In a recent development, the Ministry of Human Resource Development of India announced 5 public universities as organized under Institutions of Eminence (IoE). The IoE is an initiative by the government to empower the selected institutions and place them among the top 100 world universities.
Institutions of Eminence: Recent Additions
The five universities that have been classified as Institutions of Eminence include:
1. IIT Madras
2. Banaras Hindu University
3. IIT Kharagpur
4. University of Delhi
5. University of Hyderabad
This selection follows an earlier round under the IoE scheme where six institutions were chosen for the same recognition. It shows a continual effort by the government to uplift the educational standards in the country.
Better Academics with Financial and Administrative Independence
Being included in the Institutions of Eminence comes with several perks. These institutions receive additional funding up to INR 1000 Crore from the government. Along with financial benefits, these universities are also provided with an academic, administrative, and financial autonomy. They are exempted from government approvals for academic collaborations with foreign higher educational institutions that rank within the top 500 worldwide.
Freedom to Innovate
These varsities have the freedom to bring in personnel from the industry to contribute to their academics. They can recruit faculty members from outside India, subject to a cap of 25% of their total faculty strength for a public institution. The freedom doesn’t stop there; it extends to the admission process, where they can devise their own transparent merit-based system.
| Benefits of being an IoE |
|---|
| Freedom to admit additional foreign students on merit (not exceeding 30% of the admitted domestic students’ strength) |
| Liberty to offer courses within a program and also to provide degrees in newer areas |
| Flexibility of course structure |
| Freedom of curriculum and syllabus determination, with no UGC mandated curriculum structure |
| Option to offer online courses as part of their programmes (but not more than 20% of the programme) |
Exemption from University Grants Commission Inspection
An interesting point to note is that these Institutions of Eminence are exempt from the University Grants Commission (UGC) inspection. This exception aids them in maintaining the freedom they have been granted and focus on enhancing the quality of education without external interruptions.
The source of this information is PIB (Press Information Bureau), the nodal agency of the Government of India. The IoE is an important move by the government to provide world-class education and contribute towards India’s development. With these recognitions, the government aims to enhance the reputation of Indian education globally. The Institutions of Eminence are expected to pave the way to an improved future for education in India.
