Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday directed all the three universities of the State to work in coordination with the Government’s higher education development programme to bring uniformity in their academic activities across the State.
Badal, presiding over a high-level meeting with the Vice-Chancellors (VCs) of the three universities and the senior officers of the Education department, asked the universities to adopt a uniform pattern of semester system, curriculum and choice-based credit system along with similar admission procedures in all the varsities that would facilitate the students in case they migrate from one university to another.
He also asked the VCs — Jaspal Singh of Patiala’s Punjabi University, Ajaib Singh Brar of Amritsar’s Guru Nanak Dev University, and Arun Kumar Grover of Chandigarh’s Panjab University — for completely adopting online admission and fee deposit system to avoid undue harassment to the students seeking admission in particular college or university.
Badal also directed the Principal Secretary, Higher Education to chalk out a comprehensive plan in coordination with all the universities for imparting free higher education, including hostel and other facilities for the poor students. Expressing concern over the acute shortage of human resource bank, Badal asked the VCs to prepare a list of all the interested retired professors in various subjects and circulate it to all the colleges so that they could utilise their expertise optimally as guest faculty.
To boost the skill development activities in the State, Badal said: “Skill development through vocational training is the only solution that would enrich our ‘human resource bank’ on one hand, and tackle the issue of unemployment on the other”. He further directed all the VCs to identify the key areas to enable youth for getting successful employment after the completion of their vocational training.
On the occasion, the Chief Minister also approved to setup ‘Community Colleges’ in the state to impart skill-oriented education of diploma level with multiple futuristic opportunities for preserving and upgrading traditional skills. He also approved the proposal to set up four such colleges on pilot bases under this unique program at Government Mohindra College Patiala, SDC Government College ludhiana, Mehar Chand Polytechnic Jalandhar and Government Polytechnic College Bathinda from this new session to be started in July.