The Higher Education Council has proposed that courses on cyber security be introduced in all the universities in the State.
According to the department officials, the courses would include topics such as cyber forensics, computer security and information security among others.
Speaking to mediapersons on Saturday, Minister for Higher Education T B Jaychandra said, “This is a topic concerning all our lives. Moreover, the field also has several job opportunities. It is estimated that there are over a million jobs in the field. We want our students to make use of the opportunity.”
He said the government had secured considerable funding under the Centrally sponsored RUSA scheme (Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan) this time, and a mentor would be appointed for each institution to make the best use of the funds.
The State has received Rs 20 crore each for four universities and 92 colleges. Colleges that have NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) accreditation are eligible for funds under RUSA.
Rating system
In an attempt to enhance the quality of education and to build healthy competition among different universities in the State, the Council has come up with a set of parameters for assessment of the universities in Karnataka. Accordingly, each university will assess every department and come up with a comprehensive report.
The parameters for assessment have been categorised into: Primary criteria (research excellence, teaching excellence), secondary criteria (employability, innovation, infrastructure), third mission (inclusiveness and social impact).
Each of these categories will carry different scores. For instance, research excellence, academic excellence, employability and inclusiveness and social impact are assessed for 200 points each and innovation and infrastructure for 100 points each.
Recruitment
The State government is actively considering the proposal of guest lecturers of first grade colleges and they would soon fill the posts of assistant professors, Jayachandra said. “This will give job opportunities to a large number of teachers working as guest lecturers,” he said adding that it was likely to happen in the first week of February.
Grading system
The Department of Higher Education has constituted a committee under the chairmanship of former vice chancellor of Goa University, Prof S B Sondhe, to look into the examination evaluation system of different institutions. The move comes in the wake of complaints by a section of engineering students that they were at a disadvantage compared with their peers in autonomous colleges.
Autonomous colleges have a grading system as opposed to marks in percentage given in other universities in the State. For jobs, when the grades were converted into percentage, the students in autonomous colleges stood to gain at least 8 per cent more marks, students had complained.
‘Generation UK’
Jayachandra said two universities from Karnataka would be chosen for inviting students from the United Kingdom as part of the ‘Generation UK’ programme, which aims to build collaboration, engagement and trust between the UK and India.
In all, nine universities across the country will be chosen for the programme. Bangalore University, the University of Mysore and Gulbarga University are among the institutions shortlisted for the purpose.
For the first time, Karnataka is also participating in ‘Education World Forum,’ to be hosted in London. Jayachandra and Higher Education Department principal secretary Bharath Lal Meena will take part in the event.
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