Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Sept 7: The state government would bring in a new education policy by which it would rank colleges in line with the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) to ensure quality education and high standards of teaching in the higher education sector.
A high-level committee formed for this purpose held its first meeting at the secretariat Monday to prepare a draft policy in this regard.
Once formulated, the policy would focus on improving the standard of higher education in the state. “The State Education Policy for Higher Education, as this policy will be named, would focus on developing quality manpower for the sector, improving standards of teaching through appointments of good teachers and ensuring employability of students,” chairman of the committee SP Adhikary, who is also the vice-chancellor of Fakir Mohan University, Balasore, said.
“The government will bring in the proposed guidelines in view of the Centre’s new education policy,” he said, adding the main thrust of the policy will be to ensure quality education.
One of the important aspects of this policy would be to rank all higher education institutions in the state, officials of the department said. “The rankings will be done in line with the NAAC under which each of the degree colleges in the state will be given a rank based on their performance and infrastructure facilities,” Adhikary said.
Sources in the department said the rankings would come in handy while determining government aid for degree colleges. The chairman further said that teachers’ assessment and rewards for quality teachers will be another aspect of the policy.
The new guidelines will help monitor the activities of teachers. “The purpose is to improve teaching quality among lecturers,” Adhikary said. The criteria for rewarding teachers will be their participation in various conferences, helping colleges receive University Grants Commission (UGC) funds and writing books, among others, he added.
