Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla stressed on strict adherence to the guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC) in the functioning of universities.
He was speaking on the subject of reforms in higher education and accreditation of universities in the sub-committee of the Conference of Governors held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
The President of India, Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the Conference. The conference will cover a wide range of issues that play a critical role in not only shaping the centre-state relations but also promoting welfare schemes for common people. The Vice President, the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister also addressed the inaugural session.
Shukla said that expansion of higher education and improvement in its quality would accelerate economic development, there would be better evaluation of available resources, technological progress and new ways would emerge to solve the problem. The demographic dividend of the country could contribute more to development only when we make appropriate changes in the education system and teaching and regulatory system, he added. He said that to focus on quality, almost every theoretical aspect should also be accompanied by some corresponding practical work. This could be done by academicians who were well versed with the psychology of the learner and the need for learning, he said.
The Governor stressed on critical engagement with social needs to make higher education socially relevant. He said that the common people should be made aware of how to use technology for development and better communication. He said that the role of counselling was important at the time of admission to educational institutions. He said that the methods of evaluation and examination should be changed so that there was continuous assessment of students.
He said that under the system of National Institutional Ranking Framework, parameters like resource allocation, research and stakeholder perception etc. were taken into account for ranking. He said that all universities and colleges are not participating in the ranking framework while it should be mandatory. He said that the higher education institutions which were ranked lower should also be provided assistance through some system. He said that educational institutions should focus on qualitative education and not on numbers.
