The State government has stated that BVoc courses will not be permitted in colleges that do not have a score of 2.5 in the evaluation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).
The Department of Higher Education pointed out that relaxation of the parameters fixed for starting/continuing BVoc courses would affect the quality of higher education. It will fail the intention of the government to improve the standards of higher education, said an order issued on Friday.
The position related to the no objection certificate for BVoc courses was revealed after an aided college in Kottayam affiliated to the Mahatma Gandhi University approached the Kerala High Court requesting an exemption from the NAAC accreditation criteria for the current year in view of the ongoing pandemic situation. The government order said that the decision not to permit BVoc courses was aimed at motivating the higher educational institutions to enhance their academic standards.
The order said that the government had sanctioned UGC-assisted BVoc courses in 12 colleges under the Mahatma Gandhi University in August, 2019 on a condition that the colleges may ensure that a NAAC score of 2.5 is attained for the continuation of the course by 2020. It was also stated that the colleges that had received approval in the past may ensure that the score is achieved or renewed for the continuation of the course by 2020.
Self-financing mode
A report by the Kerala State Higher Education Council had observed that there was a tendency among colleges to run BVoc courses on self-financing mode after the initial enthusiasm created in view of the funding by the University Grants Commission (UGC) ended. The council had also recommended steps to improve the teaching-learning process for BVoc courses based on its inference that there was a need to step up the overall quality of such programmes.
The government has made it clear that it will continue to provide no objection certificate for BVoc courses offered by the affiliated colleges under the self-financing mode.
