Inspection reports of colleges to go online

Updated on: Friday, November 06, 2009

Chennai: With several higher educational institutions being granted university status without adequate infrastructures and academic facilities, the UGC has been directed to make all inspection reports public.

According to Sunil Kumar, the joint secretary, Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) has directed the UGC to place the reports of its expert committees which inspect universities or institutions on its website. The communiquÃ© covers both central/state universities and deemed universities.

The ministry, in its communication admitted that while the central government respects the academic autonomy of the university system, it is at the same time "concerned about certain practices adopted that could damage the creditability of the entire university system."

MHRD hopes that this move, aimed at ensuring transparency and accountability in the working of universities, would "contain corruption as well as malpractices" in higher education.

Once the information about institutions, including inspection reports, is available in public domain it would make it imperative for the UGC to ensure that highest standards are maintained. "In the absence of information placed in the public domain, it would be extremely difficult for standards of education to be maintained across universities and higher educational institutions," Sunil told

In an effort to help students, parents and other stakeholders make informed choices on joining a course in an institution, the MHRD has asked the UGC to ensure that all universities/deemed universities functioning with its approval also disclose complete details about their academic and infrastructure strengths.

As a result, it has become compulsory for all universities/deemed universities in the country to carry details regarding the physical infrastructure, admission criteria, fee structure, courses offered (including distance education courses), curricula and details about study centers on their official website.

Besides, every institution must furnish online details of faculty positions in every department along with their photographs and nature of employment (permanent, temporary or visiting faculty). This is aimed at ending impersonation of staff.

The ministry has directed the UGC to provide a link to the websites of all universities on its portal.

Inspection reports of colleges to go online

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