Govt to initiate schemes for oppressed students: UGC

Coimbatore, Sep 2 (UNI) University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Sukhadeo Thorat said the Union Government would initiate various schemes in the eleventh five-year plan to encourage students from the socially oppressed sections like the SC and ST, Religious minorities and rural society to pursue higher education.

Delivering the 19th Convocation address at the Avinashilingam University for Women here last evening, he said disparities were evident in education between social groups, regions and gender and listed UGC's focus areas such as relevant education, inclusiveness, expansion and quality. The UGC in consultation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Human Resource Ministry was formalising a plan to develop higher education, he added.

Prof Thorat said though the country has more than 18,000 colleges with over 1.20 crore students in higher education, only ten per cent of youth between the age group of 18-23 years have access to higher education in India. The country was still lagging behind as compared to the world average of 23 per cent, he added.

He said the challenge before the UGC was to increase the enrolment of students for higher education and raise it from 10 per cent to 15 per cent by the end of the eleventh plan.

Only ten universities and 100 colleges in the country had pontential for excellence, he added.

He said according to National Accreditation and Assessment Committee (NAAC) data only 15 per cent colleges and ten per cent Universities fall under A-Grade, categeery. Most of the colleges lack physical infarastructure and quality teaching.

Prof Thorat apprised that the proposed reforms for the eleventh plan would concentrate on admission policy, assessment policy and equality in syllabus. UGC was planning to organise a National Conference in New Delhi on October nine and ten to discuss reforms in higher education, he added.

The Avinashilingam University for Women presented honorary degrees of Doctorate of Literature to Prof Thorat and M K Panduranga Setty, President of Rashtreeya Shikshana Samiti Trust, Bangalore.

UNI