{"id":1255,"date":"2017-09-04T10:46:35","date_gmt":"2017-09-04T10:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/?p=1255"},"modified":"2019-11-07T06:43:38","modified_gmt":"2019-11-07T06:43:38","slug":"round-table-on-world-class-universities-calls-for-higher-education-reforms-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/2017\/09\/04\/round-table-on-world-class-universities-calls-for-higher-education-reforms-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Round Table on World Class Universities Calls for Higher Education Reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

4th<\/sup> September, Sonipat<\/strong>: O. P. Jindal Global University celebrated its eighth anniversary with a round table discussion on World Class Universities<\/strong> on 30th September 2017. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The distinguished\nparticipants were Mr. Kewal Kumar Sharma, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Human\nResource Development (MHRD), Government of India; H.E. Ms. Mariela Cruz\nAlvarez, Ambassador of the Republic of Costa Rica; Ms. Sun Meixing, Head of\nEducation Affairs, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in India; Dr.\nBertrand de Hartingh, Counsellor for Cooperation and Cultural Affairs, Embassy\nof France in India; Mr. Stephan Lanzinger, Counsellor and Head of Science &\nTechnology Section, Embassy of Germany in India and Mr. Frederick Hawkins, Vice\nConsul, Embassy of the United States of America, New Delhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The round\ntable was organised to initiate a dialogue amongst academics, practitioners and\ninternational diplomats towards understanding the characteristics of world\nclass universities and how the phenomenon of global university rankings have\ncreated new opportunities and challenges for Indian universities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The round\ntable took place in the backdrop of the recent announcement by the University\nGrants Commission (UGC) to open applications to the Institutions of Eminence proposal.\nThe initiative aims to establish 20 such institutions, 10 each in the public\nand private sector, which will be incentivised to break into leading world\nrankings.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Kewal\nKumar Sharma<\/strong>, IAS, Secretary, Ministry\nof Human Resource Development, Government of India, began his address by congratulating\nJGU for its achievements over a short span of eight years. He reflected on the evolving\nlandscape of global higher education and the challenges facing Indian higher\neducation institutions. In the context of the ongoing debate on university rankings\nexercises, Mr. Sharma noted that although many Indian institutions,\nparticularly in the public sector, will face structural challenges in meeting\nthe rankings criteria, the rankings exercises have cultivated an appetite for\nexcellence. He added that the MHRD\u2019s Institutions of Eminence proposal will\nencourage deeper partnerships between top Indian and foreign universities. Mr.\nSharma added that other ongoing higher education reforms initiated by the MHRD are\naimed at reducing regulatory control of well-performing higher education\ninstitutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founding\nVice Chancellor, Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar<\/strong> said, \u201cAs we aspire to\nincrease the quantity and raise the quality of higher education institutions in\nIndia, we need to draw from experiences around the world. There is a reason why\nthere is not a single world-class university run on a for-profit basis. Public\nand private universities, which are top ranked in the world and are reputed for\nexcellence in teaching, research and capacity-building, have all been\nnot-for-profit institutions.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added,\n\u201cThe growth, expansion and evolution of the Indian higher\neducation sector today has indeed transformed our country in unimaginable ways.\nHowever, there is a conscious need based upon a sense of conviction and purpose\nto build institutions of global excellence at a level which can compete with\ninternational institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflecting\non the need for greater investment and focus on education, H.E. Ms. <\/strong>Mariela\nCruz Alvarez <\/strong>reminded\nthe gathering that Costa Rica is a country without an\narmy: \u201cBeing defenceless is our best defense. The decision we took in 1948\nreaffirmed our commitment to the higher principles of life. We embarked on the\ntask to unlock the full potential of our citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr.\nBertrand de Hartingh<\/strong>, Counsellor for\nCooperation and Cultural Affairs, Embassy of France was of the opinion that\ncompeting for rankings should not be the sole goal, rather it should be \u201chigher\neducation for all\u201d. He defined a \u2018world-class university\u2019 to be \u201can open world\nuniversity\u201d, which receives students coming from all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr.\nHartingh also stressed on the model of multilateral engagements of universities\nrather than only bilateral MoUs, where multiple universities can cooperate on a\nglobal platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr.\nStephan Lanzinger<\/strong>, Counsellor and Head of\nScience & Technology Section, Embassy of Germany in India spoke about\ninternationalisation, openness and autonomy of institutions.  The role of\nhigher education is to \u201cprovide a purpose and a vision\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highlighting\nhow the Chinese government strove to consistently improve the quality of\neducation at all levels through various projects, Ms. Sun Meixing,<\/strong>\nHead of Education Affairs, Embassy of People’s Republic of China in India said,\n\u201cIn the 1990\u2019s, the government under various projects aimed to improve the\nhigher education institutions of the country, as part of the effort over 100\nuniversities were selected for developing and enhancing the quality of higher\neducation.  The government allocated specific funds and resources to these\ninstitutions as major centers of research and excellence\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms.\nMeixing added that joint and dual-degree programmes have become a very popular\noption among Chinese students. The Chinese government has also invested significant\nresources in attracting foreign teaching staff to China thereby allowing\nstudents to experience global standards of education without having to\nundertake expensive study at foreign universities. China has also seen a\nparadigm shift in how higher education is provided in the country through\nin-country campuses set up by top ranked foreign institutions. Programmes\noffered by these universities are entirely in the English language and enable\nChinese students to compete on an international level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms.\nMeixing emphasised the importance of student scholarships and the need for\nincreased student exchange opportunities between India and China.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ndiscussion also touched on the role of regulatory bodies such as the UGC and to\nwhat extent this impacts institutional performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several\nspeakers also noted that India faced particular challenges that stem from the\nscale of the higher education system in the country, unique issues facing public\nand private institutions and challenges in providing equitable access to\neducation for all. These objectives need to be dovetailed into the larger\nobjective of having World Class Universities in India, the discussion\nconcluded. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

4th September, Sonipat: O. P. Jindal Global University celebrated its eighth anniversary with a round table discussion on World Class Universities on 30th September 2017. The distinguished participants were Mr. Kewal Kumar Sharma, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India; H.E. Ms. Mariela Cruz Alvarez, Ambassador Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsroom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1255"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1256,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1255\/revisions\/1256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}