The Higher Education Department will request the Finance Department to regularise the two self-financing undergraduate programmes being offered by the Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam.
“I will personally request Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac to accept our proposal by next academic year,” said K.T. Jaleel, Minister for Higher Education, after laying the foundation stone for a new academic block and inaugurating the B.A. Economics (Hons) building at Maharaja’s College here on Friday. The two self-financing courses being offered by the college are in B.Sc. Environmental Chemistry and B.Sc. Physics (Instrumentation).
The Minister said that new colleges and courses will be allotted in the government sector as part of elevating the infrastructure and academic credentials of government colleges. “Our plan is to step up facilities in tune with the excellence achieved by schools in the government sector,” he said.
He said that the government will not prefer permitting government colleges to run self-financing courses. They could be offered by self-financing colleges in the State, he said.
‘Earn while you learn’
The Minister urged the Parent-Teacher Association and students to take the lead in implementing the Higher Education Department’s ‘earn while you learn’ programme at Maharaja’s College. The initiative was inspired by the life of slain SFI activist M. Abhimanyu of Maharaja’s College, who was doing part-time jobs while pursuing his studies to support his parents, who were daily-wage labourers.
He said that Maharaja’s College authorities could recognise such needy students joining the ‘earn while you learn’ programme by conferring awards to four or five students annually. The objective of the project is to evolve plans that would help students find out jobs on part-time basis while pursuing their studies.
The Higher Education Department had suggested that departments could offer organisational and academic responsibilities to them under the supervision of faculty members. They could be paid remuneration based on the work undertaken either on an hourly or daily basis.
Hibi Eden, MLA, P.K. Raveendran, Chairman, College Governing Council, and K.N. Krishna Kumar, Principal attended.
