Educationists hail MHRD’s college autonomy norm

Pune: All academic circles in the city have appreciated the ministry of human resource development's (MHRD) decision to grant autonomy to colleges that get the highest grades in three consecutive cycles from National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).
Officials at Savitribai Phule Pune University pointed out that with this decision, many renowned colleges in the city would become eligible for autonomy, reducing the workload on the varsity, which has more than 800 colleges affiliated to it.This move would also increase competition between colleges and lead to innovative practices that will be better for students and their education, the officials added.
V B Gaikwad, director, board of college and university development at Savitribai Phule Pune University, lauded the decision and. "This would give colleges flexibility in designing their curricula, and ensure healthy competition between nearby colleges and also help them in innovating different programmes. But in reality, many colleges are reluctant to go for autonomy as it means more work," he said.
Principals of both technical and traditional institutes were of the opinion that this may also cut down time taken for getting autonomy, if implemented well.
"It is a good decision. More and more colleges should be given autonomy as then they can design innovative curricula to bridge the gap between theacademia and industries. When you are affiliated to a university, this kind of innovation becomes very limited as you have to follow the varsity's regulations," said B P Patil, principal, Army Institute of Technology.
"A college which is accredited with the highest grades in two consecutive cycles and also secures the highest accreditation grade in the third cycle from NAAC will be granted autonomous status, provided it obtains No Objection Certificate from the affiliating university and provided it also adheres to University Grants Commission regulations like (a) Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Education Institutions Regulations, 2012; (b) UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulation 2012; (c) UGC (Grievance Redressal) Regulations 2012, etc," said the official statement from the ministry.
If these criteria are fulfilled, the college could get autonomy without the on-the-spot inspection by an expert committee, it added. the official release from the Human Resource Development ministry.
Once the colleges receive their autonomous status, they will have the ‘freedom to design curricula, prescribe syllabi, assess student performance, and declare results. They will have their own board of studies/ academic council which will oversee the academic functioning of the institution'.
Abasaheb Garware College of Arts and Science, Shrikant Gupta, said, "This is an absolutely good decision. UGC and the Maharashtra government have already said that the colleges should go for autonomy. There are many levels of permissions to be sought for autonomy." Gupta added that his college, which had received ‘A' grades in the last two cycles, was considering applying for autonomy.