Latest news with #HEIs
New Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
TANSCHE to unveil first-ever model policy for academic and administrative audit of HEIs in TN
The policy will require the HEIs to ensure if they have appropriate student support systems on the campus, if adequate actions are being taken to ensure safety of students, measures taken for their mental well-being, and mechanisms in place to address grievances received from students of any kind. 'The policy is designed to enhance transparency, administrative efficiency and academic performance and it applies to all HEIs in TN, however, state-run institutions will be our priority,' said MP Vijayakumar, vice-chairman of TANSCHE. Notably, the TANSCHE had recently released a draft model policy on technology usage in HEIs, which promotes digitisation of all services and facilities available in institutions. According to higher education department officials, TANSCHE is working on 12 such policies like policy on outcome-based education, infrastructure and equipment maintenance, among others, to improve the quality of HEIs and ensure accountability. The remaining 10 policies will be released in the next few months. Sources said TN also plans to link the release of a certain percentage of monetary grants to the HEIs on the basis of their adherence to these policies. The adherence to the policies will also be taken into account during the State Institutional Ranking Framework (SIRF) ranking.
Indian Express
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
When Gandhi meets Ambedkar: How higher education institutions can change our villages
Also written by Virendra Kumar Vijay and Vivek Kumar 'True India lies in its seven lakh villages,' Mahatma Gandhi once declared, envisioning Gram Swaraj — self-reliant, self-governed village republics — as the foundation of Indian democracy. In sharp contrast, B R Ambedkar, speaking in the Constituent Assembly, fiercely rejected such idealisation: 'What is the village,' he remarked, 'but a sink of localism, a den of ignorance, narrow-mindedness and communalism?' For Gandhi, the village was the crucible of true independence; for Ambedkar, it was a site of deeply entrenched caste oppression. These two conflicting yet coexisting truths have long shaped India's rural imagination. It is within this contested terrain that the idea of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) took root, not as a top-down policy directive, but as a determined initiative by the faculty at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD), committed to sustainable rural development and the use of appropriate technology. A shared vision What began as a campus conversation gradually evolved into a national movement — shaped by higher education institutions, grassroots organisations, educators, practitioners, policymakers, and Union ministries of education and rural development, among others. The objective was to empower rural India through meaningful partnerships between Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and villages. It also offered academia an opportunity to learn from the lived wisdom, resilience, and practices of rural communities — a symbiotic relationship nurturing both the village and the university. The Unnat Bharat Abhiyan was officially launched in November 2014 by the Ministry of Education. Coordinated by IIT Delhi, it encourages HEIs, designated as Participating Institutes (PIs), to engage with at least five villages each. To support this, a national ecosystem of 14 Subject Expert Groups and 50 Regional Coordinating Institutes provides technical guidance, mentorship, and capacity-building for impactful, sustainable, and context-specific interventions. In its early years, UBA selectively invited HEIs to join the initiative. By 2014–15, 170 PIs were working with 800 villages. The network grew rapidly. By 2017–18, 1,771 institutions engaged 7,893 villages. In April 2018, the programme was opened to all HEIs, significantly expanding its scale, reach, and impact. As of May 2025, 4,183 institutions are working with 19,783 villages across 35 states and union territories. To deepen impact, UBA has forged 18 strategic partnerships with key ministries — such as Panchayati Raj, Rural Development, and Tribal Affairs — and institutions including the National Cooperative Union of India, the Tribal Co-operative Marketing Development Federation of India, the North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and the Rural Technology Action Group, among others. Transforming villages The HEIs are working closely with gram sabhas, elected representatives, district officials, and governments. The goal is to partner actively in shaping Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDP) and driving meaningful change from the ground up. Their work spans a wide spectrum — from promoting sustainable agriculture and clean energy to enhancing rural livelihoods, improving water and waste management, and facilitating effective implementation of government schemes, and more. The HEIs also help build skills, foster entrepreneurship, support startups, and expand digital literacy across villages. A quiet transformation is unfolding across India, delivering real, measurable change at the grassroots. For instance, in Haridwar's Gaindikhata cluster, IIT Delhi introduced lemongrass cultivation and set up an oil extraction unit, helping farmers earn Rs 8,000–10,000 per month during harvest. In Manipur, the NIT developed a low-cost water purifier providing clean drinking water to over 2,000 villagers previously reliant on a contaminated pond. