Onus is on State governments to appoint V-Cs soon, says UGC Chairman

UGC Chairman emphasizes State governments appoint V-Cs promptly, discusses NEP 2020, APAAR, foreign universities in India, and ITEP implementation.

The onus is on State governments to appoint Vice-Chancellors as soon as possible as per the regulations of University Grants Commission on constitution of V-C search panel, UGC Chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar said on Friday.

Stating that varsities left without regular V-Cs affect the quality of education and future of students, he said the courts have made it clear that a Central Act prevails, and in this case the UGC Act supersedes the State Act. The courts have also said that a UGC representative should be a part of the selection panel, Prof. Kumar added.

On M.Phil programmes being still offered by some of the State universities in Tamil Nadu, the UGC Chairman said a masters degree is enough for pursuing Ph.D, and as per National Education Policy 2020 that has made the higher education system flexible, a student completing a four-year UG programme can pursue research. The UGC will not recognise M.Phil degrees, he said.

The acceptance of NEP 2020 has been overwhelming across the country, he said, to a query on reluctance of Tamil Nadu Government to adopt it.

The NEP 2020 has three main objectives: aligning education to learning outcomes, catering to students of varied cognitive, financial and socio-economic background; and delivery on a mass scale for ensuring access of quality education to all. “Can these be opposed,” the UGC Chairman wondered.

One-third of the work on creation of Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR) identity cards for 30 crore school and college students in India has been carried out. The entire task will be completed in two years’ time. This will pave way for carrying forward the 160 academic credits obtained in four stages in school-level seamlessly to the higher education platform. The digitised data will obviate the need for students to submit hard copies of school certifications for pursuing higher education, he said.

Universities from USA, Australia, UK and other European countries have evinced interest in establishing campuses in India, and a portal has been created for them to apply. It will be a win-win situation for them since the foreign universities will cater to aspirational human capital while for Indian students, it would mean cost-saving. IIT-Delhi and IIT-Madras have also established campuses abroad, for internationalising Indian education. The UGC Chairman sounded certain that foreign universities setting up campuses in India will pave way for a healthy competition.