The government is toying with the idea of introducing constituent colleges by elevating 20 major government colleges that will enjoy a fair degree of autonomy.
Heritage colleges including Government Brennan College, Thalassery, Government Victoria College, Palakkad, Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, and University College, Thiruvananthapuram, are among those mooted for the special status.
The reform, recommended by the Shyam B. Menon-chaired Commission for Reforms in Higher Education, is aimed at dismantling the existing affiliating system.
The commission felt these colleges must not only enjoy autonomy but also receive specific development grants from the government to eventually lead them towards complete autonomy. Besides having closer links with university departments, they must have freedom to offer their own courses and recruit their own faculty.
The panel has called for upgrading 20 government colleges with postgraduate teaching and research centres to the status of constituent colleges in the first phase. They should receive a grant of ₹2 crore annually for five years to develop infrastructure, facilities, resources, and research. In the second phase, the scheme will be open to government aided colleges based on certain criteria.
Government colleges that figure among the top 200 on the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) and/or with at least a NAAC grade of ‘A’ will be considered for the status.
According to the proposed reform, the faculty in these colleges must not be transferred to other institutions. However, the Principal and faculty should be selected through a transparent process. For this, an open call will be made for the existing faculty members across all government colleges to apply for positions in the constituent colleges. Those selected will be inducted as permanent faculty of the institution.
All future recruitments to constituent colleges should be made through a selection process similar to that followed by the Public Service Commission.
University clusters
The commission has also recommended clustering smaller mono-disciplinary universities. It has proposed creating a cluster comprising Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University, Kerala Kalamandalam of Arts and Culture, and the Sri Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit.
A second proposed cluster will include Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Science University, and Kerala Agricultural University. While these clusters can initially form a functional collaborative network, they must eventually be brought under a unified single university.
