Bihar forms 4 panels to improve health of beleaguered higher education

The Bihar State University Council (BSHEC) has set up four different committees composed of Vice Chancellors and experts to undertake major reforms in the state’s ailing higher education. A corresponding decision was made after a meeting of the SHEC chaired by Education Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary, officials said.

The first of the four Academic Reform Committees, consisting of Vice Chancellors (VCs) from the Central University of South Bihar (CUSB), Patna University, Director of Higher Education, Patna Women’s College Rector, State Project Leader and Expert, will provide academic input to the Education Council for the creation of the State university plan by reviewing the curriculum.

It will also propose academic reforms, e.g. Introduction of the semester system, choice-based credit point system, etc. The semester system that was started in Bihar at the postgraduate level remains half-baked, while at the Bachelor level it is still a non-starter despite several attempts. The committee will also contribute to mainstreaming VET, which suffers from the lack of facilities and quality support from teachers.

The aim of the second committee is to find ways of promoting the accreditation of state institutions that are assessed according to the standards of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). Bihar barely has 100 colleges out of 250 constituent units accredited with most of them in the B or C class. None of the state universities achieved an A grade, which could only be achieved by seven universities. There are only seven A-grade colleges. As part of the new education policy, NAAC accreditation is a basic requirement that is linked to funding. Several government institutions have slipped further in new rankings due to the strict NAAC standards. For example, a NAAC report released earlier this year said Patna’s BN College had slipped from B ++ to C because “many of its faculty members are actively involved in government political activities that influence the college’s academic work.”

The third committee will focus on stimulating the academic environment and building a database of all universities and colleges on quality parameters to identify gaps and work on eliminating them by adopting best practices shared by national and international experts. The fourth committee will prepare the roadmap and the action plan for the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) – 2020.

With the aim of improving the gross enrollment rate (GER) and the quality in the universities, the BSHEC was constituted as a basic requirement within the framework of the national university mission (Rashtriya Uchchatara Shiksha Abhiyan or RUSA). The BSHEC was given the task of proposing a roadmap for the implementation of the new education policy (NEP) in higher education.

Social analyst and former head of the economic department of Patna University, Professor NK Choudhary, said that adhocism at the top is the core of all problems. “Putting the right people in the lead will solve a lot of problems, which unfortunately doesn’t happen. Higher education needs vision and continuity. Hopefully this will be addressed as well. The large-scale positions at universities and colleges also have to be filled at the earliest, ”he added.

source https://collegeeducationnewsllc.com/bihar-forms-4-panels-to-improve-health-of-beleaguered-higher-education/