Universities in the State must collaborate more: Panikker

Updated on: Saturday, September 18, 2010

The State-level conclave held at the Mahatma Gandhi University to discuss initiatives in higher education concluded on Thursday with a call for greater collaboration among universities.

Delivering the valedictory address, K.N. Panikker, Vice-Chairman, Kerala State Higher Education Council, urged the universities in the State to enhance cooperation by sharing resources in specialised fields.

“Universities should depart from existing norms to accommodate the scope for a collective development in the field of higher education. The council has also taken steps to initiate changes in this regard,” he said.

Dr. Panikker highlighted the necessity of increasing the extent of assistance provided to students during their academic career. “The current scenario has students depending on parents during their higher education. This trend has to be altered by creating opportunities for students to receive the backing of other sources as well. Scholarships would go a long way in ensuring this endeavour. However, scholarships should be merit schemes helping students to pursue their fields of interest,” he said.

Dr. Panikker expressed optimism that the initiatives launched by the council during the past four years would sow the seeds of a strong foundation for higher education in Kerala. He also pointed out the importance of disseminating the ideas initiated during the two-day review meet among universities and also drawing up a roadmap for the future of education in the State.

Inaugurating the conclave on Wednesday, Prof. Rajan Gurukkal, Vice-Chancellor, MGU, highlighted the reawakening witnessed by the dormant higher education in recent times. “The brilliant strategies that were formulated by the Education Ministry and the Kerala State Higher Education Council are capable of bringing forth substantial structural changes by replacing extinct practices that impeded academic progress,” he said.

Prof. Thomas Joseph, secretary, Kerala State Higher Education Council, said that the council has never intended to intervene in the autonomy of the universities. The new initiatives drafted by the experts were not implemented single-handedly by the council, but had the involvement of all those concerned. This is evident by the successful implementation of many novel schemes, including the choice-based credit and semester system that was introduced at the undergraduate level.

Prof. Joseph said the concept of cooperation and collaboration was embedded in the cluster of colleges system that has been adopted mostly by government colleges. “Though the government has been willing to allocate more money required for colleges, in addition to the initial infusion of Rs. 1 crore, no cluster has claimed the amount as of yet. This may be perhaps due to apprehensions regarding the possibility of slipping from the probable autonomous status, which the individual colleges can claim at the later stage,” he said.

Prof. P.K. Michael Tharakan, Vice-Chancellor, Kannur University, emphasised the importance of providing inter-university centres with autonomy.

Prof. Ramachandran Thekkedathu, Vice-Chancellor, CUSAT, shared the success stories reaped by the introduction of a series of new initiatives and maintained that the review would go a long way in improving the efficiency of the systems.

Universities in the State must collaborate more: Panikker

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