A proposal to this effect was discussed at a recent meeting of Minister of State for Higher and Technical Education Bharat Barot with vice-chancellors.

According to sources in the State Education Department, Barot directed the vice-chancellors to prepare an education development plan so that it could help the government in not only formulating educational and administrative reforms in each of the universities, but also to augment their financial resources.

A proposal was also mooted to develop a computerised database of each university and post it on the website so that it could be easily accessible.

The database would provide information regarding the various courses being offered by the university, hostel facilities, examination system and research facilities.

The meeting also explored the possibility of introducing computer courses in the colleges, particularly in B.Ed colleges affiliated to the universities in keeping with the growing demand for information technology in the State. The vice-chancellors were reported to have positively responded to the proposals.

The proposal to make higher education modern and market-oriented has a two-pronged objective: to raise and augment financial resources of these universities as well as to improve the quality and spread of education in the State.

The financial resources are proposed to be raised by introducing short-term job-oriented courses in the universities and the colleges affiliated to them, as is being done in self-financed academic institutions.

Under the proposal, relevant departments in the universities will be encouraged to take up consultancy and preparing of project profiles for the corporate sector. Besides, these departments will also be encouraged to carry out laboratory testing of industrial products. This activity would certainly help the universities fetch considerable revenue, sources claimed.

The meeting also discussed in detail a proposal to introduce credit system in some professional courses like engineering, MBA and pharmacy in a bid to make the education system more meaningful and provide an opportunity to students to opt for additional subjects of their choice. Under the credit system, which has been adopted by educational institutions in many foreign countries, students are assessed on a daily or weekly basis and graded accordingly.

The other proposals discussed at the meeting relate to increase in college and university fees to meet its growing establishment expenditure, filling up of vacant posts of both teaching and non-teaching staff, encouraging self-financed institutions in the State and curbing the menace of unrecognised educational institutions.