Rs 48,000 Cr to boost higher edn: UGC Chief

Updated on: Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Mysore: University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Professor Sukhdeo Thorat today said the Centre has allocated Rs 48,000 crore under the 11th Plan to boost higher education in the country.

Participating in the meet-the-press programme organised by the Mysore District Journalists Association here, he said the allocation under the 10th five year plan was just Rs 4,000 crore for higher education and the same had been increased by ten times to bring complete change in the higher education system in the country.

Professor Thorat said the UGC was giving utmost priority to higher education with a goal to improve the entry figure to at least 17 per cent.

The number of students at the undergraduate level opting for higher education stood at a dismally low ten per cent in the country as against 23 per cent around the world, he pointed out.

When pointed out that caste-based reservation persisted even for higher education and questioned whether such a policy would dilute the standards of higher education, Professor Thorat assured that there was no compromise on quality despite the reservation policy.

The UGC Chairman refused to offer comment when journalists pointed out to the mushrooming of deemed universities and entry of many private universities.

Referring to the teaching profession, Professor Thorat pointed out that with the introduction of UGC scales, teaching fraternity were in no way inferior to IAS officers with lucrative emoluments and perks designed to attract the best talent and indirectly boost the higher education.

However, accountability had been strictly enforced on such faculty to maintain quality of education at the higher levels, he said.

To a question, he ruled out political influence in awarding honorary doctorates by universites to people who have served and have achievements in various fields.

Stating that there was nothing political about the doctorates, he said the universities awarded doctorates after assessing merits.

Kalvimalar

Rs 48,000 Cr to boost higher edn: UGC Chief

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