Higher Education in J&K State
– Issues and Challenges
Concluding workshop of the
60th General Orientation Course
UGC-Academic Staff College
MODERATED BY:
DR GEER M ISHAQ
1.INNOVATION AND DIVERSIFICATION
• Lack of initiative, innovation, skills, independent
constructive mindset and creative ideals characterize
today’s system of our university education.
• We need to shift from a system that encourages
memorization in learning processes and theoretical
explanation to areas that need practical illustration.
• Need of the hour is to keep pace with brisk technological
advancements in teaching learning process.
• The role of a teacher in university education should
change from knowledge disseminator to knowledge
creator.
• Emphasis should be laid on making university education
more professional/vocational so as to make our passouts more acceptable in job markets of the world.
1.INNOVATION AND DIVERSIFICATION
• We also need to diversify our education by
making more subject combinations available.
• Vertical movement of students has to be
diversified and made more choice-based.
• For ages same courses are being offered by our
University departments with little scope for new
specializations and upcoming programmes.
• We need to offer more specializations in all
existing subjects and faculties and introduce new
subjects wherever not available at present, so
that our students emerge as specialists in specific
areas rather than ending up being generalists.
1.INNOVATION AND DIVERSIFICATION
Technology:
• Industrial Production, Biomedical Technology, Nanotechnology,
Metallurgical Technology, Fashion Technology, Micro-processor
Technology, Embedded Systems, Diagnostic Imaging Technology, Hydraulic
Engineering, Building Automation, Stem Cell Technology, Medical Lab
Technology, Propulsion Technology, Nuclear Science Technology, Hotel
Management, Harvest Technology, Microbial Technology etc.
Chemistry:
• Polymer Chemistry; Textile Chemistry; Hydro Chemistry; Electro
Chemistry; Environmental Chemistry; Petrochemistry; Analytical
Chemistry; Industrial Chemistry; Applied Chemistry; Pharm. Chemistry;
Chemistry of Natural Products.
Physics:
• Astrophysics; Geophysics; Nuclear Physics; Optical Physics; Biophysics;
Particle Physics, Materials and Devices, Biosensors, Cosmology, Non-linear
dynamics etc.
Botany:
• Ethnobotany; Paleobotany; Economic Botany; Phytochemistry;
Phytomedicine; Agronomy; Phytopathology; Phytogenetics; Bryology;
Phycology; Palynology etc.
1.INNOVATION AND DIVERSIFICATION
Management:
• Rural Management, Urban Management, Hospital Management;
Investment Management; Software Enterprise Management;
Management Information Systems; Insurance Management; Education
Management etc.
Commerce:
• Business Statistics; Business Law; E-Commerce; Investments; Insurance;
Corporate Tax Planning; Agricultural Marketing; Consumer Protection;
Rural Finance & Credit; Advertising; International Business;
Entrepreneurship Development etc.
Life Sciences:
• Cell Biology, Genetics, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Biophysics and
Structural Biology, Immunology, Biostatistics, Radiation Biology, Virology
etc.
Economics and Social Sciences:
• Business Economics, International Finance, International Economics,
Economics of public sector, Privatization and Deregulation, Agriculture and
Environmental Economics, Resource Economics, Political Economy,
International Trade, Macro Economics, Monetary Economics, Political
Economy, Development Economics etc.
2. MODERNIZATION AND
AUGMENTATION
• There is need to modify conventional teaching methodologies
and introduce recent advances in technology into the teachinglearning process.
• We must switch over from chalk and talk to more interactive
mode of teaching and learning by making use of audio-visual
aids, e-contents, databases, e-resources etc.
• Adequate infrastructure, faculty, staff, funds and other facilities
should also be made available to all university teaching
departments and other affiliated higher educational institutions.
• Adhocism and contractualism in higher education that has led to
mediocrity should be abolished.
• Prior to opening up of new colleges and new university
campuses, adequate infrastructure, faculty and other facilities
should be made available.
• Diversion of faculty from old to new institutions or from main to
satellite campuses must be done away with.
3. INTEGRATION AND INTERACTION
• Integrated efforts should be made by all stake holders in
converting our higher educational institutes into the centres
of knowledge and excellence.
• There is need for greater integration, collaboration and better
coordination between primary, secondary, higher secondary
and university level education in the state and to have a
supervisory council with advisory status for integration of
these three units.
• Interdisciplinary education must be fostered at all levels.
• Academia-industry and academia-society interactions must be
enhanced at all levels.
• There should be greater autonomy to institutions of higher
learning. Concept of autonomous colleges needs to be
seriously considered.
• A well-planned and structured interaction to be developed
between Centres of Academic Excellence and our
Universities/Colleges.
