SRINAGAR: There are 154 Government Degree Colleges, 208 private colleges and 25 professional colleges affiliated to various universities functioning in J&K and 100 new colleges more will be established to enroll additional 1.5 lakh students soon.
Commissioner Secretary, Higher Education, Talat Parvez disclosing this during an online interaction with the first batch of PhD students and 5th Batch of MBA students of IIM Jammu.
“We have 8 Government Universities, 3 Semi Government Universities besides, NIT, IIM, IIT, SKIMS, NIFT, IIMC, 7 autonomous institutions of national importance. Besides, two cluster Universities have been constituted by pooling resources of 10 prestigious colleges of J&K”, Pervez said.
He said Kashmir University is one of the top 50 universities on NIRF ranking while Jammu University ranks 52 and SMVDU 83rd in engineering discipline. Both the state universities are A++ while IUST and SMVDU have B++ NAAC ranking, 48 colleges are NAAC accredited, Pervez added.
He disclosed that under RUSA, Rs.500 crore have been made available for two more Cluster Universities, two Professional Colleges, five Degree Colleges, upgradation of infrastructure in 42 colleges. Besides he said 50% of the grants have been provided to universities for infrastructure and research projects taken up.
Highlighting initiatives by the Government, he said that the government acts as a provider as well as regulator. He said Sarva Shiksha Abyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abyan (RMSA) are two major programmes launched by the Government to lay a strong foundation for primary and secondary education. However, in the sphere of higher education, RUSA aims at improving access, equity and quality education. He said that we must strive to prepare and educate a productive work force through concerted efforts to improve the quality and relevance of higher education to the local, national and global needs and remove inequalities.
Commissioner Secretary informed that Jammu University is in the process of establishing research clusters as Centres of Excellence in Data Science and Artificial Centre, Bio-Technology, Centre for nanotechnology and material science, Centre for climate change and sustainable development and Centre for global corporate governance society whereas Kashmir University is establishing such centres for advanced instrumentation for research and establishment of centre for interdisciplinary research and innovation (CIRI).
He informed that Rs.30 crore are being spent on starting vocational courses in colleges affiliated to both universities so as to foster employability, innovation and entrepreneurship. Besides, IIM Jammu has been taken as a partner in this area for mentoring and hand-holding for linkages with industries and corporate sectors.
He further informed that 40 girl hostels have been established to accommodate 7000 students for equity participation from hilly and remote regions where girls drop out ratio is significant. Besides, 3.50 lakh students have been enrolled for higher education, GER in J&K is 30.6% which is above the national average of 26% with the peculiarity that girls outnumber boys. Under Technical Education Quality Initiatives (TEQIP), Rs. 40 crore has been provided for professional universities (BGBSU,IUST, SMVDU and GCETs), 54 M.Tech seats in computer, mechanical, electronics and communication for session 20-21.
He informed that under transformation of academic curriculum transaction about 20% of credits have been adopted through online courses on MOOCS (SWAYAM) to enhance student mobility across the UT universities. Besides, more than 150 employability enhancement skill courses for 16 credits under the new reform and add-on certificate courses as per NSQF framework and AICTE approved curriculum have also been introduced, he added.
He apprised that LOCF for all courses has been adopted from current academic year under which 26 IG programmes and 40 honours programme have been offered in premier colleges, SWAYAM and National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) courses being used by the teachers and students. Also, 50,000 electronic tablets are being provided to bridge the digital divide and enable transaction for e-learning. He said that about 50 colleges of Valley have been connected on internet with Kashmir University to extend National Knowledge Network connectivity of 2 GBPs. Besides, all universities in the UT have at least 1 GB connectivity to support academic and research programmes, he added. Also, 300 class rooms have already been upgraded as digital class rooms and the remaining 1200 would be upgraded this year under ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ initiative, launched by Government of India post COVID-19 and college campuses being enabled with wi-fi facility.
Commissioner Secretary, while elaborating on initiatives being launched to deal with prevailing situation in the valley, informed that 6 SWAMYAM PRABHA channels are being dedicated for higher education to reach out to remote and distant colleges in synchronous and asynchronous mode under e-vidya. Besides, establishment of 16 online examination centres with 400 to 500 each for timely examinations and results and to overcome the peculiar situation of the valley.
He informed that 54 libraries have been automated and 76 colleges have been registered on N-LIST, NDL, e-SHODH SINDHU and e-content has been customized for 84 subjects and NPTEL courses offered on LMS in premier colleges in an endeavor to enrich teaching-learning resources. Besides, 50 start ups have been supported by business incubation centres at SMVDU and 11 design innovation centres have been established by Central University Kashmir for honing local skills in indigenous crafts and food preservation to promote local enterprises.
As many as 5000 students are being provided scholarships worth Rs. 100 crore every year to pursue professional courses outside J&K UT under the PMSSS scheme.
In order to enhance employability, GATE coaching, IT domain skilling, competitive examinations’ coaching, employability skill training, cost accountancy training and certificate courses have been provided to thousands of students of UT since last year. Besides career counseling, training and placement being strengthened and institutionalized for guiding the students.
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