Pune: The State government has asked all State universities to prepare a five-year ‘comprehensive perspective plan’ for academic years 2019-2024. The plan is required to have objectives, which the university proposes to achieve at the end of the five year period.
The objectives focus on several areas, the first of which is improvement of Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in a given region under which universities have to define three districts they will work upon. The second is improvement of inclusivity and equity (GER) in terms of class. Equity includes equal opportunity for all, proper facilities for physically challenged students, schemes for special needs of tribal and disadvantaged groups and for transgenders. Universities have to also showcase the number of students benefiting from scholarships/ schemes for economically and socially challenged students.
The third is to improve the quality and delivery of education under National Assessment and Accreditation Certificate (NAAC) or National Board of Accreditation (NBA), which will be taken as a measure to evaluate quality of education. The educational institutions can include any other criteria to measure the quality of education.
The fourth is developing research and development partnerships with industry in order to enhance this field. The universities have been asked to find new applications for research done in the university and solve real world problems.
They also need to increase student involvement and thereby employability and also earn
revenue through university-industry collaboration.
The fifth asks for engagement with regional economic development and aspirations. According to this objective, universities are required to make engagements with the local bodies, work towards enhancement of productivity and livability of the local regions. It includes utilisation of local resources and value added products, local economics, special opportunities in areas such as tourism, providing knowledge platform for grass root innovations, in-depth analysis of social issues, plausible solutions and future directions, generating background information to help formulate developmental policies. Other areas mentioned include development of skills and entrepreneurship, making the university a cultural powerhouse in a region, focus on students’ welfare, achieving excellence in sports and academic leadership in national and global contexts.