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand's Chene village, a quiet revival is underway. With support from Jharkhand Rai University, the community has returned to millet farming and established a seed bank to preserve indigenous varieties and ensure long-term food security. Such collaborative, community-driven initiatives blend scientific innovation with local wisdom, proving that real change grows from the ground up. What sets the UBA apart is its emphasis on Village Adhyayan (village study) through Participatory Learning and Action, a people-first, bottom-up way to understand and engage communities. The UBA envisions a shift in how development is practised: Not by imposing top-down solutions, but by listening to and building on the needs and aspirations of rural people themselves. Its core belief is simple yet powerful. Development must serve the people, not sideline or marginalise them. Transforming higher education Through sustained, meaningful engagement, the UBA is redefining higher education's role in India. The programme urges academia to move beyond classrooms and labs, engaging directly with rural life through grounded, empathetic, and socially relevant research. The UBA aims to foster stronger, self-reliant communities while nurturing scholars attuned to rural realities and aspirations. Here, the village is not merely a site for fieldwork or theoretical inquiry; it becomes a dynamic space for collaborative, action-oriented research, where knowledge and solutions are co-created through active community participation. Rural knowledge, lived experiences, and community priorities are no longer peripheral; they actively shape learning, research, and knowledge production within institutions. In its first decade, the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan has made important strides. But much more remains to harness India's vast academic network — over 1,000 universities and more than 42,000 colleges — to engage meaningfully with rural India, where two-thirds of the population lives across more than six lakh villages. Bridging the rural–urban divide demands sustained, equal partnerships between universities and communities. In its second decade, the UBA aims to rapidly expand its reach, especially in remote areas. Only then can we build rural futures rooted in Gandhian self-reliance and Ambedkar's vision of justice and dignity for all. The writers teach at the Centre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, and coordinate the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan
Time of India
22-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Admissions spur publicity competition
Dr Onkar Singh has been the founder Vice Chancellor of the Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur (U.P.), the first non-affiliating technical University of the U.P. state. Currently, he is Vice Chancellor of Veer Madho Singh Bhandari Uttarakhand Technical University, Dehradun (Uttarakhand)- INDIA. LESS ... MORE Like every year, with the start of admission season, the print and electronic media, public places, roadsides, etc. are flooded with advertisements calling for admissions in educational institutions. This shift from issuing a precise admission notice to huge captivating advertisements in public spaces has become a common practice in educational institutions of all levels i.e. primary, secondary, and higher education institutions (HEIs). Nevertheless, the approach and methodology vary for different levels of educational institutions because of the differing expectations of the target audience. However, the core intent behind advertisements remains to attract students for admission. Perhaps, the upsurge in the number of self-financed private institutions and the inherent challenge of maximising admission revenue for their sustenance and growth are the obvious reasons along with other compelling circumstances that have seeded stiff competition amongst private educational institutions for admissions. With the admission advertising becoming a new norm, it becomes worthy of being looked into from various perspectives as the creative and impactful audio-video or written content in the publicity materials of HEIs— used across print, digital platforms, outdoor advertising, and more —reflect substantial intellectual and financial investments. Undoubtedly, such advertisements with catchy content attract attention and spark interest in students and society in general. But the degree of engagement, memory retention about the institution, emotional connect, recalling institution, etc. depend upon the mode whether print or electronic and also varies for Generation Z and Millennials. Delving into details of advertising by the HEIs, general showcasing is about their accomplishments like, student placements, placement salary packages, accreditations, rankings, IPRs, MoUs with eminent institutions within the country and abroad, industry linkages, infrastructure, facilities, institutional recognitions, programme specifics, and other things worth display to create impact. In many circumstances, the attributes showcased contrast from institution to institution and all attempts are made to tacitly establish a competitive edge over the others. Here are some of the examples highlighting the vulnerabilities associated with a few of the publicity attributes specially rankings, media reports, collaborations, and placements. Ranking: Looking at the institutional ranking it is evident that there is a large number of ranking frameworks available which offer inter-se ranks that are not coherent with the public perception of the respective HEI. Further, the credibility and acceptance of all ranking frameworks are not alike but the ranks projected in advertisements may create entirely different perspectives about the respective HEI and the deception could affect the stakeholders adversely. Media reports: The media reports of HEIs play a significant role in perception building. Therefore, sometimes the HEIs push certain content which gets published in the form of advertorials which look like news items. In a situation where the majority of the target audience may not be able to distinguish between the news items and advertorials, an opinion built on the advertorials could be misleading. Given that news items in print media enjoy greater credibility, any such initiative of paid advertorials or deceptive presentations may deprive the aspirants of getting exposed to the real standing of the particular HEI. Collaborations: The number of collaborations keeps on happening amongst HEIs or HEIs with industry within the country or across the countries