UGC

While the government envisions the National Council for Higher Education as the ultimate regulatory body to govern higher education in the country, the West Bengal government feels otherwise. Calling the move an effort which will lead to over centralisation of the higher education system; the state government has resolved to oppose the forthcoming draft of the National Council of Higher Education Research Bill.

That education system in the country is afflicted with myriad ailments is known to everybody. Crass commercialization of education brought in its wake many undesirable elements in the system. The market axiom: ‘the one, who pays the piper, calls the tune’ best sums up the prevailing education scene. That people with resources would exploit the situation taking advantage of the new changed atmosphere was a foregone conclusion. Yet the government with no means to meet the educational requirement of the country had taken a calculated risk by going for the privatisation of education. 

 A high-powered body is likely to oversee the working of Central regulatory agencies to remove all the bottlenecks in the education sector. This is one of several measures the government is going to introduce to ensure transparency in all the regulatory bodies All India Council for Technical Eduucation (AICTE).

In the backdrop of the declaration made by the University Grants Commission (UGC) on the invalidity of the distance education courses that were run by a few deemed universities, the AP State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) has made it clear that the degrees awarded by these institutions too would not be considered valid.

To counter the threat of fake educational universities/institutions ruining the careers of thousands of students across India, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued a circular advising to be cautious of bogus educational institutions. The UGC has issued a circular with a list of fake educational universities spinning money in the name of fake degrees across the country.

Vice-chairman of University Grants Commission, Prof. Ved Prakash has accused that only a small portion of the total funds that are set apart for educational purposes under the 11th Five-Year Plan has been released by the Centre.

Further to the ongoing St. Stephen’s row, the Delhi High Court has served a show-cause notice on the principal of St Stephen’s College, Valson Thampu. The court granted Thampu three weeks time to explain why his appointment as a principal should not be declared ‘invalid’.  

While the University Grants Commission is all set to step into the new system of one time grants for all private and unaided institutes, the HRD ministry (MHRD) has come up with a major amendment to the UGC (Fitness of Institutions for Grants) Rules 1975; thus benefiting thousands of private colleges across the nation.

With the pervasive laxity-ridden faculties’ in educational institutions, the UGC has asked all the professors and university teachers to work for 40 hours a week. Apart from that, it also demands their physical presence on campus for at least five hours a day.

At a time when the country is reeling under the impact of a series of terrorist attacks, Pune-based NGO Sarhad has introduced post-graduate programme called Counter Terrorism and Peace Management. A first of its kind, the course is due to set sail on Octoer 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi when it will be formally announced at the Sarhad Research Centre.