The Parliamentary panel has recommended reviewing the “experiment” of providing courses in Humanities in technology institutions in regard to the assess its impact on the academic climate in such institutions. The panel also suggested that the Ministry of Education should incentivise encouraging engineering education in regional languages by giving awards to good translators and writers on engineering subjects in regional languages, as stated in a report by PTI.
The committee, headed by Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, also noted that there was an urgent need to revisit and revamp the norms for starting online courses and efforts be made towards offering a level playing field as far as grants in aid were concerned.
Considering NEP 2020, the report read, “Keeping in view the broad thrust of NEP 2020 towards holistic and multidisciplinary education, the committee also recommends the incorporation of Social Sciences, Humanities, Arts modules in the technical education curriculum for the development of students with well-rounded personalities.”
The report read, “Efforts be made towards offering a level playing field as far as grants in aid were concerned.” And other recommendations made by the panel committee are:
– The Department of Higher Education, UGC and universities should collectively review the current state of academia-industry partnerships followed by taking measures to strengthen them further as these can greatly help mitigate the shortage of skilled workforce
– Collaboration between the industry and higher educational institutions would help students inculcate crucial entrepreneurship/business skills, provide hands-on experience and help create a robust talent pool
– Panel observes that parameters for assessment and recognition of various courses under regulatory bodies need to be updated to bring them in tune with the current best practices
– Institutional Leadership and Management course for aspiring and existing principals or administrative heads of the colleges to give them exposure to the management skills required to lead the institutions, formulating a Comprehensive National Research Policy encompassing all kinds of research activities, both in social as well as physical sciences, a blueprint be prepared for each of the HEIs to be followed to enhance the standards of education all across the country
The report said, “The committee, keeping in view the global trend in student learning, suggests that the Department of Higher Education, along with its bodies, must undertake an expert study to help provide avenues towards empowering students to chart their education pathways as per their needs and interest, leveraging traditional and other partnerships to bolster learning and making efforts towards ensuring widespread diffusion of education.”
