Proposed Innovation Universities may replace quotas by taking into account socio-economic factors
August 9th, 2009
Following is an excerpt from a report in Expressbuzz.com.
Innovation universities, the government’s proposal to build its own Harvard and Oxford, could also bring in transition from the existing reservation system, to one that is based on socio-economic factors. In a concept note commissioned by the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) for the upcoming 14 innovation universities, a proposal to make away with outright reservations has been mooted. Instead, the note suggests making admissions based on the socioeconomic background of the candidate.
This would mean that seats will not be reserved for candidates, rather the candidate’s admission test scores would be increased based on deprivations that he or she experiences. The concept note says that the weight would depend on factors such as the educational attainment and earning capacity of the parents and nature of the school from which the student has passed Class 10 and Class 12 (urban or rural).
…The Innovation universities, previously referred to as World-class universities or National universities, was proposed in the 11th five year plan, and would focus on multi-disciplinary research and innovation.
… Interestingly, the note recommends allowing foreign candidates to apply to the Innovation Universities along with Indians.
The note recommends holding the admission tests not only in all the state capitals and metropolitan cities, but also in selected cities across the world.
… For admissions to undergraduate courses, the note proposes to use a two-stage testing process: a standardized aptitute test followed by an essay type test. For PG courses, graduate scores and aptitude test scores would be used for determining admissions, while admission to doctorate programmes would be done based on results obtained at the PG level supplemented by references from eminent academicians.
Entry Filed under: Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Puri- Khurda area (1),Universities of Innovation
1 Writeup
1. R.K. Ghosh | August 10th, 2009 at 11:42 am
It is heartening to know that govt is planning for Innovation Universities in line with Harvard, Cambridge, etc. But one needs to examine the reasons behind decline of existing universities as a starting point. Hopefully, the policy makers learn from past experience and ensure that these innovation universities remain immune to any interference from power that be.
It is easy to say that since education is in concurrent list, central govt can do very little. In past 60 years after independence, the major part of the country was ruled by just one political party for over 2/3 of the time. So, had there been a will, we would have been boasting of unparalleled education system to the east of Europe. The education at different level could have been standardized to a large extent, but we missed the opportunity. Even the places like South Korea have universities which dates back to 1000 AD. But in India we can even keep a university going for 200 years. Antiquated British laws governing universities were never examined or phased out as was done in UK or elsewhere. With establishment of DST and CSIR labs, emphasis of funding pattern shifted and universities suffered from serious resource crunch, which compounded the problems further. As a result mediocrity to crept into university system. Mediocrity breeds mediocrity. So, manipulation lobbying, politicizations all kind only accelerated the decline of university system. Govt interference became more pronounced with import of crash commercialism under AICTE and UGC regulations. Though I am apprehensive, I sincerely hope that these Innovation Universities do not succumb to bureaucratic control very quickly as IITs have been in recent times.