UGC to set up skill-based education centres across the country

Education without moral values is meaningless: UGC VC

Since education without moral values and skills is meaningless, students should not run behind getting more marks in their marks cards, University Grants Commission (UGC) vice-chairman H. Devraj has said.

Speaking after inaugurating the second annual convocation of Davangere University at Shivagangotri campus at Tolahunase here, he said that students will not get jobs just by getting a degree from any university, instead they have to acquire necessary skills required to compete and survive in the field of their interest. “The students should start gaining necessary skills in their field of interest right from their student days,” he said.

“Keeping this in view, the UGC is planning skill-based education centres across the nation in the next one-and-a-half decades to ensure that the students get good quality education. Already, the commission has identified 157 colleges as skill-based education centres and steps would be taken to set up another 100 centres,” he said.

The total budget of the UGC is about Rs. 50,000 crore in which Rs. 10,000 crore has already been sanctioned to Central universities for various purposes. The remaining funds would be released to universities depending on the requirement, he said.

“Though the commission has released maximum funds to universities, they have failed to improve the quality of education.

Research

There are a total of 750 universities in the country, with a total of 39,861 colleges under their jurisdiction. Of these total colleges, only 12 per cent of the students get masters degrees and only one percent of the students opt for research,” he said.

The Davangere University should also focus on improving quality of education and encourage students to take up research in their respective fields, he added.