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There is an urgent need to improvise higher education in AP and Telangana universities. Check reasons and measure to ensure quality education in both Telugu states.
The ranking and survey of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana universities reveal that there is a need for the improvisation in higher education in the states. A drop in the research grants and higher education budget allocated to the prominent universities in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the previous years is a matter of consideration for the state. None of the 20 state universities in Andhra Pradesh has featured in the list of 'Universities with Potential for Excellence' of the University Grants Commission (UGC). No universities in AP is in the list of 15 universities in the country and only two of the universities of Telangana featured in the list. This information reveals the urgent need of the improvisation in higher education in AP and. Telangana universities.
Various factors like infrastructure, high-level research activities, faculty-student ratio, the quest for excellence, university-industry collaboration, community outreach etc are considered to determine the position of the university in the list of top universities.
UPE ranking is important as the universities that receive the 'Universities with Potential for Excellence' (UPE) tag receives Rs 100 crore from UGC to strengthen the infrastructure, research-based projects and departments. Also, UGC is planning to offer Rs 150 crore to selected universities which will improve their brand image.
Let us now look at the various reasons why the universities in the state are lagging and various measures that can be taken to improve the quality of higher education.
The main reason why the universities of AP and Telangana especially top universities of the state like Andhra University, Osmania University, Sri Venkateswara University and JNTU could not make in the list is the lack of required number of faculty. In the past few years, the department, courses and students have increased but the number of faculty members has gone down.
Andhra University, Osmania University, Sri Venkateswara University which used to have 1300 professors now has only a few hundred faculty members.
Another reason is the lack of fund. The funds received by universities are used to make salary payment and basic expenditure. There is no sufficient fund to improve the infrastructure and quality education.
As there is no sufficient fund, the universities are unable to improvise campuses with modern facilities, enough staff, land and department. Also, there is a lack of regulatory authority who would ensure quality and standards in the private unaided institutions. The proper regulatory mechanism is the need of the hour to conduct academic and financial audits in these colleges.
If the government would allocate sufficient funds for education facilities, the quality of education of universities can be improvised. The focus must be on education policies and support of organisations for the incremental changes in the engineering and IT sector.
According to the Niti Aayog, the expenditure on education in India should increase to about 6% of the GDP in the next few years to come. Currently, it is 4.6% of GDP. Lack of quality education further leads to the unemployment crisis in the country.
India has the second-lowest score in quality education among all the South Asian countries. It is ranked third in education score among BRICS nations.
Also Read:AP Students Urge Universities to Offer Job Oriented Courses
The newly established universities in the state have poor and inadequate infrastructure and laboratories which are not well equipped. Also, there are not enough grants to government and government-administered aided institutions for payment of salaries to staff and maintenance.
Lack of qualified and trained faculties is the reason why students are deprived of relevant industrial training and market-driven programmes. Insufficient academic staff members and no initiative in the state to train teachers is the reason why the institutes in the state of Telangana and AP is lagging behind.
However, with the advancement in digital technologies, the scope to upgrade skills has increased. The government should support advancement in skills by incentivising companies to invest in upskilling and reskilling the workforce for the digital age.
The bifurcation of the State also had a major impact on education in both AP and Telangana State. After bifurcation, many of the educational and research institutes went to Hyderabad. The state is not in an appropriate position to have enough budget to support higher education at an advanced level.
However, if the state wishes to improvise its higher education quality then it must address this issue with top priority. They must take immediate action to improvise the academic infrastructure of the universities. They must give priority to improve the faculty-student ratio in various universities. Importance should be given on industry-driven programmes and research work.
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Inputs from Hans India
