Training for the administrative staff in universities in Tamil Nadu will soon be a regular affair with the inauguration of Administrative Staff Training College at Madurai Kamaraj University here on Wednesday.
S. P. Thiagarajan, Chairman, Tamil Nadu State Academic Audit and Accreditation Council (TNSAAC) and former Vice-Chancellor of University of Madras, inaugurated the college.
The MKU has made a budget allocation of Rs.10 lakh for this year towards conducting training programmes for various levels of administrative staff.
“This training college is not just for our university staff alone. Other universities also can benefit and we propose to have training sessions for the administrative staff from top to bottom,” said R. Karpaga Kumaravel, MKU Vice-Chancellor, in his introductory address.
Stating that not a single university has got this facility so far in the country, he said that training for administrative staff remained a ‘grey area' all along since training programmes were being conducted only for the teaching staff.
“We have trainings for professors, readers and all other teaching staff. The same will now be available for the administrative staff also,” Dr. Kumaravel said.
The college will trainRegistrar, Controller of Examinations, Deputy Registrars, Assistant Registrars, Finance Officers and others.
Besides, fresh Syndicate members also will get training to make them understand the roles and responsibilities in varsity administration.
Lauded
A. Ramasamy, Vice-Chairman, Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education (TANSCHE), and H. A. Ranganath, Director, National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), have lauded the initiative of Madurai Kamaraj University for getting training facility to administrative staff.
S. Baskaran, Member-Secretary, TANSCHE, K. Muthuchelian, Vice-Chancellor, Periyar University, Salem and V. Alagappan, Registrar in-charge, MKU, were among those present.
Community colleges
Eleven community colleges aimed at giving industry-specific training for ‘employability' of youth were inaugurated here on Wednesday under the aegis of the University.
The university has involved its affiliated colleges/ polytechnics for this initiative which would focus on both unemployed and underemployed youngsters, Dr. Kumaravel said.
“The community college concept was initiated by the State Government and the Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy has asked the universities to participate in this. Our university has established 11 community colleges offering skills in different trades,” he said at the inaugural function.
Stating that the objective of community colleges was to provide gainful employment to youth particularly in semi-urban/rural areas, the Vice-Chancellor said that the MKU had taken it up as a social responsibility and as a social obligation.
Some of the affiliated colleges who came forward to steer community colleges in association with other institutions were- Sourashtra College, VVV College for Women, Anja College, Thiagarajar College, MKU College, Fatima College, Rajapalayam Raju's College, Government Arts College in Melur, Mannar Thirumalai Naicker College and Sri Meenakshi Government College for Women.
S. Bhaskaran, Member-Secretary, Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education (TANSCHE), inaugurated the community colleges and described the initiative of MKU as a good attempt for employability.
