{"id":1179,"date":"2017-10-04T08:06:33","date_gmt":"2017-10-04T08:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/?p=1179"},"modified":"2019-11-28T11:46:14","modified_gmt":"2019-11-28T11:46:14","slug":"round-table-on-world-class-universities-calls-for-higher-education-reforms-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/2017\/10\/04\/round-table-on-world-class-universities-calls-for-higher-education-reforms-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Round Table on World Class Universities Calls for Higher Education Reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sonipat, 4th<\/sup> October<\/strong>: O. P. Jindal Global University celebrated its eighth anniversary with a round table discussion on World Class Universities<\/strong> on 30th September 2017. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The distinguished participants were Mr. Kewal\nKumar Sharma, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD),\nGovernment of India; H.E. Ms. Mariela Cruz Alvarez, Ambassador of the Republic\nof Costa Rica; Ms. Sun Meixing, Head of Education Affairs, Embassy of the\nPeople’s Republic of China in India; Dr. Bertrand de Hartingh, Counsellor for\nCooperation and Cultural Affairs, Embassy of France in India; Mr. Stephan\nLanzinger, Counsellor and Head of Science & Technology Section, Embassy of\nGermany in India and Mr. Frederick Hawkins, Vice Consul, Embassy of the United\nStates of America, New Delhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The round table was organised to initiate a\ndialogue amongst academics, practitioners and international diplomats towards\nunderstanding the characteristics of world class universities and how the\nphenomenon of global university rankings have created new opportunities and\nchallenges for Indian universities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The round table took place in the backdrop of the\nrecent announcement by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to open\napplications to the Institutions of Eminence proposal. The initiative aims to\nestablish 20 such institutions, 10 each in the public and private sector, which\nwill be incentivised to break into leading world rankings.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Kewal Kumar Sharma<\/strong>, IAS, Secretary, Ministry\nof Human Resource Development, Government of India, began his address by\ncongratulating JGU for its achievements over a short span of eight years. He\nreflected on the evolving landscape of global higher education and the challenges\nfacing Indian higher education institutions. In the context of the ongoing\ndebate on university rankings exercises, Mr. Sharma noted that although many\nIndian institutions, particularly in the public sector, will face structural\nchallenges in meeting the rankings criteria, the rankings exercises have\ncultivated an appetite for excellence. He added that the MHRD\u2019s Institutions of\nEminence proposal will encourage deeper partnerships between top Indian and\nforeign universities. Mr. Sharma added that other ongoing higher education\nreforms initiated by the MHRD are aimed at reducing regulatory control of\nwell-performing higher education institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reiterating\nGovernment\u2019s initiative in setting up \u201cInstitutions of Eminence\u201d, he said,\n\u201cThere will be an empowered committee of experts, comprising of distinguished\npersons who would analyse these proposals on merit. We have already asked ten\nfrom private sector and ten from public sector institutions to come forward\nwith their proposals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRanking,\ndoes remain kind of an aim and goal; but what is more important from education\npoint of view, countries point of view is the quality of education is, what\nought to be, both in terms of where we broadly headed, it in terms of economic\ndevelopment; education should lead us to become better human being\u201d, Mr. Sharma\nadded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founding Vice Chancellor, Professor (Dr.) C.\nRaj Kumar<\/strong> said, \u201cAs we aspire to increase the quantity and raise the\nquality of higher education institutions in India, we need to draw from\nexperiences around the world. There is a reason why there is not a single\nworld-class university run on a for-profit basis. Public and private\nuniversities, which are top ranked in the world and are reputed for excellence\nin teaching, research and capacity-building, have all been not-for-profit\ninstitutions.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added, \u201cThe growth, expansion and evolution of\nthe Indian higher education sector today has indeed transformed our country in\nunimaginable ways. However, there is a conscious need based upon a sense of\nconviction and purpose to build institutions of global excellence at a level\nwhich can compete with international institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflecting on the need for greater investment and\nfocus on education, H.E. Ms. Mariela Cruz\nAlvarez <\/strong>reminded the gathering that Costa Rica is\na country without an army: \u201cBeing defenceless is our best defense. The decision\nwe took in 1948 reaffirmed our commitment to the higher principles of life. We\nembarked on the task to unlock the full potential of our citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Bertrand de Hartingh<\/strong>, Counsellor for\nCooperation and Cultural Affairs, Embassy of France was of the opinion that\ncompeting for rankings should not be the sole goal, rather it should be \u201chigher\neducation for all\u201d. He defined a \u2018world-class university\u2019 to be \u201can open world\nuniversity\u201d, which receives students coming from all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Hartingh also stressed on the model of\nmultilateral engagements of universities rather than only bilateral MoUs, where\nmultiple universities can cooperate on a global platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Stephan Lanzinger<\/strong>, Counsellor and Head of\nScience & Technology Section, Embassy of Germany in India spoke about\ninternationalisation, openness and autonomy of institutions.  The role of\nhigher education is to \u201cprovide a purpose and a vision\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highlighting how the Chinese government strove to\nconsistently improve the quality of education at all levels through various\nprojects, Ms. Sun Meixing,<\/strong> Head of Education Affairs, Embassy of\nPeople’s Republic of China in India said, \u201cIn the 1990\u2019s, the government under\nvarious projects aimed to improve the higher education institutions of the\ncountry, as part of the effort over 100 universities were selected for\ndeveloping and enhancing the quality of higher education.  The government\nallocated specific funds and resources to these institutions as major centres\nof research and excellence\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Meixing added that joint and dual-degree\nprogrammes have become a very popular option among Chinese students. The\nChinese government has also invested significant resources in attracting\nforeign teaching staff to China thereby allowing students to experience global\nstandards of education without having to undertake expensive study at foreign\nuniversities. China has also seen a paradigm shift in how higher education is provided\nin the country through in-country campuses set up by top ranked foreign\ninstitutions. Programmes offered by these universities are entirely in the\nEnglish language and enable Chinese students to compete on an international\nlevel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dean Ms. Kathleen A. Modrowski<\/strong>, Professor\nand Dean, Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, JGU said, \u201cUniversities\nhas to create a space where students, faculties, researchers can experiment in\ncreating the world they want to live in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAspect of Research in Universities\u201d, is what Mr.\nGudmundur Eiriksson<\/strong>, Professor and Executive Director, Centre for\nInternational Legal Studies, Jindal Global Law School stressed for. He said,\n\u201cresearch should have impact not only on students, but also on the society at\nlarge. He argued for importance of authored book also to be considered as part\nof research material, not only journals published.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Thomas Lairson<\/strong>, Professor Jindal School\nof Law of Humanities sharing his thoughts said, \u201cWorld class universities are\nborn and continued and perpetuated in every day interactions between students\nand faculty.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discussion also touched on the role of\nregulatory bodies such as the UGC and to what extent this impacts institutional\nperformance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several speakers also noted that India faced\nparticular challenges that stem from the scale of the higher education system\nin the country, unique issues facing public and private institutions and\nchallenges in providing equitable access to education for all. These objectives\nneed to be dovetailed into the larger objective of having World Class\nUniversities in India, the discussion concluded. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sonipat, 4th October: O. P. Jindal Global University celebrated its eighth anniversary with a round table discussion on World Class Universities on 30th September 2017. The distinguished participants were Mr. Kewal Kumar Sharma, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India; H.E. Ms. Mariela Cruz Alvarez, Ambassador Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsroom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1179"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1180,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1179\/revisions\/1180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}