HPPERC advisory committee for assessing private universities

Tribune News Service

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Shimla, January 31

The Advisory Committee formed by the Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission (HPPERC) has suggested that there should be a mechanism for state-level assessment of private universities taking different academic parameters into consideration.

The first meeting of the committee constituted by the HPPERC was held here yesterday. The suggestion coming from prominent academicians stressed that the Commission must assess private universities on various criteria such as admission intake criteria, teaching and learning, staff development, examination, evaluation system, research and governance.

The Regulatory Commission had constituted an advisory committee of academic experts earlier this month to suggest steps for improving the quality of tertiary education and creating high benchmarks for private higher education in the state.

Chairperson of the committee Sarojini Ganju Thakur presented an overview of the activities being performed by the commission as per the entrusted mandate, besides issues arising as a result of enforcement of regulatory norms.

The committee emphasised the critical role of state-level regulator not only for adherence to national regulatory framework, but also to facilitate creation of learner-centric environment conducive for quality education and maintenance thereof.

The committee stressed on the need for the commission to start disseminating critical information on academic parameters of various institutions relevant from the point of view of quality of education for students, parents and general public.

The meeting was attended by prominent academicians — Prof Furqan Qamar, Secretary General (Association of Indian Universities); Prof Chetan Singh, Director (Indian Institute of Advanced Study); Prof RL Sharma, Vice-Chancellor (HP Technical University); Prof PK Ahluwalia (HP University) and Sunil Sharma, Member (HPPERC).