23 Dec 2016|Noida | F1 Seminar Hall
Universities deliberate of higher autonomy during ‘North Zone Vice Chancellors’ Meet’ at Amity
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Thetwo day ‘North Zone Vice Chancellors’ Meet’, which witnessed the participationof more than 90 Vice Chancellors from various Universities of Northern India,concluded today at Amity University Campus, Sector-125, Noida with emphaticsuggestions by Vice Chancellors varying from greater autonomy for Universities,Increase in budgetary allocation for Higher Education, need to encourage FDI inHigher Education, Outcome based learning approach and Strengthening R&Dinfrastructure in Universities.
TheAssociation of Indian Universities (AIU) organized the Meet on “CelebratingSuccess in Higher Education- Best Practices” from December 22-23, which washosted by Amity University, Noida.
Thevalediction was graced by Dr. R P Singh- Secretary General, Quality Councilof India who stressed upon the need to focus upon learning more rather thanjust teaching and averred that faculty members might be teaching lot of thingsbut it is necessary to ponder if students are being enriched and enlightened bytheir teaching. Today’s youth has realized that there is more to learn outsidethan in classes and stressed that it is important to differentiate betweenteaching and teaching for learning. He remarked that there is a huge pool ofknowledge but how much students learn or absorb, faculty members need to keeptheir eyes and ears open. He emphasized upon the need for young faculty membersto be trained mentors in order to understand the nuances of learning. He calledupon the academicians to discuss futuristic models of teaching during suchMeets to put Indian Higher Education System on high growth trajectory.
Duringthe valediction, IAU Officials laid stress on more participation of MHRDofficials in zonal meets and the conclusions to be presented to MHRD forimplementation.
Sharingfeedback of the two day Meet during the valediction, Lt Gen ZameeruddinShah- Vice-Chancellor, Aligarh Muslim University appreciated thediscussions and deliberations by noted academicians which updated theparticipating Vice Chancellors with the best practices followed by their peersand suggest solutions to the problems faced by them in various domains.Referring to a profound thought by Charlie Chaplin, he stated, “Don’t educateyour children to be rich but educate them to be happy so that they value thethings. He averred that AIU must be taken seriously by MHRD and MHRD should notbombard Vice Chancellors with 2-3 instructions every day.
The inaugurationwas preceded by technical sessions on contemporary topics.
Duringthe Technical session on “Developing Organisation Culture & Values forChange through Professional Development of Academic Leadership –Best Practices”,noted academicians including Prof. (Dr.) J.L. Kaul, Vice Chancellor, HNBGUUniversity, Srinagar; Prof. Meeraj Ud Din Mir- Vice Chancellor, CentralUniversity of Kashmir, Srinagar; Dr. Gurmohan Singh Walia, Vice Chancellor, SriGuru Granth Sahib World University, Punjab; Dr. R.S. Grewal, Vice Chancellor,Chitkara University, Himachal Pradesh and Dr. Sanjay Srivastava, Vice Chancellor,Manav Rachna University, Faridabad shared their views.
Whilesharing his views during the session, Prof. (Dr.) J.L. Kaul, ViceChancellor, HNBGU University, Srinagar said that since independence,higher education in the country has witnessed sea change in terms of enrolmentand resources being spent but at the end of the day, outcome based approach islacking in higher education system. He remarked that by 2030, India will usheritself in a new paradigm in terms of education, entrepreneurship and R&D basedexcellence. New jobs would be high end and highly specialized and Indianeducation system has to gear up to nurture manpower for the same. He stressedthat all the higher educational institutions across the country unanimouslyneed greater autonomy and more resources to step up their performance and meetthe surging needs of India’s vibrant economy. He remarked that education inthe country is most over- legislative and regulated segment and if there is anyprogress despite of such contradictions, then it needs to be acknowledged andcelebrated.
Prof.Meeraj Ud Din Mir- Vice Chancellor, Central University of Kashmir,Srinagar remarked that the non-listing of IndianUniversities amongst the top 100 global Universities is most often debated anddiscussed at length on several platforms, overshadowing the achievements oraccomplishments of Indian higher education. Pointing out some of the keyfactors which could improve the performance of Indian Higher Education, Prof.Meer stressed that the Indian Higher Education needs higher budgetaryallocation, conducive R&D culture and faculty members who teach on thebasis of their research, which could be applied for societal welfare.
Dr.R.S. Grewal, Vice Chancellor, Chitkara University, Himachal Pradesh, duringthe session, emphasized upon the need to adopt serious approach in dealing withthe maladies affecting the higher education in the country. He advocated theneed to change the outlook towards the teaching profession, which is generallytaken very lightly across the country. He suggested that in Colleges andUniversities, knowledge sharing by faculty members must be acknowledged andrewarded, which will eventually promote excellence in higher education sectorin the country.
Dr.Sanjay Srivastava, Vice Chancellor, Manav Rachna University, Faridabadstressed upon the need for Colleges and Universities to enhance theemployability index of the students by working on their communication skills sothat they can convey and translate what they have learnt in their classrooms.He called upon the Universities and Colleges to adopt outcome based learningapproach.
Whilecomparing the functioning of Public Sector Universities with Private Sector,Prof. H.L. Verma, Vice Chancellor, Jagan Nath University, Bahadurgarh, Haryana saidthat Public Sector Universities get funds from Government whereas Private onesuse student fees for fund generation. He stressed that in country like India,affordability of education in self- financing Private Institutions is mostoften discussed, therefore, there is a need to devise alternate, innovativeways of financing the institutions since adequate finance is must for growthand quality education. He stressed that there is a difference between educationand higher education since the aim of the education is to empower theperson against ignorance and the objective of higher education is to promoteskills and the benefits are internalized, therefore, higher education needs tobe self-financing. The need of the hour for Universities is to be innovativeand explore further the new methods of generating funds and even the governmentsupport is expected to decline in coming years, making it imperative for Stateand Government Universities to generate funds from other sources.
Prof.Mushahid Husain, Vice Chancellor, MJP Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, whilesharing his views stressed that use of ICT is good in higher education but itsexcess is hampering scientific temper in the students. He elaborated thatstudents with Science background have started doing more of computer basedsimulations and modelling based research; they are just doing computationswhich to some extent is also due to the dearth of good laboratories in thecountry. He remarked that unless there are enough good laboratories in thecountry in the country, India cannot produce Technocrats and Scientists.