October 28, 2020
TED NewsDesk, Thiruvananthapuram: As several schools across the country prepare to re-open after seven months of closure due to COVID-19, Kerala State Higher Education Council forwarded a roadmap to the government for the same. After substantial discourses including suggestions from the shareholders, the council designed ‘the post-COVID-19 higher education policy document’ to bring necessary transformations in higher education. On October 27, KHSEC sent the document to the government.
The indenture depicted a work plan for higher education to bring advancement to its system and output. The document laid major strategies both for short and long-term focusing on the elimination of the digital divide. It also alerted against the preference for homogenisation and centralisation of the syllabus. Besides, it highlighted the requirement of a state-level online vault for digital learning for students and teachers. It also recommended the government to facilitate subsidised data to students. The plan constitutes every aspect, right from stressing upon the necessity of gender audit of books to suggesting facility modifications for the female section in Kerala’s higher educational institutions.
Some observable issues mentioned in the report are:
- Problems of autonomy of higher education institutions
- Quality assurance of self-financing institutions and social base of higher education institutions
- Interuniversity networking
- Accreditation of all higher education institutions with state-specific criteria
- Developing the community base of institutions
- Teachers’ cross-disciplinary literacy and students’ interdisciplinary adaptability.
- Social security of students
Apart from these, the roadmap addressed issues like completion of course amid lockdown, the commencement of final semesters examinations, upliftment of practical exams stress. It also incorporated some exam-related problems like advising universities to use bar-coded examinations booklets, circulating question papers digitally, supervising home valuation. Further, it laid a blueprint of blended curriculum, teachers training programmes and setting up e-journal alliances for universities.
The KSHEC submitted the final policy document to the government following its validation in the administrative committee meeting. One can easily access the report for further references and information on www.kshec.kerala.gov.in.
Mr Rajan Gurukkal, Vice-chairman, KSHEC, headed the committee. Other academicians such as Gangan Prathapan, professor Emeritus, KTU; A Jayakrishnan, former VC, Kerala University; Thomas Joseph, former member secretary, KSHEC; Gopinath Ravindran, VC, Kannur University; Sabu Thomas, VC, MG University; Rajashree M S, VC, KTU; N J Rao of IISC Bangalore; J Prabhash, former Pro-VC, Kerala University; J Rajan and K. K. Damodaran, members of the executive committee, KSHEC; C Padmanabhan, president, AKPCTA and RAJAN Varughese, committee convener and member secretary of KSHEC were a part of the meeting.
Source: Times of India
