A letter addressed to chief minister Siddaramaiah signed by some vice chancellors and former vice chancellors has urged the congress government to reconsider its proposal to merge or shut down nine new universities and work towards its development instead.
This was the outcome of a meeting which was organized in Bengaluru that saw the participation of four Vice Chancellors, Seventeen Former Vice Chancellors and one Dean from Public, Deemed and Private Universities.
“After detailed discussion and deliberations, it was unanimously resolved to seek that the Karnataka government take a prudent decision of not closing down/merger of few of the Universities, but to take affirmative action for capacity building and strengthening of all the nine Universities in a phased manner to the benefit of students from backward Districts of Karnataka which has a Low Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER),” they said.
It may be recollected that the controversy erupted after deputy chief minister D K Shivkumar announced that the nine varsities that came into being during the previous BJP government’s tenure would be shut as it was not financially viable.
The Forum of Former Vice Chancellors of Karnataka and VCs who participated in the meeting suggested that a situation analysis and assessment of all the nine Universities to understand strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges (SWOC) be conducted.
They also recommended an External Audit (Administrative Academic Audit) by a team of current or former VCs, Educational Experts constituted by Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC).
In a letter addressed to the chief minister, they said, “The Forum of Former Vice Chancellors Karnataka State earnestly requests the Government of Karnataka to make a concerted effort and necessary action for capacity building and strengthening of all the nine Universities in the best interest of educationally and socio-economically backward students in general and female students in particular in the respective regions of Karnataka State.”
Other recommendations:
Prepare an Institutional Development Plan (IDP) for each varsity
GOK must provide adequate and appropriate facilities, faculty and finances for the implementation of planned activities.
Draft action plan to start Self-Financing Programs, mobilizing funds from Extra Mural Funding Agencies and CSR funds for academic and research programs.
Posted in News, States
