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| Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Six technical affiliating universities coming up
- Anna varsities to become research institutions
- Plan to delink research from routine duties
CHENNAI: A proposal to create six technical affiliating universities
in the State and convert all four Anna Universities into unitary
research universities has been placed before the State Government.
Former Anna University Vice-Chancellor M. Anandakrishnan presented
the proposal earlier this month at a meeting of Vice-Chancellors,
convened by Education Minister K. Ponmudy. Dr. Anandakrishnan
told The Hindu that the purpose was to delink the pursuit of
high-powered research excellence from the duties of an affiliating
university.
“The original concept of Anna University was to make it
an outstanding technical institution, comparable in depth and
breadth to premier institutions such as the IITs. That goal
has been diluted after it became an affiliating institution.
The sheer load of the affiliating colleges kept the faculty
too busy,” said Dr. Anandakrishnan.
He pointed out that there had been a noticeable decline in the
output of PhDs and postgraduates and national and international
technical seminars.
The main goal was to bestow unitary status on Anna Universities
in Chennai, Tiruchi, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli and elevate
them to research universities. While the constituent college
system would remain, they would no longer teach “run-of-the-mill”
B.E. courses. Only five-year integrated M.Tech courses would
be conducted, said Dr. Anandakrishnan. He said the focus should
be on emerging, specialised or advanced technologies such as
nanotechnology or pharma biotechnology.
Dr. Anandakrishnan emphasised that each university should develop
a distinct research identity. For example, Anna University-Tirunelveli,
with its proximity to the sea and to the Western Ghats, could
undertake research in marine technology, ocean disaster prevention
and plant biotechnology. Since Anna University-Coimbatore was
strategically located in the mill industry, it could focus on
fibre technology research. Anna University-Chennai could enhance
its existing capabilities in automobile engineering and even
space research.
With India aiming to increase the annual output of technical
PhDs from the current 600 to about 2,000 in the next five-year
plan period, “Anna University should grab this opportunity,”
said Dr. Anandakrishnan. He was confident that resources would
not be a problem. While the unitary Anna Universities would
lose the revenue of affiliating and examination fees, Dr. Anandakrishnan
felt that the State government would be willing to commit funding
to produce quality research and education centres in the State.
The Eleventh Five-Year Plan would provide large sums for research,
which the State could access only if it had the framework of
centres of excellence in research.
Meanwhile, six regional universities would be created, without
the Anna University name, for the affiliation of other engineering
colleges in the State. “They will not be universities
in the classical sense…Rather, they will be examining
universities,” he said. Their job would be to establish
a curriculum framework, improve teaching methodologies, develop
examination reforms, teacher training programmes and better
laboratory practices.
Courtesy: The Hindu
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