Education ministry panel to scan varsity, college appointments
KOLKATA: The Mamata Banerjee government has started making its moves to liberate education from the clutches of party hegemony.
Higher education minister Bratya Basu on Tuesday held an informal discussion with academics to explore ways to "restore merit" in colleges and universities and decided to appoint a 'search committee' that will study all senior appointments on Bengal's 600 campuses.
The advisers - respected names like Kalyan Sanyal, Abhirup Sarkar, Sunando Sanyal, Debabrata Bandyopadhyay, Kalyan Rudra and Aveek Majumdar - gave their views on several issues, from college/university governing bodies being packed with political appointees to giving elbow room to vice-chancellors.
Sanyal will head the committee that will take stock of the appointment of senior officials based on their academic achievements, age and tenure of service, and examine the appointment procedure in various posts to ascertain they were made strictly on merit. The panel will also go through the decisions taken by them. A similar committee will be set up for Presidency University.
The department has asked universities to submit a status report of the audit and accounts by Wednesday noon. Basu is likely to hold an exclusive discussion on Presidency University with academics on Thursday.
The state government isn't too happy with the performance of Presidency vice-chancellor Amita Chatterjee, a higher education official said. "Many committees have been set up. But the academic calendar is still pending. I have come to know the university hasn't yet finalized its syllabus. I will talk to the vice-chancellor about the problems she might be facing. But this can't go on," Basu said.
Some advisers are said to have suggested "drastic action" against political clout in colleges and universities, but Basu is yet to take a call.
toi
Higher education minister Bratya Basu on Tuesday held an informal discussion with academics to explore ways to "restore merit" in colleges and universities and decided to appoint a 'search committee' that will study all senior appointments on Bengal's 600 campuses.
The advisers - respected names like Kalyan Sanyal, Abhirup Sarkar, Sunando Sanyal, Debabrata Bandyopadhyay, Kalyan Rudra and Aveek Majumdar - gave their views on several issues, from college/university governing bodies being packed with political appointees to giving elbow room to vice-chancellors.
Sanyal will head the committee that will take stock of the appointment of senior officials based on their academic achievements, age and tenure of service, and examine the appointment procedure in various posts to ascertain they were made strictly on merit. The panel will also go through the decisions taken by them. A similar committee will be set up for Presidency University.
The department has asked universities to submit a status report of the audit and accounts by Wednesday noon. Basu is likely to hold an exclusive discussion on Presidency University with academics on Thursday.
The state government isn't too happy with the performance of Presidency vice-chancellor Amita Chatterjee, a higher education official said. "Many committees have been set up. But the academic calendar is still pending. I have come to know the university hasn't yet finalized its syllabus. I will talk to the vice-chancellor about the problems she might be facing. But this can't go on," Basu said.
Some advisers are said to have suggested "drastic action" against political clout in colleges and universities, but Basu is yet to take a call.
toi
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