Maharashtra: Report moots viability test for new colleges

MUMBAI: Armed with an analysis of higher education in the state, Maharashtra is set to be more pragmatic and strategic in clearing new colleges . Viability in terms of courses that can attract students and arm them with skills and affordability will be considered before permission in granted.


The report also pointed out a direct link between student enrolment and the economic health of districts.

The five districts of Nandurbar, Gadchiroli, Washim, Hingoli and Buldhana were found to have a “critically low” Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER). Interestingly, Gross Value Added Per Capita (GVAC, an indicator of incomes) of the area is also the lowest in the state. So the report says GER and GVAPC of an area be looked at closely and mapped into the perspective plan of a university.

“The spread of education has to be interconnected with economic status of the district. Intervention by the government is needed to wipe out the GER (Gross Enrollment Ratio) deficit,” said Anand Mapuskar, one of the authors of the report. A model college has been proposed to be set up at Tokartalao (Nandurbar) using RUSA (Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan) grant.

The committee’s report, ‘Re-engineering Higher Education in Maharashtra’, authored by professor B Jagtap, Mapuskar and Anil Rao that was released by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, has consolidated the present status of the state universities and projected their perspective plans till 2024 in a growth path. It includes suggestions from one lakh respondents across 11 non-agricultural state universities, of which 65,000 were students.

The report encourages universities to integrate skills in degree courses as “universities cannot remain isolated from society”. The authors have raised the question about what kind of higher education is better suited for economically and, therefore, educationally backward areas. “The traditional degree courses have lost their relevance in the job market with unemployment or underemployment becoming the order of the day. This is where an innovative approach for higher education is needed,” the report said.

“Incubation centres have been established in 10 universities, and many more are in the offing in affiliated colleges. Modern College, Pune, has introduced a three-year BSc Chemistry program specially designed to prepare students for industry, a good example of horizontal vocationalisation of higher education; and 413 colleges of Amravati University adopting 413 villages for development, an apt example of social connect of university system. We believe several of such programmes undertaken by other universities will transform the employment and entrepreneurship trajectory in the state,” said professor Jagtap.