JOIN USThe survey, which will cover all higher education centres in the country, will collect data on various aspects, including academic and financial position of all the existing institutions.
While the government aims to collect a “sound database” of higher education sector, the exercise is expected to expose the institutions which are not functioning effectively for various reasons, including lack of proper infrastructure and manpower.
The National University of Education Planning and Administration (NUEPA) has been vested with the responsibility of conducting field work and report generation for the purpose.
All institutions, recognised by any statutory body established under the Central or state Act will be covered during the survey, a senior Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry official told Deccan Herald.
“The survey will collect data on broad items like details of teachers, non-teaching staff, programmes conducted under various faculties or centres, students enrolled in these programmes, examination result of terminal year of each programme and financial information such as receipt and expenditure under various heads,” the official said.
For the purpose of the survey, higher education has been defined as education which is obtained after completing 12 years of schooling or equivalent and is of the duration of at least 9 months (full-time) or after completing 10 years of schooling and is of the duration of at least three years.
To collect data on financial position of the institutions, the survey will look into grants received by them from various sources such as university grants commission, distance education council, other central government departments, state government and local bodies.
The details of donations and interests received by the institutions; amount collect by them through tuition fee and other fees; sale of application form and income of from any other sources will also be taken into account, the official pointed out.
The collection and dissemination of data on higher education so far has suffered from various weaknesses that include incomplete coverage and inordinate time lag.
“All kinds of receipt such as recurring, non-recurring, plan and non-plan receipt will be clubbed together to get the total receipt against each item. Expenditure items have been broadly classified into salary, allowances and retirement benefits; buildings (construction and maintenance), library and laboratory, scholarships, grants to colleges and other expenses.
“Due to this, the GER (gross enrollment ratio) does not reflect the correct picture of the country’s development in respect of higher education sector as it is being calculated on the basis of available data. It is widely recognised that the existing database on higher education is inadequate and out of date,” an official said.