Mumbai university to seek your opinion on starting new colleges and courses

Varsity has decided to invite suggestions from all stakeholders to draft its five-year academic plan,

Students, teachers and even general public will now have a say in the establishment of new degree colleges, commencement of new courses and addition of new divisions in existing institutes. This is because University of Mumbai (MU) has decided to take suggestions and recommendations from all stakeholders to draft its upcoming five-year plan for the academic years between 2019-20 and 2023 -2024.

The universities will follow a template prepared by another state-appointed expert committee to prepare the document. (HT FILE)

Send your suggestions

You can send your suggestions on new colleges, courses and divisions to Mumbai university by mailing them to ar.affiliation2@fort.mu.ac.in

MU will undertake a survey of the geographical area under its purview, which includes Mumbai, its neighbouring suburbs and the entire Konkan region, before drafting the five-year perspective plan.

Following the survey, opinion will be sought from all stakeholders - students, teachers, non-governmental organisations, industrialists, public representatives and even the general public, about the problems and needs of various areas, to fine-tune the plan.

“The information will be gathered through specific questionnaires designed for various stakeholders,” said Dinesh Kamble, MU’s in-charge registrar.

The perspective plan lays out the blueprint for future expansion of higher education avenues, including new colleges, courses and divisions, in the region.

According to the Maharashtra Public Universities Act enacted last year, all the public universities in the state are required to come up with a perspective plan every five years and implement it after an approval from the state government.

An ideal plan

Narendra Jadhav Committee, 2015: With a view of bringing uniformity in higher education across the state and to integrate it with the new national education policy, the state government appointed a four-member committee led by economist and educationist Narendra Jadhav.

Its recommendations include:

The state-level perspective plan should have a provision for establishing at least one traditional (Arts, Science and Commerce) college and one professional college in rural and tribal areas which are lagging behind.

The universities should to set a goal of increasing GER of each district under its purview by 5% every five year. The committee aims an overall 30% state GER at the end of next decade and 35% GER within another decade

The prestigious institutes within the state must be permitted to add courses, faculties and divisions in rural and tribal areas. The respective universities can add the provision for “satellite centres of colleges” in their respective perspective plans.

If 25% of the seats in a faculty or a city remain vacant for three consecutive years, new institutes in that faculty or city must not be allowed. Fresh affiliations must be granted strictly as per the demand.

The universities should look to add faculties, colleges and institutes to impart skills required in the respective regions under their purview.

According to MU and state government officials, the new data-driven and ‘scientific’ approach will be a far cry from the haphazard manner in which plans are usually drafted.

The ‘bottom-up approach’, where educational and vocational requirements for a region is considered before adding educational facilities, was first proposed in 2015 by a state-appointed four-member committee, headed by educationist and economist, Narendra Jadhav.

Universities will follow a template prepared by another state-appointed expert committee to prepare the document.

“The expert committee suggested that the universities conduct a survey of all the stakeholders. They should gather more data and ensure that opinions of people from all walks of life are reflected in the plan,” said an aide to education minister Vinod Tawde.

MU has formed a committee to look after the entire process. District-level sub-committees, consisting of academicians and members of varsity’s statutory bodies, are also being constituted to gather information from various parts of the region.

Kamble said, “We will take our survey to gram panchayat level to learn about issues related to water, transportation and agriculture.”