The state higher education department has drawn up a detailed plan for introducing reforms in higher education institutes to make colleges future-ready.
Called “Vision Goals 2022”, the plan document states that plans are there to set up two new state universities, 32 new degree colleges, 14 new girls’ colleges, 50 new Bachelor of Education colleges, five new engineering colleges and five new polytechnics.
The expansion is aimed at improving accessibility for the students as well as bringing about gender parity in the state’s educational landscape, it said.
The 32 new colleges will be opened in district sub-divisions that do not have a college while the 14 girls’ colleges will be opened in the areas where there are no girls’ colleges both government or private-run. The state at present has 217 colleges.
The plan, which has been approved by the government, has also set a goal to take the gross enrolment ratio (GER) to 32, up from the existing figure of 20. The GER implies the number of persons out of 100 in the 18-23 age group attending college.
The vision plan also lays special emphasis on upping the GER among scheduled castes and scheduled classes and bringing them on the same pedestal as the general categories.
The department also plans to introduce 100 new subjects in the state’s colleges and develop the infrastructure of colleges to increase the total student intake from 17 lakh to 28 lakh.
Another major reform measure taken by the department is to improve the teacher student ratio from 1:65 to 1:20.
In addition, the introduction of vocational courses through choice-based credit system to impart functional, critical and soft skills to students is also on the government’s plan.
The department has already started one-month induction training of the newly appointed teachers at the academic staff colleges. The infrastructure expansion of the academic staff colleges and opening of a new academic staff college at Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, are two other objectives under the plan.
Under governance reforms, common academic calendar in all state universities and private universities will be adopted, and attendance (through biometric machines) of both teaching and non-teaching staff will be linked with their salaries by 2019 and 2018 respectively.
Apart from these, establishment of smart classrooms, career counseling, skill development and placements cells, coaching for competitive exams and promotion of start-ups are also on the government’s reforms roadmap.
[“source-hindustantimes”]
