Know Your College portal launched in 2014 as a single window framework for students seeking information about the educational institutes in India
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked all colleges and universities to upload the accurate data of institute on ‘Know Your College’ (KYC) portal and update the same periodically.
In a letter dated July 21, Jaspal Sandhu, Secretary of the UGC stated that the KYC is a long term vision of the Government of India for creating an appropriate framework for the students seeking various information about the educational institutions from a single window instead of looking for different websites.
Accordingly, Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched the ‘Know Your College (KYC)’ portal which will act as one-stop shop for students and their parents across the country to help them make an informed decision on the choice of institutions and the courses.
The portal was officially launched by the President of India on November 11, 2014. A PIB release said that the portal covers almost 10,500 colleges which conduct about 14,000 programs in Technical Education and 35000 colleges conducting at least 20,000 programs in Non-Technical education.
It is a repository of information pertaining to colleges and information related to its faculty, labs, library, infrastructure, and availability of hostel facilities etc.
Students are encouraged to send their complaints on discrepancies of information provided by colleges through this portal.
In the letter addressed to the Vice-Chancellors (VCs) of all the universities in India, the UGC Secretary however noted that “many institutions have not uploaded the data about their respective institutions on the portal.”
The data uploaded on the portal need to be clear and accurate, it said. In this connection, keeping in view the importance of the KYC portal, the Secretary sought the personal intervention of all the respective VCs in the matter and requested them to “upload the accurate data” about their Institution on the KYC portal, which should be updated periodically.
The UGC also asked the VCs to ensure that all its affiliated institutions do the same and help the “Government in successfully achieving this student-friendly initiative.”
A visit to the portal showed that Nagaland has one Central University - Nagaland University; Institute of National Importance - National Institute of Technology Nagaland; and two State Private University - The Global Open University Nagaland, Dimapur and The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India University, Dimapur.
Eleven standalone institutes and 5 technical colleges/institutes were also listed in the portal. All together, 61 other colleges or higher educational institutes including two recognized study centers in Kohima - Lord Buddha Education Foundation Kathmandu and Birgunj Institute of Information Technology Birgunj – both affiliated to Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Bhopal were also listed on the portal.
However, many of the institutes listed on the portal did not have a proper website. This portal is being maintained by AICTE and is available to the public at www.knowyourcollege-gov.in.
(Morung Express Feature)
