The semester system — replacing the annual pattern — and the credit-based curriculum was proposed to the V-Cs all over the country during the regional level consultations held last month.

“The V-Cs were of the view that the Government should tread this path cautiously, and should introduce this system at the post-graduate level first and then expand it further,” UGC chairman Prof Sukhdeo Thorat said on Tuesday.Organised by UGC, the two-day conference on “Development of Higher Education” to be held in Delhi on October 10 and 11, is expected to be attended by over 200 V-Cs, eminent academics and states and Central Government officials.

To improve quality in higher education — after a National Assessment and Accreditation Council’s (NAAC) survey of about 3,000 colleges and more than 120 universities revealed that 90 per cent of colleges and 70 per cent of universities are in medium (B-grade) to poor quality (C-grade) — the UGC will also look at adopting strategies for bridging the “quality gap”. Prof Thorat said, “We want to bring universities and colleges, which at present don’t get UGC grant, under the fold of development grants.” By pumping in money into these “sub-standard” colleges, the Government expects to upgrade faculty and infrastructure.

During the regional consultations, Prof Thorat said, the Vice-Chancellors were of the view that the NAAC accreditation — which is till now voluntary — must be made “compulsory”.

The issue of “equity and inclusion” will also figure prominently in the agenda for the V-Cs’ conference. Prof Thorat, a Dalit scholar himself, said, “We are exploring the possibility of setting up Equal Opportunities offices in every university or college, which will monitor the programmes or schemes meant for SCs, STs, OBCs, Muslims and girls.” The broader aim is to increase enrollment of these sections.