TIRUCHY: Improving the quality of higher education to pressing for a change through the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 reportedly came up in the series of discussions Governor RN Ravi held with various stakeholders of Bharathidasan University on Wednesday afternoon.
Amid objections over the meeting with the principals of various colleges affiliated to Bharathidasan University (BDU), the governor went ahead with the plan and for the first time in the history of the institution held discussions with its stakeholders.
A controversy broke out when BDU Registrar G Gopinath last week invited principals of various affiliated colleges for a meeting with the governor, who was arriving to participate at the 37th convocation of the university on Thursday.
According to sources, the meeting with the stakeholders that included syndicate members, students, and select principals, discussed, among other matters, the implementation of NEP. The governor had advised the principals to take measures to implement the NEP in their colleges and undertake discussions with various HoDs to understand the “benefits” of the policy, sources added.
A particular principal in the meeting had suggested the idea of incorporating moral education in the curriculum, to which the Governor reportedly intervened and answered that the NEP addressed it and that the subject would automatically be part of it through the policy implementation, another principal said.
In the meeting with BDU syndicate members held prior to the principals’ meet, the discussions reportedly focused on why the university slipped in NIRF rankings and the ways in which they could improve it. With most participants suggesting the lack of funds and deficit budget as major concerns, the governor suggested to overcome the dependency of the university on State government funds and to look for ways beyond it, sources said.
Meanwhile, a few syndicate members expressed regret that the grievances of providing promotion to professors who have remained in the designation for 10 years and above to senior professors could not be raised with the governor due to the presence of the registrar and vice chancellor in the meeting.