Months after the Maharashtra cabinet approved guidelines for merging private universities into cluster universities, Mumbai's Malad Kandivali Educational Society (MKES) and Kolhapur's Shree Warana Vibhag Shikshan Two management teams, Mandal, expressed interest and sent applications.
Following cabinet approval in November last year, a detailed application process was declared in January, after which interested universities were asked to submit detailed project reports (DPRs). State approval for the establishment of cluster universities.
The state expects nearly 15 cluster universities to be ready by next academic year keeping in mind the demand.
So far, the state government has received only two applications for cluster universities.
When asked about the lack of response, an executive in the higher education and technical education sector said, “Managers who run multiple universities want to gain status because they are promised academic and operational freedom.'' That's for sure,” he said. On the other hand, it also reduces the burden on the partner universities from their respective state universities. However, filing a DPR is a lengthy process as it requires many approvals from within the institution. More applications will appear in the near future. ”
Under this cluster university concept, a minimum of two or a maximum of five universities from a district can come together to form a university, as long as they meet prescribed eligibility criteria. These must all be accredited educational institutions with lead colleges that have completed at least five years of autonomous status.
The eligibility criteria also includes parameters such as strength of students, accreditation of individual courses, cumulative area of the university and setting up a joint deposit of Rs 500 crore with the Directorate General of Higher Education.
The idea behind cluster universities is to enable established private universities to offer a wide range of courses in combination to provide academic flexibility as recommended in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 That's it.
There are currently three cluster universities in Maharashtra, two of which are located in Mumbai. They are the government-run Dr. Homi Baba State University and the private University of Hyderabad and Sindh. The third cluster university is Karmavir Bhaurao Patil University in Satara.
Many private institutions were keen to make their status as cluster universities more independent. However, the detailed declaration of the process raised reservations among some universities over provisions such as a large joint deposit and appointment of a vice-chancellor by the chancellor as in other public universities in the state.
© Indian Express Private Limited
Date first uploaded: April 27, 2024 18:39 IST
