The University of Calicut has formed modernisation clusters involving its staff, technical experts, and academics as part of the ongoing process to reform the institution.
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According to sources, each of the clusters will be chaired by a Syndicate member. A teacher will be the vice-chairperson, and an assistant registrar or deputy registrar the convener. Officers from various sections, and representatives from electrical and information technology sections will be the other members.
K.K. Haneefa, Syndicate member, who earlier headed a sub-committee on modernisation of the university, told The Hindu on Tuesday that the steps were part of an integrated digital project being implemented there. The aim is to review existing practices in service delivery and remove those found anachronistic and introduce new ones to make them student-friendly. The university’s efforts would be to ensure speedy services to the students using advanced technology, said Mr. Haneefa.
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“The employees have been raising issues related to lack of resources at their disposal. Their complaints related to lack of space and shortage of gadgets are genuine, especially at places such as the Pareeksha Bhavan. The ongoing modernisation process will equip the staff to handle their work more effectively,” he added.
The university has already launched a digital service centre to address the queries of students. Steps are on to have an automated storage and retrieval system for answer scripts. Local area network and WiFi facility too have been introduced.
Mr. Haneefa said the university was tying up with the Kerala Startup Mission to get technical help. The in-house IT section will work in tandem with the Mission to develop facilities. No outside agency or private firm would be roped in, he said.
Efforts towards the digital transformation of services had begun in 2017 when Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan held a meeting with the Syndicate members. However, the pandemic slowed down the pace of works, said sources.