GUIDELINES FOR TRANSFORMING HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

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The University Grants Commission (UGC) has released the guidelines for transforming colleges and universities into multidisciplinary institutions and also suggested “clustering” of facilities located in closeness to each other.
- The UGC has also suggested academic collaboration between institutions to promote research in online and offline modes.
Promoting multidisciplinary institutions was one of the key recommendations of the National Education Policy, 2020.

Details

These guidelines aim to aid State governments and universities to frame relevant rules and policies.
The cluster system will help institutions in improving their grades in National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accreditation.
Institutions need to design their timetable in cooperation with partner institutions so that students could register easily.
The partner colleges would share their resources and guide student in research projects.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) suggested a capacity-building programme for faculty through initiatives like Annual Refresher Programme, learning assessment tools, etc, so that they can teach, train and research in multidisciplinary academic programmes.
The UGC suggested setting up Education Departments in universities and colleges that will assist in curriculum creation and establishing communication among teachers and students of partner colleges.

University Grants Commission (UGC)

University Grants Commission is a statutory body under the University Grants Commission Act, 1956.
UGC is charged with the task of coordinating and maintaining standards of higher education in India.
It provides recognition to universities and also allocates funds to universities and colleges.
UGC headquarters are in New Delhi, and it also has 6 regional centres.
All grants to universities and higher learning institutions are handled by the UGC.
In 2015-16, the Union government initiated a National Institutional Ranking Framework under UGC to rank all educational institutes.
UGC also conducts the National Eligibility Test (NET) for the appointments of teachers in colleges and universities.
M Jagadesh Kumar is the current chairman of the UGC.