4. EXTENSION AND APPLICATION
• We need to augment residential facilities available to students as
well as teachers at district, sub-district and block level.
• Extended library facilities should be made available beyond normal
working hours in all degree colleges.
• In view of limited intake capacity in colleges and universities,
distance mode of education should be fostered and expanded to
enhance accessibility to education.
• Second stream of courses, say vocational, be run in the
evening/night so that the available /created infrastructure is better
utilized.
• Meritorious students coming from lower income groups could be
used as teachers so that they can be partly be compensated.
• Quality of research work has to be drastically improved.
• Research work has to be made more applied, socially relevant and
productive.
5. ASSESSMENT AND ACCREDITATION
• Principles of total quality management (TQM) procedures need to
be adopted in teaching, research and extension at the institutions
of higher education.
• A teacher must be evaluated not only for his teaching but also for
his research and extension activities.
• Regular internal assessment of teachers should be carried out
through students.
• Carry out regular review and reforms of conventional examination
and evaluation patterns.
• Non-scholastic aspects of the learners’ personality should also be
assessed.
• Assessment of all educational institutes by NAAC, NAB etc should
be made mandatory and financial support to be provided in
accordance with the ranks obtained therein.
• All university departments and affiliated institutions offering
technical courses must offer courses duly approved by AICTE and
other relevant Councils like MCI, PCI, Nursing Council of India etc.
6. INCENTIVIZATION AND
HARMONIZATION
• Creative skills and competitive spirits of the students of
university education should be encouraged in order to
make them accomplished achievers rather than passive
knowledge-seekers.
• In order to make our students better citizens, value based
education for inculcating ethics and morality among them
needs to be reinforced.
• Link education with livelihood and make it job-oriented.
• Professional and vocational education should be fostered
and employability promoted to alleviate skill-deprivation
among students.
• The shifting from traditional incremental budgeting to
performance based one is now necessary to arrest the
erosion in quality.
• Good performance must be suitably rewarded.
7. PARTNERSHIP AND PRIVATIZATION
• Privatization of education should be allowed in a
controlled fashion and subject to a strict regulatory
mechanism under the aegis of a regulatory authority or
higher education council.
• Partnership should be the key to development rather
than complete privatization of the education sector.
• Possibilities under public private partnership (PPP)
model of education need to be explored in view of
Govt. constraints in terms of GER, STR, investments,
infrastructure, quality, innovation etc.
• PPP shall not only reduce the burden of Government in
incurring high cost of providing basic infrastructure
facilities but also lead to construction of state of the art
buildings, labs, libraries, hostels etc.
8. TRANSPARENCY AND
ACCOUNTABILITY
• Alongside providing better perks and remuneration to teachers
and non-teaching staff, they should be made more accountable.
• Transparency in educational institutions should be enhanced.
• Recruitment and transfer procedures and policies in educational
institutions should also be made more transparent.
• Admission policy in colleges and universities needs to be
streamlined and made fool-proof.
• Admission should be strictly made on the basis of total intake
capacity of the institution and the merit of aspiring candidates.
• Political interference in academic matters like admissions,
appointments, promotions, transfers etc has to be got rid of.
• Irregularities must be thoroughly probed and culprits punished
in order to create deterrence against corruption and
gratification..
9. PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION
• Prior to opening up of new colleges, there should be proper
planning to make adequate infrastructure, faculty and other
facilities available well in time.
• Haphazard and unplanned expansion of higher educational
institutes has to be halted.
• Promulgate a new robust and comprehensive state education
policy.
• Bridge the gap between academia and policy-makers and
frame policies after mutual consultation with academia.
• Reports and recommendations submitted by various expert
committees and academicians should be promptly
implemented and same should find place in the ultimate
policies of the government.
10. REORIENTATION AND
CONSOLIDATION
• Address gross academic issues like admissions, syllabi,
coordination, faculty strength, examination, research etc
effectively and consolidate upon the gains made so far.
• Training and placement of pass-outs should be made an
integral part of University education besides conducting
refresher courses and QIPs for teachers on regular basis.
• Provide greater autonomy to well-established premier
degree level colleges, particularly in designing their own
curricula, making admissions and conducting
examinations/evaluation etc.
• Orientation of students towards professional subjects
needs to be done at an earlier stage so as to provide
greater avenues and foster their inherent capabilities in
one particular stream rather than making them study all
kinds of subjects irrespective of their personal interests and
inclinations.
THANKS FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION
THIS PROPOSAL HAS BEEN ADJUDGED AMONG TOP THREE BY THE RISING KASHMIR CONCLAVE