Bengaluru: The Karnataka Knowledge Commission (KKC) on Saturday recommended to phase out universities dedicated to single disciplines such as music, Sanskrit, yoga and Kannada. According to the Karnataka State Education policy that was submitted by the KKC here, the practice of opening universities with a restricted scope of single discipline was deeply flawed and needs to be reversed.
“All universities in the state must be allowed to offer broad based education in all disciplines, including professional disciplines such as engineering, medicine, law and architecture, besides skill development in diverse areas. Universities should be allowed to create new departments and new courses at their own discretion, depending on their capability and availability of faculty and funding,” the report suggested.
The report added that the undergraduate education needs to be increased to four years in order to introduce inter-disciplinary subjects such as philosophy and history to students of engineering and medicine, while students of humanities and arts can learn subjects related to science and technology.
In addition, the report also suggested that the state universities need to be encouraged to start integrated masters and PhD programmes on their campuses. “In an effort to improve peer learning opportunities, better access to critical infrastructure such as libraries and laboratories, the universities and colleges need to become residential campuses,” the report advocated.
The report also added that new science, technology, humanities and social sciences foundation need to be created to foster research in colleges and universities by providing funding on a competitive and peer reviewing basis. In addition, the commission strongly advocated that the online universities, both public as well as private, should be set up.
“Already many employers in the country are willingly accepting on-line degrees or skill development courses launched by by IGNOU,” the report contended. The report also suggested that all universities must have department of education, with research facility on all aspects of pedagogy and education delivery, as this will improve school and higher education.
Rs 107 crore for school of economics
Higher education minister, Basvaraj Raya Reddy on Saturday declared that the state government has already released Rs 107 crore to set-up School of Economics on the lines of London School of Economics, which will come up in Bengaluru University Campus. After receiving the here, Mr Rayareddy said, "This school will be named after Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and it will start enrolling students from next academic year." The minister added that the new campus will come on a 50-acre land opposite to National Law School University of India campus."
