No new colleges in state sans NAAC compliance

Mumbai: The state government will not approve any new college that promises to offer only traditional courses such as BA, B

Mumbai: The state government will not approve any new college that promises to offer only traditional courses such as BA, B.Com and B.Sc.

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Chandrakant Patil, minister for higher education, said the reason behind the decision is that “all these courses are now largely redundant; colleges need to improve coursework that is 70% traditional and 30% skill-based”.

Patil was speaking at a one-day state-level conference on accreditation: ‘The Way Forward’, hosted by the University of Mumbai in collaboration with Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA).

In his inaugural speech, the minister underscored that college managements should focus on improving the quality of education by introducing changes in the curriculum. “There are many colleges in the state that teach traditional courses like arts, commerce and science. So, there is no need for more such colleges. The quality of education is an identity of a country and state. Students should also be imparted education on social service that enhances their self-confidence and self-esteem,” said Patil.

The minister added that the process of recruiting assistant professors has begun, with an approval to fill 2088 vacant posts. Currently, there are 8,000 vacancies for the position of assistant professors. On completion of the roster process in time and reviewing recruitments of remaining posts, the next phase of recruitment will start.

On Friday evening, a meeting of the Maharashtra State Commission for Higher Education and Development (MAHED) was held led by Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. While reviewing the higher education sector, Fadnavis reiterated Patil’s view, saying, “Aligning with the National Education Policy, when approvals are given to new colleges, employment-oriented course structures should be identified. Universities and affiliated colleges should decide a five-year plan, including these parameters and prepare courses that would be advantageous to students from different locations.”

Colleges without NAAC to be penalised

In view of over 50% colleges in the state not having NAAC accreditation, Patil, in an exclusive interview with HT, said that the institutions that do not complete the NAAC process will be penalised.

“In such a scenario, colleges will be taken to task by cutting short their student intake. Further non-adherence will entail a ban on any new admissions for the next academic year,” Patil said.

In Maharashtra, 4494 colleges and 65 universities provide education to students. Only 1854 of these are NAAC-accredited, of which 425 have ‘A’ grades.

There are 28 government-run colleges, of which four do not have NAAC grading. Most unaided colleges in the state do not participate in NAAC -- only 232 unaided colleges participated in NAAC, of which grading of 119 colleges is presently on. Around 1909 unaided colleges have never participated in NAAC. Keeping this in mind, the minister insisted that at his state residence on Friday, that NAAC assessment is not optional but a mandatory requirement. “Colleges should start the assessment process early,” he said.