as a part of the collective qualitative growth of the education ecosystem. These engagements with other HEIs or industries/organisations could be for running joint research, degree programmes, internships, projects, or short-term vocational training. In certain instances, the well-crafted taglines referring to these collaborations by the particular HEI create wrong perceptions. Quite likely, the way such capitalization of the collaboration is done by presenting it in a delusive manner in the public domain may not be in the knowledge of the respective collaborator and faintly impact them adversely due to others capitalizing on their brand value. Placements: In many situations, the HEIs also publish select placement statistics which could be comprised of the number of placements, type of placements, names of potential employers, salary package, etc. These statistics showing worthy packages largely affect the mood and plans of admission seekers. Nevertheless, the placement depends upon the potential of respective students and the timely facilitation of job opportunities by the respective HEI and cannot be deemed to be the privilege of every student. There have also been instances of flaunting a few placements with hefty packages which do not survive for long, yet misleading promotion continues to create the impression of outstanding placement. Thus, regardless of the admission aspirants of higher education being slightly mature as compared to those at primary and secondary levels, at times, the presentation made for one or more of the features listed in the advertisement does not allow them to get the correct picture of the respective HEIs. It goes without saying that the influence made upon innocent minds through camouflaged publicity materials and admission agents leads them to the portals of particular HEI and they are deprived of the possible opportunities of studying at the other institutions suiting them. The rigorous advertising campaign for reaching out to the maximum number of admission seekers has positively affected the admissions in various HEIs through brand building and it is compelling others to go for similar campaign. Alongside, the advertising campaign also involves huge expenditure and the money spent on publicity is a fraction of the total revenue from the higher education sector. This contribution to the economy is a function of the size of the higher education sector economy. A report by Statista shows that the size of the higher education market in India was around six billion US dollars in 2022 and the annual growth rate is expected to be nearly 10 per cent up to 2028. As per Statista, the US educational service industry had spent $1.5 billion on advertising in 2023 with Purdue University Global spending $83.48 million on advertisements in 2023. Thus, going by the global trend, there is a sizeable spending on publicity by the HEIs in the country as well. The moot point behind this expenditure is about the source from where this money comes, specially in a developing nation like ours, the fees are points of concern for the sizeable population. Obviously, in a self-financed setup, every expenditure is a part of the fee charged by the students, meaning thereby that any reduction in the spending on the publicity campaign will eventually ease out the students. Simultaneously, there is the engagement of admission counsellors or agents or managers on certain commissions for convincing students to seek admission in particular HEIs through special discounts, freebies etc. Needless to say, these admission influencers engaged by HEI resort to all possible ways to ensure admission of the student(s) by advocating the edge of the respective HEI over others in a rightful or deceitful manner. Typically, students come across the reality after taking admission but are helpless as it becomes too late by that time. The money spent as a commission to admission agents or freebies to aspirants also comes from the fees charged by the students in the HEIs. Way forward: Going by the fast growth of HEIs in the private sector, the stiff competition amongst them for admitting a maximum number of students is likely to continue as an annual affair. Also, given the self-financed nature of private sector institutions, it is quite difficult to restrict them from devising their mechanism to ensure admissions. However, a certain degree of regulations on delusive practices meant for only attracting students for admission is inevitable to ensure fair competition and prevent anti-competitive practices while aiming at reducing the cost of education for the overall good of the students. These regulations are also critically needed for protecting student interests and sustaining healthy competition amongst HEIs while ensuring that the underlying philosophy of maximising access to education to all is sustained with equity. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
The Star
22-05-2025
- General
- The Star
Online classes will ease disruption during road closures, says Higher Education Ministry
PETALING JAYA: All private and public higher education institutions (HEIs) around the Klang Valley have the option of conducting classes either online or face-to-face during the 46th Asean Summit. The Higher Education Ministry said the decision was made after taking into account the implementation of road closures and security controls that will happen around Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Putrajaya in conjunction with the Summit happening next week. The ministry added that HEIs are asked to review the location, time and date of the routes that will be closed during May 26 to 28 to determine the need for online teaching and learning to ensure staff and students are not affected by traffic congestion. It also said affected students and HEI staff can also contact their respective HEIs to obtain further information. 'The ministry is confident that online teaching and learning will make it easier for staff and students to plan their movements and at the same time ensure that the learning process runs smoothly,' it said in a statement on Thursday (May 22).
