From establishing translational research centres to commencing post-doctoral fellowships and launching State-level assessment and accreditation of higher education Institutions, Kerala has embarked on a mission to reform its higher education sector, Rajan Varughese, member secretary of the Kerala State Higher Education Council, has said.
Delivering a lecture in connection with the Prof. K.K. George Memorial Lecture on the Centre-State financial relations, organised by Mahatma Gandhi University here the other day, Mr. Varughese said these initiatives were primarily aimed at improving the quality of research and integrating the benefits of technological advancement into the university system.
“The aim is to provide quality higher education to all sections of society as opposed to the policy of vertical privileging that is being practiced at the national level. The effort is to modernise our higher education system in line with the emerging global trends without sacrificing the social gains achieved by the State,” he said.
On the occasion, he also flagged the inadequate appreciation of State-level efforts by the national funding and other agencies and called for thorough reform of the Centre-State fiscal relations for offsetting the fiscal disadvantages experienced by the State government.
Sabu Thomas, Vice Chancellor, MG University, inaugurated the function.
