Hundred state-run and private educational institutes from across the country have applied for the government’s ‘World Class University’ tag, which will give them greater freedom to recruit foreign faculty, create their own course structures and decide curriculum, among other benefits.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development asked institutes to apply for the tag till December 12. It will now select 10 public and 10 private ‘institutes of eminence’, the ministry said. The government did not release the names of the colleges that have applied.
“Overwhelming response to the idea of institutes of eminence, which will become
world class universities,” Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Twitter. “This is how world class universities were built in various countries. The same thing will happen in India”, he said.
An Empowered Expert Committee will shortlist the 20 institutes, the ministry said, adding that the tag will give institutes greater autonomy to admit foreign students and recruit foreign faculty, offer online courses and tie up with the top 500 universities in the world without permission from the University Grants Commission.
They will also be free to fix fees of foreign students and decide their own course structure in terms of credit hours or years to get a degree.
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