CHENNAI: In order to encourage government school students to aspire to join higher education institutions like IIT, IISc and AIIMS, the State government has announced it will bear the entire cost of undergraduate education of government school students, who secure admission in these premier institutions. The students who have studied in government schools from class 6 to 12 will be eligible to avail the assistance.
“Many poor students don’t even dream of IITs and IISc as they feel it is out of their bounds. Each student in government schools should be made aware of the financial assistance scheme,” said S Prabhakaran, a retired headmaster.
With a vision to enhance research in the higher education institutes and develop skilled human resources, a “knowledge city” was announced. It would have branches of world-renowned universities with research and development hubs, skill training centres, and knowledge-based enterprises. Academicians have requested the government to ensure that the foreign universities do not just open centres to fill their own pockets. “Many international universities get their job done by just setting up branches here and enroling students. The government should ensure that foreign institutes bring in their best teaching faculty, infrastructure,” said academician L Jawahar Nesan.
Further, the universities in the State will be encouraged to set up research parks in collaboration with public sector entities like TIDCO, SIPCOT and TANSIDCO. An allocation of `5,668.89 crore was been made to the Higher Education Department, which is almost `300 crore more than previous year. Academicians feel the amount is insufficient. “There has been no major announcement related to infrastructure development in the universities, which is the need of the hour, as we are competing with private universities,” said the Vice Chancellor of a State-run university, who did not wish to be named. In next five years, a special scheme would be implemented to create new classrooms, laboratories and smart classrooms at a cost of `1,000 crore, of which `250 crore was provided in this budget.