With the freedom to decide their own curriculum and innovate in the evaluation methods, more colleges in Tamil Nadu are now choosing to switch over to an autonomous structure. Around 20 more colleges in the State will become autonomous by this year.
“At present, there are around 155 autonomous colleges in the State, but many more are expected in the coming years,” H. Devaraj, Vice Chairman, UGC, said, adding that the final list will be released soon. UGC will be meeting soon to decide whether these autonomous colleges can be given degree-awarding status, he said.
The first wave of autonomous colleges in the State started between 1978 and 1985, when several colleges opted for autonomy. There was a lull in affiliations from then until 2004 when the single window system was introduced by the UGC. Now, the move for more autonomous colleges is increasing, a senior educationist said.
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While autonomy is a good thing for colleges, few of them apply for the wrong reasons, he said. “For many colleges, the main reason for shifting to autonomous status is an increase in grants from UGC. Unless colleges are passionate about education, there is no point applying for autonomy,” he added.
While educationists feel that the move is in the positive direction, these colleges need to make a push to innovate in their curriculum and evaluation process.
Nirmala Prasad, former principal of MOP Vaishnav College said colleges should use the autonomous status to introduce skill components and certificate courses within the curriculum to improve the students’ employability. “Colleges need to make a push to improve their standards when they become autonomous,” she said.
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While educationists feel that the move is in the positive direction, these colleges need to innovate in curriculum