New body for research and education in state

MUMBAI: The higher and technical education department has decided to establish a State Academic and Research Council (SARC) to provide strategic guidance for higher education, studies, research and innovations in the state. The council’s main objectives will be to advise all the universities in the state, coordinate curricula and maintain uniformity in education.

In 2020, the state government appointed a task force under the chairmanship of senior scientist Raghunath Mashelkar to come up with guidelines for the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP). It chose one of the recommendations to form SARC for the effective implementation of NEP 2020.

The government resolution (GR) published on Wednesday reads, “By keeping an integrated approach to courses, credit transfer, equivalence of courses, research and innovation among various universities, this organisation will guide policy formulation, curriculum reformulation, credit transfer, promotion of research and inter-university coordination in higher education in the state.”

According to the GR, SARC will focus on the planning of multiple courses, designing of credit transfer systems at levels 4.5 to 8 of the National Credit Framework, and integration of equivalent courses across various universities.

The GR states that SARC will comprise the vice-chancellors of the five universities in the state, the director of higher education and technical education and education experts. The council will have to organise meetings every month, and prepare implementation reports of important decisions and submit them to the management board.

“Work will also be done to promote innovations, approve modules for online education, design courses, increase collaboration with industrial institutions, and maintain consistency in the curriculum for innovations,” reads the GR. In addition, a credit equivalence and transfer mechanism will be developed to provide flexibility in migration and course selection for students.

The council will create a strong infrastructure for curriculum design, assessment and teaching methods, and policy advice to the government. The implementation of its decisions will be binding on universities.

Sources from the education department said the original concept was the e-Board of Studies with the same goals. Adding certain factors to this, the government came up with SARC. “This is a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country to streamline subject learning outcomes and credit transfers,” said the officer.