Academician P.M. Rajan Gurukkal, the one-member commission for the Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC), has recommended measures to check the unbridled privatisation of higher education as well as steps to ensure that high levels of competencies are maintained by educational institutions.
Prof. Gurukkal presented a set of recommendations to Education Minister C. Ravindranath to amend the Kerala State Higher Education Council Act, 2007, on the basis of norms under the Centrally-sponsored scheme Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA).
Speaking to mediapersons here on Friday, he sought to rectify certain anomalies that existed in the provisions of the Act, without going for a major overhaul. Among the recommendations, the KSHEC shall nominate a member to the academic council of each university, instead of nominating them to their Syndicates.
The advisory, executive and governing councils which function under the KSHEC will come to be known as advisory, executive and governing councils in order to avoid confusion as well as to prevent violation of the Act.
The commission has recommended the dissolution of the existing governing council and executive council in order to overcome the difficulty caused by the continuance of the former constituted by the previous KSHEC. During the previous term, the governing council was constituted much later after the constitution of the executive council, thereby leading to complications.
The commission has recommended steps for the establishment of a State mechanism for accreditation of universities and colleges, a move which has been long delayed. It has also called for efforts to enhance the standard and quality of education.
It has stressed the need to revitalise the regulatory institutions and bodies and ensure that they provided comprehensive guidelines for quality assurance. The KSHEC must also strive to strengthen the reciprocal relationship among higher education institutions, including universities and colleges, in order to ensure their autonomous functioning, it has been recommended.
Prof. Gurukkal expressed optimism that the recommendations in the draft legislation would be implemented at the earliest, paving the way for the reconstitution of the KSHEC.
