Lok Sabha Question No. 4074 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-27
Subject: Overhaul of Higher Education
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: M. K. RAGHAVAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4074 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.03.2017

## Overhaul of Higher Education

## 4074. SHRI M.K. RAGHAVAN:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  any  proposal  to  overhaul  the  higher  education  system  in  the country and if so, the details thereof; and
- (b) whether the Government is taking any action to raise the quality of higher education including addressing the deficiencies of books and faculty members, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

## (DR. MAHENDRA NATH PANDEY)

(a)  and  (b):  The  Government  is  committed  to  improve  the  quality  of  education  and  it  is  a continuous ongoing process. The Government is committed to provide equitable access to quality education to all sections of the society. Several initiatives are currently being undertaken in this direction  such  as  in  higher  education,  various  schemes,  namely,  Rashtriya  Uchchatar  Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) which seeks to strengthen the state higher education sector, Global Initiative for Academics  Network  (GIAN),  Impacting  Research,  Innovation  &  Technology  (IMPRINT), Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP), Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching (PMMMNMTT), Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM), National Digital Library, campus connect programme etc. are  being  implemented  to  improve  the  quality  of  higher  education.  To  promote  objective assessment  of  performance  annually,  Government  has  also  launched  the  National  Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). A number of initiatives are also undertaken by UGC and AICTE for quality improvement in higher and technical education.

SWAYAM is an indigenous IT platform for hosting the Massive  Open Online Courses (MOOCs)  by  providing  best  quality  online  education  covering  a  wide  range  of  subjects  and courses being taught in the high schools, colleges and universities and which can be accessed by students even in the remotest corner of the country. The Government of India launched the Global Initiative  for  Academic  Network  (GIAN)  with  an  objective  to  garner  the  best  international experience into our system of education by bringing in foreign academicians to teach courses in higher education institutions in India. The  National Digital  Library  (NDL) is a recent imitative aimed at providing access to online educational resources by providing online access to all Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) within the country, by linking all digital library resources in the country and abroad. It is likely to evolve into the largest repository in the country. Currently, NDL has  over  64.23  lakh  books/journals/audio-books  in  70  languages  including  Indian  and  foreign, 18,000 e-journals and 3617 institutions are linked with around 5.75 lakh students registered. These initiatives  are  aimed  at  addressing  the  shortage  of  faculty  and  library  resources  integral  to providing quality education.

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