Performance of Indian Universities

The Hon’ble Finance Minster in his Budget Speech 2016 had announced the following:

“It is our commitment to empower Higher Educational Institutions to help them become world class teaching and research institutions. An enabling regulatory architecture will be provided to ten public and ten private institutions to emerge as World-Class Teaching and Research Institutions. This will enhance affordable access to high quality education for ordinary Indians. A detailed scheme will be formulated”.

Accordingly, an Enabling Regulatory Architecture namely, UGC (Declaration of Govt. Educational Institutions as Institutions of Eminence) Guidelines, 2017 for public institutions and UGC (Institutions of Eminence Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2017 for private institutions has been finalised after public consultations. The Government is in the process of issuing / notifying the Guidelines and the Regulations. Under the Guidelines, it has been proposed to provide financial assistance up to Rs. 1,000 Crore over a period of five years to each of the 10 selected public institutions.

Global academic rankings of the World Universities are carried out by multiple agencies on various parameters. In one of such kinds of ranking exercises, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2016-17 has listed 31 Indian Universities among the world’s best Universities even though none of these figured among top 100. 

The Central Government and the University Grants Commission (UGC) are constantly endeavouring to improve quality of higher education in the country. The Central Government has launched several initiatives viz. National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), Impacting Research Innovation & Technology (IMPRINT), Uchchtar Avishkar Yojna (UAY) and Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) in the field of education for the qualitative development of education in the country. UGC has been undertaking measures for maintenance of standards in teaching, research and quality assurance in Universities, Deemed to be Universities and Colleges through framing and notifying regulations, schemes and disbursing grants to the eligible institutions. The UGC has also notified several regulations with a view to sustain and improve the quality of higher education and to undertake academic reforms. The regulations are available athttp://www.ugc.ac.in/page/UGC-Regulations.aspx . In order to encourage research and

development in the country, UGC is implementing schemes, awards, fellowships, chairs

and programmes under which financial assistance is provided to institutions of higher

education as well as faculty members working therein to undertake quality research

covering areas of knowledge across disciplines. Some of the initiatives taken by UGC for

improving quality of Higher Education are:

i. Choice-based Credit System (CBCS);

ii. Universities with Potential for Excellence;

iii. Centre with potential for excellence in particular area;

iv. Special Assistance Programme (SAP);

v. Basic Science Research;

vi. Major Research project;

vii. B.Voc. Degree Programme;

viii. DDU KAUSHAL KENDRAS;

ix. Scholarship Scheme (ISHAN UDAY) for North Eastern Region;

x. New Methodology of Grading by NAAC;

xi. UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of M.Phil / Ph.D. Degrees)

Regulations, 2016;

xii. UGC (Credit Framework for Online Learning Courses through SWAYAM)

Regulation, 2016.

This information was given by the Minister of State (HRD), Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey today in a written reply to a Lok Sabha question.

Courtesy: pib.nic.in