Reacting to the Supreme Court's recent order that termed private technical and medical colleges' demand for capitation fees from students illegal and unethical, Union minister of human resource development MM Pallam Raju on Friday said there are certain loopholes in the system due to which the menace of capitation fees stays alive. "Centre is making all efforts to address the problem. Unfortunately, the Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical Educational Institutions, Medical Educational Institution and Universities Bill 2010 is pending in the Parliament," said Raju on the sidelines of a function organised by Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU).
The Bangalore University Task Force has recommended the varsity not to approve admissions made by private colleges that do not have the university affiliation.
Maharashtra's first private/self-financed university will start operations from 2014-15 academic session in all likelihood after the government cleared decks for allowing entry of such institutions. It has so far received five proposals which would be treated as separate bills and tabled in the forthcoming assembly session to be held in Nagpur in December. Earlier in April, the state cabinet gave a green signal to model guidelines for opening such universities, thus opening the doors to industries, trusts and societies, to establish a private university on no-profit/loss basis.
Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh on Monday said the government will not issue licences to new private universities in the state, saying they are "not needed in a small state".
The 'Forum for Fairness in Education' has decided to file a contempt case against the state government for violating the apex court's order on private medical and dental college seats. The SC directive states that private medical and dental colleges have to surrender vacant seats to the government after the second round of admission. The government can allot these seats to meritorious candidates.
Officers and employees of aided private colleges in Madhya Pradesh will be given 101 percent dearness allowance, according to a press release here on Thursday
Eleven private dental colleges of Punjab have admitted 456 students to the Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) course even though they had “not qualified” the 2012 Pre-Medical Entrance Test (PMET), according to a “most urgent” communication of the Dental Council of India (DCI).
On the issue of setting up of 20 new private universities, Mr. Deshpande said a three-member official committee has been set up to monitor the availability of infrastructure and quality of education in private universities.
After beating their chests over increasing seats in engineering, management, pharmacy and diploma courses, the state government is gulping down its throat a bitter pill this year. A total of 25 private technical colleges of MBA, MCA, pharmacy and engineering have decided to close shops and a formal letter has already been sent to the Gujarat Technological University (GTU). The one reason they have echoed is that none of these institutes have been able to get any student this year.
Twenty-seven students who took admission in various private engineering colleges directly after Odisha joint entrance examination (OJEE) counseling was over last year stand to lose their seats. The government has decided to withdraw their admission rights and not allow them to appear the semester examinations of Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) beginning from Saturday.
Weeks after the state government notified model guidelines for private institutions to set up universities, three big groups have put forward their proposals to the higher and technical education department.
Management colleges in the state are facing severe student crunch. Thirty-four private management colleges, affiliated to Rajasthan Technical University (RTU), have shut shop in this academic year and the remaining others struggle to survive due to poor student response.
As if the problems regarding unapproved MBBS seats were not enough, the Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Sidda and Homeopathy (AYUSH) institutions in the state too are under scanner. As many as 36 private AYUSH colleges have not been accorded recognition by the Central Council for Indian Medicine (CCIM) for the 2013 admissions.
All Kerala Private College Teachers’ Association (AKPCTA) has called upon the Higher Education Council not to make recommendation for the introduction of autonomous colleges in the State.
Replying to a debate on the Private Universities Bill, 2009 in the Assembly on Friday, Education Minister Ramanlal Vora said the gross enrolment ratio in higher education (in the age group 18-23) in the state was lower, though marginal, than the national average.
Punjab Higher Education Minister Syed Raza Ali Gillani has said the role of private sector in promotion of education is equally important. It has been given conducive atmosphere to grow and extend learning opportunities to students. According to a handout, the minister was addressing an intermediate students’ science exhibition of a Gulberg-based private college here on Thursday. Raza Gillani commended the scientific understanding of the students, which they exhibited in the shape of models showing solution to different problems. In his address, he vowed that improving standard of higher education was the key concern of the government; and said that both public and private sectors could improve access to education of students. He reiterated that the Punjab government was committed to improve the standard of higher education, as it was the backbone of the economy, and produced best professionals for different fields. “We live in a knowledge-based society which is driven by information technology,” he added. Punjab Schools Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmed said revolutionary steps had been taken for improving the overall standard of schools education in the Punjab. “No child would be left outside schools as the government is fully committed to ensure hundred percent enrolment in schools by 2018,” he added. Both the ministers also inspected the science exhibition and lauded the students for their scientific intellect.
The bill seeking to set up six private universities in the State would pave the way for enhancing the quality of higher education, Higher Education Minister C T Ravi has said.