The Indian Institute of Management – Tiruchi will function from the campus of National Institute of Technology (NIT) here from the next academic year, K. Ganesan, Principal Secretary, Higher Education Department, said on Thursday.
The NIT authorities have expressed readiness to provide buildings for classrooms and hostel. With the Central cabinet approving the IIM-Tiruchi, short-term programmes will be conducted during the course of this year, Mr. Ganesan told reporters. The State Government has already handed over 200 acres close to the Bharathidasan University to the Ministry of Human Resource Development for establishment of the permanent campus. Funds allotment for this year has been made by the Centre, he said.
To a query on whether proliferation of engineering colleges was causing dilution of quality, Mr. Ganesan pointed out that Tamil Nadu was the only State to fix eligibility marks higher than the extent specified by the All India Council for Technical Education. Observing that the unfilled vacancies in engineering colleges has increased from 18,000 last year to about 32,000 this year, he reckoned that the lack of demand for IT programme was the cause. He saw this year’s trend as a temporary phenomenon.
The Higher Education Department has made a direct request to the National Council for Teacher Education to stop according sanction for B.Ed colleges which now numbers 538 in the State. So far, the institutions followed the practice of initially obtaining NCTE approval and later applying for State Government’s clearance.
To a query on implementation of the Common University Act, Mr. Ganesan said a four-member committee comprising former Vice-Chancellors Ananthakrishnan and Kulandaisami, the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Naganathan and the Member Secretary of Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education Baskaran have been entrusted with the responsibility of readying a report based on the prepared draft. Action will be taken based on the report, he said.
Mr. Ganesan said the request of aided colleges for sanctioning posts for retirement vacancies was under consideration. Since 2006, 2,600 teaching posts and about 1,000 non-teaching posts have been sanctioned for aided colleges, he said.
The Higher Education Department was in favour of implementation of ‘equitable standard school education’, he said, reasoning out that there were four boards -- State, Matriculation, Anglo-Indian and Oriental – only in Tamil Nadu. The syllabi for the new system, directed at development of analytical skills, have been framed by a panel of intellectuals through consolidation of the best parts in all the systems. Mr. Ganesan felt that the new system will pave way for enhancing enrolment in higher education.
Mr. Ganesan admitted that there were some practical difficulties in the implementation of Choice-Based Credit System in colleges and exuded hope that they could be overcome over a period of time. He urged teachers of arts and science colleges to encourage students to pursue skill-oriented short-term programmes in nearby polytechnics, a scheme introduced this year.
To a query on the State Government’s plans to regulate deemed universities, Mr. Ganesan said Tamil Nadu was awaiting the Centre’s response to a proposal on the issue submitted earlier this year.
