The state cabinet on Friday approved the guiding principles for establishing cluster universities by education institutions in Maharashtra. Various educational institutions in Pune and other parts of the state have welcomed the state’s decision.
The National Higher Education Mission has thus encouraged the conversion of educational institutions into cluster universities. Accordingly, there are three cluster universities currently in the state — Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, Mumbai; Hyderabad (Sind) National Collegiate University, Mumbai; and Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil, Satara.
“The premier college should be of autonomous status for at least five years or the college should have a minimum 3.25 cumulative grade point average (CGPA) rating of National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) or equivalent National Board of Accreditation (NBA) score or 50 per cent of the total courses should be accredited by NBA. Seven posts, including the vice-chancellor and the registrar, will be created for the smooth running of the University. For this, an amount of ₹1 crore will be given to the university by the state government for the first five years,” said Chandrakant Patil, state higher and technical education minister.
The purpose of promoting cluster universities is to reduce the burden on the state universities and create a strong network of educational institutions and provide more opportunities to students, an official from the state higher education department said. The Maharashtra state Governor will appoint the vice-chancellors of these group universities as the chancellor. These universities will remain public universities.
{{/usCountry}}The purpose of promoting cluster universities is to reduce the burden on the state universities and create a strong network of educational institutions and provide more opportunities to students, an official from the state higher education department said. The Maharashtra state Governor will appoint the vice-chancellors of these group universities as the chancellor. These universities will remain public universities.
{{/usCountry}}As per the guidelines of the cluster university formation, a major educational institution or college aspiring for a cluster university should be a college or institution with high academic performance, requisite infrastructure, trained faculty as well as the ability to coordinate towards a cluster university. In order to form a group university, a minimum of two and a maximum of five aided or unaided colleges of the same management or educational institution will need to be amalgamated. All traditional and professional colleges except agriculture and health Sciences can be included in the cluster university. The state government will assess more than five colleges or institutes for inclusion in the cluster university.
The principal college of the cluster university should have been functioning for the last 20 years. Also, this college should have at least 2,000 students and the enrolment of at least 4,000 students in the participating colleges should be added to this number. These colleges together should have 15,000 square metres and so much aggregate construction is required that four hectares for the divisional headquarters and six hectares for the rest of the state.
Talking about the important development, Rajesh Pandey, president, Pune Education Forum, “The decision has opened a door of opportunity for education as it is important for bringing educational opportunities to common students, introducing experimentation in education and educational expansion. It is believed that more and more educational institutions will participate in the cluster university scheme.”