Former senators, academic and
management council members, deans and heads of departments of University of
Mumbai have found the draft of the Maharashtra Public Universities Act of 2011
to be very autocratic and irrelevant to the current needs of higher and
technical education in the state. The former officials had been invited to give
their views and opinions on the Act, which the government wants to enact in the
Winter Session.
Speaking about the draft, a former
senator summarised the contents of the 256-page draft saying that the word
‘Public’ in the title was just in spirit as principals, teachers, stakeholders
and the public were missing in the various aspects of the Act.
“The suggested changes in the
existing act are very novel and welcome, however, there seems to be an attempt
to concentrate the power to decide in the hands of a few people. The proposal
to have independent and autonomous bodies called MAHED and BITAFIA will
concentrate control over universities and higher education in the hands of a
few people which is against the democratic process that the previous Act
encouraged and was based on,” said the senator.
MAHED implies Maharashtra State
Commission for Higher Education & Development. The body will supervise,
shape, coordinate and devise use of technology to raise funds for higher
education a task that was previously in the domain of the higher and technical
education ministry and department. BITAFIA on the other hand means the Board
for Integration of Technology in Academics, Finances & Administration to
create and to maintain ICT network on the campus of the University and also to
establish a network connecting all the affiliated colleges with the main campus
of the university. This again is something that senators said would give the
body access to sensitive information which was a dangerous sign.
The meeting which started at around
10.30 am at the Fort campus of the university went on till late in the evening
with participants agreeing that the new Act was not wholesome as it left out
most stakeholders.
Source | Asian Age |
15 September 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment