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With 2017’s list of top institutions announced by NIRF, colleges are anxiously waiting for HRD Ministry to announce the names of the institutes that will be granted autonomy. Various norms have been set to assess the institutes for granting autonomy.
Former UGC Chairperson, Ved Prakash spoke at the discussion on ‘Building World-Class Universities’ at the Symbiosis International University (SIU) and informed that monetary criteria have also been added for the selection of institutes. He also said that the criteria for existing private universities will be different from the greenfield institutions.
Greenfield institutions belonging to a private trust or society must have a minimum net worth of Rs. 5,000 crore. Also, at least one of the members of the board of managers must have assets worth Rs. 1,000 crore. Prakash also informed that selection of institutes will be a two stage process before the final approval is passed by the expert committee.
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He also added that top 20 institutes of excellence will be granted autonomy. Among these, 10 will be private institutions and the other 10 will be public institutes.
Director for Center for International Higher Education, USA, Professor Philip Altbatch also spoke at the discussion and said the guidelines to grant autonomy to institutions should not be extreme. He also said that government’s hold on institutes complicates the academic growth.
With admissions in the US universities made difficult with the changing norms, there is a bright opportunity for the education sector in India to attract talent from across the world, added Altbatch. He also said that government should grant functional independence to institutes for better education outcomes.
Also Read:Autonomy Issue: NSUI Stages Protest Against UGC Gazette
India has a pool of talented students and colleges like the Indian Institutes of Technology that have the potential to grow. The focus should be on good governance in order to bring India’s higher education at par with global levels, said Global Tertiary Education Expert, Professor Jamil Salmi.
