Page 62 - EW April 2023

Cover Story

INDIA’S BEST GOVERNMENT

AUTONOMOUS COLLEGES

The small minority of 188 government colleges who have tation agency”.
After conferment of autonomous
qualified for autonomous status have a special place of status, colleges are permitted to review
honour within the national higher education system existing courses/programmes and re-
structure, redesign and prescribe their
own courses/programmes of study
and syllabi; introduce new courses/
programmes; evolve independent per-
formance evaluation systems, conduct
examinations and notify results. They
are also allowed to issue mark sheets,
migration and other certificates. Al-
though their degrees are awarded by
the affiliating state university, the
name of the college is permitted to be
inscribed on the degree certificate.
Of the 894 colleges conferred au-
tonomous status by UGC, the major-
ity — 706 — are privately promoted,
and include high-profile institutions
such as St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai
and Kolkata, St. Joseph’s and Mount
Carmel, Bengaluru, Narsee Monjee
and Mithibai colleges, Mumbai and
Loyola College, Chennai among oth-
GDWC, Hyderabad’s Dr. Padmavathi: leapfrog to India #2 ers. However, several low-profile
(state) government colleges have also
ccording to the latest All ate colleges into multi-disciplinary met the stringent qualifying tests set
India Survey of Higher degree-awarding autonomous higher by UGC and have been conferred au-
Education (AISHE) 2020- education institutions and gradual tonomous status.
A21 released by the Union phasing out of the current university Therefore, the small minority of
education ministry on January 29, affiliation system by 2035. But that’s 188 government colleges who have
India hosts 43,796 colleges providing likely to be a long-drawn-out process qualified for autonomous status have
mainly undergraduate education. given that UGC has set stringent cri- a special place of honour within the
Of them, 34,424 (78.6 percent) are teria for conferment of autonomous national higher education system.
privately promoted and 9,372 (21.4 status. Though there’s a wide perceived
percent) promoted and managed by According to UGC rules to qualify quality gap between private and gov-
government. Furthermore, of the for autonomous status, all applicant ernment autonomous colleges — evi-
43,796 colleges countrywide, a mere colleges — government and private — dent in the total scores awarded by
894 (as on August 28, 2022) have must be of more than ten years vintage this year’s sample respondents to top-
been conferred autonomous status and “accredited by either NAAC (Na- ranked colleges in the two categories
by the Delhi-based University Grants tional Assessment and Accreditation (see p.44 and 66) — the latter serve an
Commission (UGC). The remaining Council) with minimum ‘A’ Grade or important social purpose by provid-
42,902 are non-autonomous colleges by NBA (National Board of Accredita- ing free-of-charge and/or highly sub-
tied to the apron strings of their af- tion of the All India Council for Tech- sidised quality tertiary education to
filiating universities. nical Education) for at least three pro- students from underprivileged house-
The new National Education Pol- grammes, or be awarded autonomy by holds. They need to be celebrated and
icy (NEP) 2020 has mandated up- a corresponding accreditation grade/ encouraged to continuously improve
gradation of all 43,796 undergradu- score from a UGC empanelled accredi- and upgrade themselves.

62 EDUCATIONWORLD APRIL 2023