will shortly conduct
awareness and training programmes for teachers in different regions in
the country.
“ Deeksharambh , a guide to Student Induction
Programme is to help new students adjust and feel comfortable in the new
environment, inculcate in them the ethos and culture of the
institution, help them build bonds with other students and faculty
members, and expose them to a sense of larger purpose and
self-exploration,” the minister said.
As per official sources, the
programme aims at engaging new students as soon as they take admissions
in an institution. During the induction programme, the incumbents will
be taught and made aware about the institutional policies, processes,
practices, culture and values, and their mentor groups formed.

Govt brings e-revolution to campuses, to connect with students across India

New Delhi: Even before a new session begins, all leading universities
and other higher education institutions in the country are busy setting
up social media cells to connect all students and staff with the Union
Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).

A senior MHRD
official said: “Through this mammoth social media networking, the
Ministry expects to establish a much better and positive understanding
between the students and the government.”
Sources said all
vice-chancellors have been told that their respective universities
should nominate one senior faculty as Social Media Champion (SMC), who
would connect three prominent social platforms with each student. The
SMC of each university would upload “at least one positive story/event
every week of their institution (by teachers or students) on social
media platforms”.

Breaking News! New UGC scheme for Higher Education launched

In a bid to promote quality assurance in Higher Education, Union HRD
Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ today launched  University Grants
Commission (UGC) Scheme of ‘Paramarsh.’

The scheme is aimed at mentoring National Accreditation and Assessment
Council (NAAC) Accreditation Aspirant Institutions to promote Quality
Assurance in Higher Education.

Initially 71 universities and 391 colleges with NAAC score of 3.26 and above will mentor five colleges each.
Under
the Paramarsh scheme, the leading institutions will provide regular
mentoring to help colleges achieve high quality standards. The scheme
also proposes to provide financial assistance to the mentoring
institutions and the option of appointing an expert, who can be paid a
fellowship amount of Rs 31,000 per month.
“The scheme will be a
paradigm shift in the concept of mentoring of institution by another
well performing institution to upgrade their academic performance and
enable them to get accredited by focusing in the area of curricular
aspects, teaching-learning & evaluation, research, innovation,
institutional values & practices etc,” Speaking on the occasion,”
the Minister said.
The
scheme is expected to have a major impact in addressing a national
challenge of improving the quality of Higher Education in India.
Sharing
information about the scheme, the Minister said the Scheme will be
operationalized through a “Hub & Spoke” model wherein the Mentor
Institution, called the “Hub” is centralized and will have the
responsibility of guiding the Mentee institution through the secondary
branches the “Spoke” through the services provided to the mentee for
self improvement. This allows a centralized control over operational
efficiency, resource utilization to attain overall development of the
mentee institution.
The scheme aims at enhancement of overall
quality of the Mentee Institutions and its profile as a result of
improved quality of research, teaching and learning methodologies.
Mentee Institution will also have increased exposure and speedier
adaptation to best practices. “Paramarsh” scheme will also facilitate
sharing of knowledge, information and opportunities for research
collaboration and faculty development in Mentee Institutions.
The
eligibility guidelines laid down by UGC say the mentor and the mentee
can be government, aided, private or self-financing institution. “The
mentor institution should be NAAC accredited with an A grade, having an
overall score of 3.26 and above. Any such institution recognised under
2(f) & 12B of the UGC Act 1956 will be eligible to receive UGC
grants for the purpose.
Since these grants will be used for
mentoring the institution and not for creation of any infrastructure,
the private institution can also receive funding as they do for student
teacher centric schemes,” the guidelines stated.
The “Paramarsh”
scheme will target 1000 Higher Education Institutions for mentoring with
a specific focus on quality as enumerated in the UGC “Quality Mandate”.
Mentor-Mentee relationship will not only benefit both the institutions
but also provide quality education to the 3.6 crore students who are
enrolling to Indian Higher Education system at present.

Lok Sabha passes Central Universities Bill

New Delhi:
The Lok Sabha on Friday passed the Central Universities (Amendment)
Bill, 2019 with a voice vote to establish a central university and a
tribal university in Andhra Pradesh.
The bill, which also seeks an
amendment to the Central Universities Act, 2009, was introduced by
Minister for Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal on Monday.

Participating
in the debate on the Bill, Congress MP K. Suresh claimed that
percentage of expenditure on education had been reduced under the NDA
government while YSR Congress Party’s L.S. Krishna Devarayalu urged that
more funds be allocated towards building of Central universities and
research programmes in these universities.
Biju Janata Dal’s
Bhartruhari Mahatab enquired about the problem of shortage of faculty in
new higher educational institutions. “What is the reason for this?” he
asked.

UGC, AICTE initiate steps to curb caste based discrimination

Nearly 72 cases of caste based discrimination against Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes students were reported by University Grants
Commission (UGC) in various universities and colleges across the country
during 2017-18. Most of the cases are handled and disposed off by the
authorities of concerned Universities and Colleges, as empowered under
their respective Acts and Statutes under the Higher Education.

Apart
from UGC, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) reported
that no such complaints were received by them from AICTE approved
Institutions during the same period.
Union Minister for Human
Resource Development, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ in a written reply
in the Lok Sabha on July 8, informed that the Central Government as well
as UGC have issued several instructions from time to time to all State
Governments and Centrally Funded Education Institutions to curb
discrimination of any kind in higher educational institutions.
UGC
on June 26, 2019 advised all the Vice-Chancellor of all Universities to
constitute a committee to look into the discrimination complaints
received from the SC/ST/OBC Students/Teachers and non-teaching staff.
Besides, the other major initiatives undertaken in this regard are:-
(i)
In order to check discrimination and harassment of any section of
students and to strengthen the grievance redressal mechanism, the
University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education
Institutions) Regulations, 2012 was implemented.
(ii) University
Grants Commission (Grievance Redressal) Regulations, 2012 has been
formulated. These Regulations intend to give effect in letter and spirit
to the provisions of the Constitution and other statutory provisions
and policies for prevention of discrimination on the grounds of caste
and to safeguards the interests of the students belonging to the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The Regulations also seek to
provide for advancement of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students
through setting up of Equal Opportunity Cells in each Higher Educational
Institution.
(iii) In order to make the universities/colleges
more responsive to the needs and constraints of the disadvantaged social
groups, UGC is giving financial assistance to all eligible
Colleges/Universities to establish Equal Opportunity Centres. The aim
and objective of this Scheme is to oversee the effective implementation
of policies and programmes for disadvantaged groups, to provide guidance
and counselling with respect to academic, financial, social and other
matters and to enhance the diversity within the campus.