Kolkata, Aug. 25 -- Higher Education minister Jagannath Chattopadhyay on Tuesday defended the government's decision to appoint MPs and MLAs as presidents of governing bodies (GBs) in 247 colleges, saying the temporary arrangement was aimed at restoring academic normalcy and keeping educational institutions free of political activity. Similar appointments are planned in another 200 colleges.
Speaking on the sidelines of a workshop on the implementation of NEP 2020 said the appointments were aimed at restoring four basic requirements in colleges.
"Restoring the normal condition of colleges - timely admission, timely teaching, timely examination and timely results - is the basic requirement," he said.
He said MPs and MLAs were already ex-officio members of governing bodies and those with the required educational qualifications had been appointed as presidents of colleges in their respective areas. He said the arrangement would be extended to around 200 more colleges.
"We do not want educational institutions in West Bengal to become political akhras," he said, referring to law-and-order problems and violence associated with student union and governing body elections during the Left Front regime.
On NEP 2020, he said: "The previous government didn't implement the NEP, but we are keen to implement it in the state at the earliest and so we are doing everything possible to roll out NEP."
The state's NEP Implementation Task Force, with former UGC chairman and former JNU vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar as adviser, will hold its first meeting in the first week of September. Implementation will be reviewed at universities and colleges every two to three months, with the focus on outcomes.
Addressing the workshop, Kumar said NEP implementation required both structural reforms and improvements in the quality and relevance of education. He said institutions should not follow a "one-size-fits-all" approach and should formulate their own institutional development plans based on their capabilities and resources.
"Implementation of NEP 2020 is a marathon," Kumar said, adding that its success should ultimately be measured by students' skills, competencies, creativity and problem-solving abilities.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.