UGC to help collegians with studies

University Grants Commission (UGC) is going to launch a massive student-aid programme as part of the 12th five-year plan to help meet the needs of students after admission into colleges.
The acting chairperson of UGC, Ved Prakash, announced this at the 5th National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accreditation award ceremony, held in the city on Sunday.

“According to a recent survey conducted by the UGC, there are currently two crore students between 18 and 22 years of age who are enrolled in conventional programmes in colleges and about 46 lakh of them are enrolled in distance education programmes.

By 2017, the number will increase from two crore to almost three crore million and 46 lakh to 63 lakh. And a lot of these students will be coming from marginalised communities, so there is a need for the aid,” he said at the event that saw 430 institutions receiving accreditation.

Prakash also spoke about the various problems that exist within higher education institutions in the country. “There is a severe shortage of visionaries and resources. There is plenty of regional imbalance and abysmally poor participation from SC/ST and minorities in the community,” he said.

To ensure that quality remains within institutions, at the sidelines of the event, Prakash spoke about a UGC proposal to the government that could possibly make accreditation mandatory for higher education institutes. “UGC has made a regulation to make accreditation mandatory. This accreditation is awaiting the government’s approval currently. But I am confident it will get passed. According to this form of accreditation, institutes will have to get accredited every three years,” he said.

HR Ranganath, director, NAAC, said it was a good sign of things to come since several institutions are opting for the NAAC accreditation. “This is a voluntary accreditation that institutions have to apply for, so it is a good sign that the number is increasing. But now is the time for introspection. Bodies like UGC should help the NAAC in ensuring quality of institutions remains high,” he said.

He also spoke about how certain institutes stop caring for the quality of education provided within their walls once they get accredited. “The quality culture should go beyond accreditation. The Internal Quality Assurance Cells in colleges and universities should become more effective. To that effect, we have introduced a software through which IQACs can keep us updated and give us their annual report. This will help us create a roadmap for growth,” he said.