Twenty-five government colleges in the State are likely to get autonomous status soon.
The government, to improve the quality of higher education, has set aside Rs. 2 crore for the development of these colleges, according to Rajneesh Goel, Principal Secretary, Higher Education.
“Of the 362 government colleges in the State, only one is autonomous. The government will improve the administrative system and train staff in the 25 colleges,” he said.
He was speaking at a seminar on assessment and accreditation of higher education institutions, organised by the Forum of Former Vice-Chancellors of Karnataka State Universities.
“A lot more needs to be done to improve the quality of higher education in the State, by the government and academics,” he said.
A.N. Rai, director of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, who gave a keynote address, said not much research was being done to improve the quality of higher education institutes in the country.
He said a code of conduct for higher education institutes was being formulated. Many institutes violate norms once they get NAAC accreditation and this code would keep tabs on these erroneous colleges, he said.
Mr. Rai said regional accreditation bodies would be set up soon and they would be mentored by NAAC. “Every State will have its own accreditation agency guided by NAAC,” he said.
Syndicate’s role
Mr. Goel said university Syndicate plays an important role in ensuring proper administration, and added that Syndicates must have at least one former Vice-Chancellor, one former national-level academician (who has been a member of the UGC, NBA or NAAC) and one legal education expert who can also provide legal advice.
Concurring with Mr. Goel, the former Bangalore University Vice-Chancellor N. Prabhudev said only educationists must be members of the Syndicate.
K.S. Sriprakash, Vice-Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, also spoke.
