CM pulls up HPU on poor RUSA implementation

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 27

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has pulled up Himachal Pradesh University for poor implementation of the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA).

Presiding over the RUSA review meeting of educational council here today which was attended by Additional Chief Secretary PC Dhiman and other officials and members of the council, the Chief Minister pulled up the HP University authorities to maintain financial discipline as the government was giving enough grant.

He directed the Education Department to ensure that quality education was imparted in the District Institutions of Education and Training (DIET) and avoid unwanted postings and transfers of teachers.

But the Chief Minister lauded the efforts of the Education Department for achieving the better enrolment rate in higher education and setting up best parameters in the country.

He said the state had the second highest literacy rate and enrolment rate in the 6-14 years age group was 99.7 percent. The student learning level was one of the best and the dropout rate was very less as compared to other states, he added.

When quizzed on the status of the committee’s recommendations on fee structure, Dhiman said after the meeting that they had asked the HPU to consider the recommendations of the committee.

The schools would get trained teachers and infrastructural facilities, but teachers from other schools would assess students rather than the teachers of the same schools, he asserted. Dhiman proposed more colleges of education, a college of architecture and planning in the state. As per UGC norms, Rs 2 crore for 25 colleges had been sanctioned in the first phase under “Infrastructure Grants to Colleges” to upgrade laboratories, libraries, hostels, toilets, he said.

Director, Higher Education, Shashi Bhushan Sekhri, briefed about the activities being undertaken under RUSA. Additional Chief Secretary, Tarun Shridhar, Principal Secretary, Finance, Dr Shrikant Baldi, Principal Secretary, Technical Education, Sanjay Gupta were also attested the meeting.