Own campus

The education ministry and UGC have to make sure that students are not cheated in the name of education

The education ministry has again given ultimatum to 11 private universities for shifting all of their education programmes to their permanent campuses within three months. If they fail to shift within the timeframe, they would be barred from admitting new students. This sounds good. But the fact of the matter is these universities were given deadline several times one after another in the past to shift, but they failed to do so and it is the government that had to backtrack.

This time also, according to a report published in this newspaper, many of these universities are not prepared to take their education programmes with three months. Would the education ministry stick to its declared measure and bar these universities to admit students? It should. If the government continues to extend deadline, its position becomes weaker. Therefore, the government has to take a tougher stance this time.

However, it now appears that the way the government gave permission to found private universities one after another was not well grounded. Had that not been the case, only 12 private universities among 51 would not have moved to permanent campuses after 24 years of their founding. The number of private universities is now doubled, and it has become a gigantic task for the government to streamline these universities following the Private University Act, 2010.

Obviously the government should now change its policy to give permission to found universities with private initiative. The universities that failed to shift were supposed to have their own permanent campuses within seven years of their founding. Against this backdrop of failure, it is well advised that the education ministry must not give permission to found any new university in the first place, unless the older ones fulfill all the requirement of founding. Since the private university authorities were agreed to move their permanent campuses within seven years of founding, the government can very positively take tougher action to force the private universities to abide by the rules.

It is the education ministry and University Grants Commission (UGC) that have to ultimately look after the welfare of the students who take admission to these universities. They have to make sure that they are not cheated in the name of education. The aim should be to elevate the standard of the private universities to such a level where the students feel they will be equally treated in the job market like their public universities counterparts.  

Own campus

The education ministry and UGC have to make sure that students are not cheated in the name of education

The education ministry has again given ultimatum to 11 private universities for shifting all of their education programmes to their permanent campuses within three months. If they fail to shift within the timeframe, they would be barred from admitting new students. This sounds good. But the fact of the matter is these universities were given deadline several times one after another in the past to shift, but they failed to do so and it is the government that had to backtrack. This time also, according to a report published in this newspaper, many of these universities are not prepared to take their education programmes with three months. Would the education ministry stick to its declared measure and bar these universities to admit students? It should. If the government continues to extend deadline, its position becomes weaker. Therefore, the government has to take a tougher stance this time. However, it now appears that the way the government gave permission to found private universities one after another was not well grounded. Had that not been the case, only 12 private universities among 51 would not have moved to permanent campuses after 24 years of their founding. The number of private universities is now doubled, and it has become a gigantic task for the government to streamline these universities following the Private University Act, 2010. Obviously the government should now change its policy to give permission to found universities with private initiative. The universities that failed to shift were supposed to have their own permanent campuses within seven years of their founding. Against this backdrop of failure, it is well advised that the education ministry must not give permission to found any new university in the first place, unless the older ones fulfill all the requirement of founding. Since the private university authorities were agreed to move their permanent campuses within seven years of founding, the government can very positively take tougher action to force the private universities to abide by the rules. It is the education ministry and University Grants Commission (UGC) that have to ultimately look after the welfare of the students who take admission to these universities. They have to make sure that they are not cheated in the name of education. The aim should be to elevate the standard of the private universities to such a level where the students feel they will be equally treated in the job market like their public universities counterparts.