E-Paper
Tackling sexual harassment: PU syndicate to mull adoption of UGC order
Also to take call on dual degree plan under NEP; proposal on live streaming of senate meetings; Intellectual Property Right Policy-2023 of centre for industry institute partnership programme; ithdrawal of the PUCET exam for ME and MTech courses in National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR), Sector 26
The Panjab University (PU) syndicate will meet on Saturday and as per a supplementary agenda released for the meeting, the syndicate will deliberate upon the adoption of directions by the University Grants Commission (UGC) related to dealing with sexual harassment.
The matter was brought forward by the Panjab University Committee Against Sexual Harassment (PUCASH) in a letter to the vice-chancellor asking that the regulations issued by the UGC be adopted in totality by the university.
A meeting was held by PUCASH on June 26 where the UGC (prevention, prohibition and redress of sexual harassment of women employees and students in higher education institutions) Regulations were placed before the committee for its adoption. Earlier, the committee had been following the guidelines of the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act, while the adoption of these directives in totality is now mandatory.
The UGC’s letter was sent to the vice-chancellors of all universities after the Supreme Court’s directions on May 12 to fulfil the promise that the Act holds out to working women all over the country.
All state governments and UTs have been directed to undertake a time-bound exercise to verify that all concerned institutions have constituted committees against sexual harassment as per the provisions of the PoSH Act. Details, including the composition of the committee, email IDs and contact numbers, of the designated persons and the procedure prescribed for submitting an online complaint be available on the website of the body concerned and be updated regularly.
Steps must be taken by the university to familiarise members of the committee with their duties and the manner in which an inquiry ought to be conducted upon receiving the complaint. The university must also regularly conduct workshops, seminars and awareness programmes to upskill the members of the committee and to educate women employees about the provisions of the Act, rules and relevant regulations.
The syndicate will also consider the adoption of the National Higher Education Qualifications Framework (NHEQF), as per a communication received from the UGC. Under this, higher education qualifications will be according to certain levels. A UG certificate, as per the National Educational Policy will be awarded after studying two semesters of the UG degree, will constitute level 4.5 which will be the starting level. The three-year bachelor degree will be level 5.5. Two-year postgraduate degree will be either level 6 or level 6.5 depending upon the duration of the UG degree and the doctoral degree will be of level 8.
The UGC has also mentioned the expected graduate attributes at different levels of NHEQF and learning outcomes. Credit requirements have also been defined with a three-year UG degree requiring 120 credits and a four-year UG degree requiring 160 credits. Letter grading and grade points for assessment have also been defined.
Meanwhile, as per the supplementary agenda, other proposals, including change in nomenclature of USOL, procedure and exemption of late fee for post-metric scholarship candidates and issuance of degrees as well as payment of examination fee, will also come up for consideration.