Zawya
19-05-2025
- Zawya
The Digital Divide's Dark Side: Cybersecurity in African Higher Education (By Anna Collard)
By Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy&Evangelist KnowBe4 Africa ( The digital revolution is transforming African education, with universities embracing online learning and digital systems. However, this progress brings a crucial challenge: cybersecurity. Are African higher education institutions (HEIs) prepared for the escalating cyber threats? The Growing Threat Landscape African HEIs are increasingly targeted by cybercriminals. Microsoft's Cyber Signals report highlights education as the third most targeted sector globally ( with Africa being a particularly vulnerable region. Incidents like the theft of sensitive data ( at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) and the hacking of a master's degree platform ( at Abdelmalek Essaadi University in Morocco demonstrate the reality of these threats. Several factors contribute to HEI vulnerability. Universities hold vast amounts of sensitive data, including student records, research, and intellectual property. Their open nature, with diverse users and international collaborations, creates weaknesses, especially in email systems. Limited resources, legacy systems, and a lack of awareness further exacerbate these issues. Examples of Cyber Threats in African Education Educational institutions have fallen prey to social engineering and spoofing attacks. For example, universities in Mpumalanga and schools in the Eastern Cape have been notably victimised by cybercriminals ( using link-based ransomware attacks, with some institutions being locked out of their data for over a year. Earlier this year, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education warned against a cybercriminal scamming job seekers ( by falsely promising teaching posts in exchange for money and using photos with officials to appear legitimate. Strategies for Strengthening Cybersecurity African HEIs can take actionable steps to strengthen their cyber defenses: Establish Clear Policies: Define roles, responsibilities, and data security protocols Provide Regular Training: Educate educators, administrators, and students to improve cyber hygiene and security culture Implement Secure Access Management: Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) and secure login practices Invest in Secure Technology Infrastructure: Include encrypted data storage, secure internet connections, and reliable software updates Leverage AI and Advanced Technologies: AI can be utilised to enhance threat detection and enable real-time responses. Consider centralising tech setups for better monitoring Adopt Comprehensive Cybersecurity Frameworks: Follow guidelines like those from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and encourage phishing-resistant MFA, reducing hacking risks by over 99.9% Human Risk Management as a Priority: Focus on security awareness training, that includes simulated phishing, and real-time interventions to change behaviour and mitigate human risk Moving Forward The cybersecurity challenges facing African HEIs are significant but not impossible. By adopting a human risk approach and acknowledging threats, implementing strong security measures, and fostering a positive security culture, we can protect institutions and ensure a secure digital learning environment. A collective effort involving institutions, governments, cybersecurity experts, and technology providers is crucial to safeguard the future of education in Africa. As part of efforts to strengthen cybersecurity awareness in the education sector, KnowBe4 offers a Student Edition—a version of its platform tailored to the unique needs of educational institutions, providing age-appropriate, relevant security content and training solutions. This initiative is guided by an Advisory Council of global universities, including Nelson Mandela University in South Africa, ensuring the content remains practical, culturally relevant, and aligned with the realities of student life. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of KnowBe4.
