The International Institute
for Higher Education Research and Capacity Building (IIHEd) of O. P. Jindal
Global University (JGU) recently organised a five-day faculty development
programme on the complex issues of ‘Teaching, Research, Academic Leadership and
Governance’ at its campus in Sonipat, Haryana. The workshop was organised in
collaboration with the Department of Higher Education, Government of Haryana
under the RashtriyaUchchatarShikshaAbhiyan (RUSA), an initiative for the
faculty members of state universities and colleges of Haryana.
To put things in
perspective for the weeklong long training programme, a distinguished public
lecture by Prof. (Dr.) Virander S. Chauhan, Chairman, National Assessment and
Accreditation Council (NAAC) & Member, University Grants Commission (UGC),
was also organised on January, 17, 2016 at the India Habitat Centre. The
deliberations served as precursor to the weeklong training programme.
In his opening remarks,
Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice-Chancellor, JGU, said, “Teacher
training in our country has evolved over time based on the recommendations of
various committees on education development. A year ago, when we were working
on the State Higher Education Plan for Haryana, we found that teachers in
Haryana are still grappling with several issues when it comes to their exposure
to national and international standards academia. To make reflective best
practices the key pillars of teacher’s education in the state, we decided to
come up with this dedicated week-long faculty development workshop. Our university,
which serves as a role model for institutional excellence and is committed to
contribute to capacity building for the teaching and learning ecosystem, is
happy to host the first-of-its-kind in-service teacher training workshop to be
held in a private university campus in the state.”
Dr. Virander S. Chauhan,
Chairman, National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) & Member,
University Grants Commission (UGC), a scholar of repute and an academic
statesman and policy maker, in his distinguished public lecture’ said,
“Universities, if they focus meaningfully on the knowledge triangle of
education, research, and innovation, can indeed multiply institutional prestige
and economic growth. It is a common misconception that universities are the
drivers of innovation. What we must actually do is to invest in the creation of
quality human capital in all segments.”
Elaborating on the present
challenges of the educational structure, Dr. Chauhan said “We must understand
that the current crisis is not only economic, but also cultural and social.
While access, equity and excellence remain continued challenges, government
policies focusing on developing R&D infrastructure only in science and
technology is also a problem. Given that subjects like social sciences, fine
arts and humanities are profoundly linked to the welfare of the societies, this
is indeed unfortunate. Another area of critical concern is the lack of mutually
agreed aspects for faculty assessment and promotions and the poor indicative
performance.
“While emphasis needs to be
put on developing research capital for all streams and logical structuring of
the accreditation and rating mechanisms such as the National Institutional
Ranking Framework (NIRF), it is also true that there’s no point in judging people
who are not prepared. Teachers must take their roles very seriously and indulge
in self-learning and periodical assessments. Digital educational credits via
MOOCs can be of good help here, but it will always remain as the supplementary
model,” noted Dr. Chauhan.
Anamika Srivastava,
Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) and chief faculty
coordinator for the teacher training program who spoke about the significance
of the faculty development workshop said, “Quality higher education, requires
quality faculty members. However, quality of a faculty member is largely
dependent on the quality of immediate institutional environment and the larger
societal context. While there has been a history of faculty development efforts
within the public sector under the UGC, the public-private collaborative effort
in fostering quality in higher education can develop a legacy of constructive
and meaningful academic heritage.”
The last day of the
training programme was graced by the presence of Dr.Mahavir Singh, IAS,
Principal Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Government of Haryana. He
said, “It is very important to be particular about imparting knowledge, as it
plays an important role in creating a responsible generation. The onus lies on
teacher to create an equilibrium between society and its stakeholders to bring
about a knowledge pool of responsible citizens who are an asset to a dynamic
democracy like India.”. He also stressed about Haryana government’s long term
commitment on such teachers training programs, and asked for detailed feedback
on further improvements.
The In-service Training
Program for the Faculty members witnessed participation of more than 30
government colleges across several districts of Haryana. Reputed academics and
representatives of the IIHEd conducted deliberative sessions on ‘Teaching and
Learning in Higher Education’, ‘Research and Social Impact’, ‘Knowledge
Transfer and Collaborations’, ‘Academic Leadership, Governance and Quality in
Higher Education’ amongst others.
Prominent resource persons
of the program included Dr.Mousumi Mukherjee, Assistant Director, IIHEd and
Prof. Rajeev Malhotra,Professor and Executive Director, Centre for Development
and Finance, Jindal School of Government and Public Policy(JSGP).
These training workshops
are part of the ‘State Higher Education Plan 2016’, a collaborative exercise of
the Department of Higher Education, Haryana Government and IIHEd of Jindal
University, which provides a blueprint for revamping Haryana’s higher education
landscape.
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