Technical education in Gujarat to get shot of excellence

Technical education in Gujarat is on road to excellence. Soon centres of excellence will come up in various universities, colleges and institutes across Gujarat. While these centres will lend more credibility, prestige and autonomy to a chosen few colleges, the excellence will come at a price for the students. The centres of excellence will also translate into a sharp hike in fees in these institutes affecting no less than 5,000 students. State education department sources told TOI: “Within a couple of days the state government will soon issue a government resolution (GR) that shall enable deserving universities and institutes offering engineering, MBA, MCA, pharmacy and other technical courses to set up centres of excellence. In the last assembly session, the Gujarat government had tabled a bill for setting up of centres of excellence in technical education institutes across the state. The GR will specify which colleges can apply and the criteria – quality of infrastructure, results, Academic Performance Index (API) and academic research – that shall have to be fulfilled.” The state government shall set up a committee of prominent academics from different parts of the state and country, including directors of some IITs. “This scrutiny committee shall be responsible for scrutinizing all the applications filed by various institutes and colleges seeking to set up centre of excellence. The committee shall submit its findings to the state government and then a final decision will be taken on the issue. Only the deserving institutes shall be granted permission,” said a senior official of the state education department. Sources in the directorate of state technical education said: “By June, five colleges may get approval for setting up of these centres for excellence.” Front runners in the race to get centres of excellence are Nirma University, PDPU, DAIICT, Dharamsinh Desai University (Nadiad) and Charotar Institute of Technology, Changa. For institutes that are granted green signal, the centres will mean more autonomy in deciding their fees and also in admissions. “These institutes will no more be under the purview of the fee regulatory committee that governs fee structure in all universities of Gujarat. These institutes will be able to decide their fee structure autonomously. Admission process in these institutes will also be conducted independently and the college authorities shall have the final say in the matter,” said the state technical education department source. Chosen institutes may raise fees by up to 40% Most of the chosen institutes may hike their existing fee by 30-40%. Director-general (academic administration) of Nirma University, DP Chhaya, said, “We shall apply for setting up of an academic excellence centre in our institute. This will give us more autonomy in fees and admission. While we are waiting for the rules to be announced shortly, all other formalities and documentations have been completed.” Echoing the same sentiments vice-chancellor of Dharamsinh Desai University, HN Desai, said: “We are waiting for the norms to be announced. It will be a matter of pride for us if the centre of excellence is set up here.” Source: Education News