Our Correspondent
Kohima | September 7
Minister for higher & technical education Dr. Shürhozelie Liezietsu today said that that in order to curtail mushrooming growth of higher educational institutions in Nagaland and to discourage non-serious players, the State Education Committee on Higher Education has decided to enforce a new set of guidelines on opening of new colleges.
These guidelines require the Trust applicant to own at least 5 acres of land registered in its name, an endowment fund of Rs. 10 lakhs in the form of fixed deposit, an operating fund of Rs. 10 lakhs in the form of savings bank account, grant of provisional NOC for a period of two years, inspection of the college before renewal of NOC etc, the minister said in his address at the seminar on ‘Best Practices’ for Principals & Coordinators of Secular Colleges in Nagaland” here today organized by the Department of Higher Education.
“We intend to implement these guidelines strictly and encourage only serious players to start higher educational institutions in the state henceforth,” the minister said.
Regretting that Nagaland is lagging behind in NAAC assessment, Dr. Liezietsu on the other hand expressed his happiness that four Government colleges and three private colleges have been accredited by NAAC during the last years.
NAAC peer team had already visited one more college and the result is expected soon. Also two colleges have been accredited with A Grade and the other colleges with B Grade.
Congratulating seven colleges for having undergone through the difficult process of accreditation, the minister also urged the other 18 colleges which are covered under 2 (f) and 12(b), to prepare themselves for NAAC assessment within the next five years.
“The department has decided to give monetary assistance to the accredited colleges for sustaining their NAAC activities,” the minister said.
By going through assessment and accreditation under NAAC, a college can assure quality education to her students, he said.
The minister also said the department is aware of the pressure on private colleges after implementation of the revised UGC pay scheme to the government college teachers. “We need to attract talents to teaching profession, but unless we provide attractive pay package and brighter career prospectus, we can never retain talents in the profession, he said.
The Minister said the department has substantially enhanced grant-in-aid to private college this year in order to help the private colleges to overcome these difficulties to some extent.
Those colleges offering science stream are also been given additional assistance for purchase of laboratory equipments. A committee under the chairmanship of the director, SCERT has been constituted to suggest measures for promotion of maths and science education in the state.
“With effect from this year, the government will also give awards to the toppers in the Board and University examinations,” the minister said and he was optimistic that these measures will go a long way in the promotion of quality education in the state.
The minister said the enrolment of the students in our colleges and the number of students availing Post Matric Scholarship and such other financial benefits are steadily increasing year by year “which is a very encouraging sign.”
Another positive trends is that enrolment of girls in some college is more than the enrollment of boys, the minister said, adding “We have been able to provide access to higher education to all those who want to pursue in all districts including the educational backward districts in the government sector.”
“With 15 government colleges and 41 secular private colleges catering to the need of about 30,000 students in the state, our achievement in Expansion and Equity is commendable,” Dr. Liezietsu maintained.
In order to expand further, the minister said, we need to consolidate the existing institutions rather than opening of new ones except in educationally backward areas where we have to encourage private players for opening of more colleges.
Stating that third E (that is excellence and quality education) is need most today, he said “ Unfortunately, only 10 government colleges and 15 private colleges are covered under 2 (f) and 12 (b) of the UGC Act, 1956. “This means that majority of our colleges have not met the requirements of the UGC norms. Many of these uncovered colleges have been in existence for many years and yet they are still lagging behind for the reason that they are not entitled to receive UGC norms.”
The Minister asserted that the principals of these uncovered colleges need to come out with some concrete plan to being up their colleges to the require standards in the next few years so that they become eligible to receive UGC grants.
Earlier, Prof. Charles P Alexander, Dean ICFAI University, Dimapur delivered keynote address while commissioner & secretary for higher and technical education F. P. Solo chaired the function.
