TN: Edu institutions should focus on awards

Tiruchirapalli, Oct 24: The Vice-Chancellor of Bharathidasan University M Ponnavaikko said the higher educational institutions of long-standing should trigger the trend of applying for 'Deming Awards' that were being given to Industries.

Inaugurating a two-day national conference here yesterday on 'Quality Enhancement and Sustenance in Higher Educational Institutions through Six Sigma Quality strategy, jointly organised by the St Joseph's College and NAAC, Prof Ponnavaikko said the application of TQM principles in academic sphere will lead to quality output and the education will be meaningless, if the graduates produced by the higher educational institutions did not suit the requirements of the society.

Institutions must have a mechanism to measure quality at every stage in the backdrop of the National Knowledge Commission(NKC) recommending a quantum jump in the number of universities and colleges to increase the gross enrolment ratio in higher education from 10 to 15 per cent by 2015, he added.

In his address, the Principal Rev Fr R Rajarathinam observed that Six Sigma Quality strategy was yet another significant step taken in the direction of transferring proven concepts in assessing the quality of industries to the realm of higher education. Describing the current scenario of higher education, conference convenor Stephen Vincent said the two areas that needed attention were the requirement of stake-holders and a change in business process.

Six Sigma Quality was a quality enhancement strategy greatly helping one to gain a competitive edge, Mr Vincent said, adding that as the sigma level increases, the quality of education improves, resulting in higher customer satisfaction.

UNI