Mita Mukherjee

Teachers of state-aided colleges and universities in Bengal have opposed the new norms drafted by the University Grants Commission (UGC) that say colleges will be eligible to receive grants from the UGC only if the commission is satisfied that the institution fulfils certain conditions.

The new Fitness of Colleges for Receiving Grants Rules 2024 of the UGC says that every college registered with the UGC must have a valid accreditation from National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) or National Board of Accreditation for at least 60 per cent of the total programmes or holds a ranking in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in the respective category for at least thrice after participating five times in the ranking process  or twice after participating thrice.

The new rules make it clear that on failing to adhere to the rules, the UGC can take appropriate action against the defaulting colleges including removing them  from the list of recognized colleges under Section 2(f) and Section 12B of the UGC Act 1956.

Colleges listed under these two sections makes them eligible to receive grants from UGC and other Central funding agencies. Therefore, the withdrawal of the colleges from the list of recognized institutions under 2(f) and 12B would mean that the colleges would stop getting funds from the UGC and other agencies.

The West Bengal College and University Teachers’ Association (WBCUTA) are opposed to the way the UGC has related funding of the colleges with the NAAC, NBA accreditation and NIRF ranking, teachers said.

“The UGC has several thousand colleges under its umbrella. The financial and other support received by each of the colleges is not the same. The infrastructure and other facilities available in the colleges in urban areas and big cities are comparatively better than those located in the far away districts. The UGC, at first, should rationalize the support system. It cannot put all the colleges under a single label when it comes to funding. We are fully against the proposed rules,” Keshab Bhattacharya, general secretary of the West Bengal College and University Teachers’ Association (WBCUTA) told EducationWorld.

The teachers are also of the opinion that the new rules, the draft of which were released recently, lack transparency.

For example, UGC approval is a must for every college. But every state -aided college has to be dependent on the respective state government for financial assistance, like paying  teachers’ salaries.

” There is no clarity on how the UGC will assess how much support is received by the individual colleges from the states” the principal of a state-aided college in Kolkata who did not want to be named, said.

The proposed rules state, in order to receive government funding, colleges in addition to the mandatory accreditation from the NAAC, participation in the NIRF, must also ensure that  up to 75 percent of sanctioned teaching posts are filled.

The proposed rules have been prepared in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, and they seek to replace the existing rules framed in 1975.

Subhoydoy Dasgupta, the president of WBCUTA described the proposed rules as  an assault on the administrative autonomy of the colleges.

“We strongly condemn the way the UGC is trying to curb the autonomy of the colleges. By making NAAC and NIRF ranking mandatory, the UGC is trying to use the rules as a tool to privatize higher education institutions. In order to satisfy the criteria for achieving a satisfactory rank in NAAC or NIRF, the institutions require huge funds to maintain the continuity of the process of upgrading their facilities in every respect. But hundreds of colleges do not have the funds to do so,” Dasgupta told EducationWorld.

However, several colleges welcomed the move as they said it enables the implementation of uniform rules across colleges and also because the proposed rules would hold them accountable to the UGC.

The college heads said the proposed rules are in line with the best practices followed globally. The new system will encourage every college in creating quality culture in their education system.