Govt plans to spend Rs 1,000 crore on the public institutions while the private ones stand to gain freedom in choice of fee structure and courses.
New Delhi: It wasn’t the prospect of global recognition that attracted applicants for the Institutes of Eminence (IoE) tag, but the money and autonomy on offer, the empowered expert committee that drew up the final list noted in its report to the government.
Earlier this week, the ministry of human resource development declared the names of six institutions to be recognised as IoEs — three private and three public. This six are the IITs at Delhi and Bombay, IISc Bengaluru, BITS Pilani, Manipal Academy of Higher Education and Reliance Foundation’s proposed Jio Institute.
The idea behind the scheme is to develop these institutions as the cream of the country’s education sector, with the government aiming for their recognition among the world’s premier study destinations within 10 years.
Under the scheme, the government is expected to spend an estimated Rs 1,000 crore over a period of time on the three public institutes to bolster their bid for excellence, while the private schools stand to gain freedom on decisions regarding fees and courses.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) had received 114 applications — 74 public and 40 private institutions — for the IoE tag.
The expert committee, headed by former chief election commissioner N. Gopalaswami, noted that many public institutions seemed to have applied because of the kind of money the government was offering.
“Many of these institutions have applied for recognition under the scheme most probably attracted by the financial dispensation and not because they stand a reasonable chance of achieving the stiff goal of being within 500 of world university rankings in 10 years,” the report read.
It also cautioned the government to be careful with the financial assistance, saying it should be extended only when necessary.
For private institutions, the committee added, “Many seemed to be aspiring for IoE status only to overcome restrictions in terms of fees that can be charged, courses that can be offered etc.”
“The EEC (empowered expert committee) notes that some of them would certainly have benefitted if they had acquitted themselves better and obtained higher ranks in NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) assessment in light of the latest UGC announcement granting graded autonomy,” the report said.
Controversial selection
The government courted a lot of criticism over the selection of Jio Institute, which is yet to be established, as an IoE. The HRD ministry clarified that the Reliance Foundation initiative was selected under the greenfield category, which was meant for proposed institutions.
Referring to greenfield institutions, the committee sought strict conditions for such initiatives, calling for backers to create a completely independent fund for the entity and make its governance structure fully independent of the sponsoring organisation.
The committee also recommended that the IoE selection exercise should be repeated two years from now to give rejected applicants another shot.