To check any "irregular practices" in deemed universities, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has made significant recommendations, including mandatory accreditation and regular monitoring of their standards. The UGC has submitted these recommendations in the form of a regulation to the Ministry of HRD for consideration. "The regulation says that an institution must have accreditation by either National Board of Accreditation or National Accreditation and Assessment Council for being given deemed university status. It also sets a number of quality parameters like teacher-student ratio and other facilities," a senior HRD Ministry official said.
At present, the existing criteria for deemed university status does not make accreditation a mandatory requirement. The regulation also says that the deemed universities will have to maintain a teacher-student ratio of one to 20 for general courses. The UGC has framed these guidelines after it received a number of allegations about these institutions resorting to corrupt practices. "There are allegations that some of these institutions are running distance courses without permission of the Distance Education Council. There are also allegations that certain deemed universities do not have regular teachers," an UGC official said. A case has also been filed in the Supreme Court about the "irregularities" in deemed universities. If the regulation is accepted, the quality aspects in deemed universities will be regularly monitored by the UGC. The government can withdraw the deemed university status from institutes if they violate the guidelines. "Till today no action could be taken against the deemed universities for lack of regulation. Now if the new regulation is passed, strong action, including withdrawal of deemed university status, can be taken against errant institutions," the official said. The regulation also says that the institutes will have to increase their deposit money. The money will serve as a security deposit for students in case the institute faces any problem. The UGC had set up a committee to frame regulations for the purpose. The committee has submitted its report which has been passed by the commission. An institution needs to have completed at least ten years for being considered for deemed university status. However, relaxation can be given to institutes offering courses in innovative areas. There should be adequate facility in terms of laboratory, library and infrastructure for getting deemed university status. The regulation also specifies the role of state government, the Centre and the UGC in monitoring the quality of education in these institutions. The teachers-student ration will be minimum one to 20 in case of general courses. But for certain innovative courses, the ration will be one to four or one to five. (01-Jun-09) Economic Times thanks, mukesh jain. -- email: [email protected] mob: 919977165123 to read articles, circulars, books, titorials, and lot more related to PWD's visit my site: http://www.mukesh.myehome.in to know about my efforts of sketching the life of mumbai visit: http://www.themumbaicity.webs.com To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
