UGC invites applications from institutes seeking 'eminence' tag

The selected institutions will enjoy a number of relaxation from the government, in terms of deciding the course, curriculum, opening up of a new center and deciding the fee

The University Grants Commission (UGC) will start the process of inviting applications for establishing World Class universities from Wednesday onwards and the government aims at having a list of 20 such institutions by March 2018.

Establishing world class institutions or Institutions of National Eminence among higher education institutions is one of the ambitious projects of the current Ministry of Human Resource Development through which they want to increase the number of international students in the country and catapult the institutions in world rankings.

Currently the government has capped the percentage of foreign students who can be admitted to public institutions at 15 per cent, this number will be doubled in these institutions. Institutions of National Eminence will be allowed to admit up to 30 per cent of foreign students in their campuses. The hiring of foreign faculty in these institutions will also be increased from the current number. The faculty, however will be on a contract basis.

According to officials in UGC, three categories of institutions— public and private and new private institutions will be open to send their entries to the government. "The public institutions that have been featured in top 50 in NIRF, private institutions and new private institutions that want to do better can apply with the government," said a senior official in the HRD Ministry.

"The established institutions need to give a 15-year plan of action as to how do they plan to take the institute forward in terms of academics and if they are already in the world top 500, how do they plan to pull their rankings up. The new private institutions will have to give a letter of intent to convey how they plan to work in future years. We will make the decision on the basis of that," he added.

The institutions will be chosen by a panel of expert committee, which is likely to be decided in a fortnight's time. The committee will then take 90 days for scrutiny and evaluation of the applications. The final names are likely to be announced by March next year.

The selected institutions will enjoy a number of relaxation from the government, in terms of deciding the course, curriculum, opening up of a new center and deciding the fee. They will be free from government autonomy.

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The selected institutions will enjoy a number of relaxation from the government, in terms of deciding the course, curriculum, opening up of a new centre and deciding the fee. They will be free from government autonomy.

Source | DNA | 13 September 2017

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