The prestigious chain of Indian Institute of Management (IIM), which so far have been awarding diplomas to MBA students, will soon be able to award degrees. The draft IIM Bill is ready to be placed before the Cabinet and will be then tabled in the forthcoming Winter Session.
HRD Secretary Ashok Thakur said this will enable IIMs to award degrees and help graduates to pursue research work in the best institutions of the world. As of now, IIM graduates are awarded PG diplomas.
Further, the draft also talks about instituting an overarching body — Council of IIMs on the pattern of Council of IITs, making it the highest decision body for IIMs. The prestigious IIM Ahmedabad has still been opposing the constitution of such a Council stating that the autonomy of institutes will be hampered and there will be a lot of “interferences” by the HRD Ministry, though Thakur maintained that the autonomy of these institutes will be intact.
He said this while talking to The Pioneer after a crucial Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) meeting in the Capital on Thursday.
While, HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju who was to chair the meeting did not turn up, the meet was presided by MoS HRD Jitin Prasada. Raju has been skipping the official programmes of HRD ever since he submitted his resignation over Telangana crisis. He however, had attended an award ceremony organised by his Ministry at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday. His close aide said Raju attended the function at Rashtrapati Bhavan as he wished not to show any disrespect to the President.
Prasada highlighted the thrust and focus of HRD in the XII Five Year Plan in keeping with the vision of a Faster, More Inclusive and Sustainable Growth. He said that the Ministry will continue to focus on the four Es — Expansion, Equity, Excellence
and Employability.
The other items on the agenda discussed were the progress of RTE in the last three years, issues pertaining to teacher recruitment and their salaries under the proposed National Mission on Teachers and Teaching.
Focus on Safety, Quality and Hygiene under Mid-Day Meal Scheme and Setting up of Empowered Committee for Mid-Day Meal was also deliberated upon and Bihar’s Education Minister PK Sahi urged Centre to monitor things closely to prevent any incidents like they witnessed in Bihar three months ago.
In the higher education perspective, the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), which was approved by the Cabinet was discussed and detailed presentation on its various components was presented by Joint Secretary Higher Education RP Sisodia.
“This is for the first time since Independence that higher education is being expanded in a mission mode, which will particularly benefit State universities and colleges. All State Governments will take steps to form their State Higher Education Council and prepare the State Higher Education Plan,” Sisodia, the brainchild of Rs90,000 crore RUSA said.
The meeting was also attended by Minority Affairs Minister K Rehman Khan, MoS, Social Justice and Empowerment PB Naik, 13 State Education Ministers CABE Members, Heads of Autonomous Organisation, Vice-Chancellors and Senior Academics besides HRD Secretaries Ashok Thakur and R Bhattacharya.