Student evaluation plays crucial role in improving quality of higher education: HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal

Image courtesy: PIB

New Delhi: Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ launched the 5 documents developed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) covering the 5 verticals of Quality Mandate in New Delhi on Friday (December 27). These five documents will cover evaluation reforms, eco-friendly and sustainable university campuses, human values and professional ethics, faculty induction and academic research integrity, said a government statement.

Speaking on the occasion, Nishank said that to improve the quality in Higher Educational Institutions, University Grants Commission has adopted the Higher Education Quality Improvement Programme Mandate. The quality mandate aims at evolving a higher education system to equip the country’s next-generation with vital skills, knowledge, and ethics for leading a rewarding life.

Pokhriyal said that student evaluation plays a crucial role in improving the quality of Higher Education in the country. In order to make student assessment more meaningful, effective and linked to ‘Learning Outcomes’, the report ‘Evaluation Reforms in higher Educational Institutions in India’ is very timely and beneficial for HEIs.

Further referring to SATAT- Framework for Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Campus development in Higher Educational Institutions, he said the framework encourages universities to adopt reflective policies and practices to enhance the environmental quality of the campus and to adopt sustainable green and sustainable methods in its future.

He hoped that the guidelines for Guru-Dakshta – A guide to Faculty InductionProgramme (FIP) will fulfill its main objective to sensitise and motivate the faculty to adopt learner-centered approaches, ICT integrated learning and new pedagogic approaches to teaching-learning, assessment tools in higher education.

The Minister also emphasized the importance of promoting high-quality research and the creation of new knowledge by faculty members. 

He lauded the UGC’s efforts for setting up a Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics (UGC-CARE) to continuously monitor and identify quality journals across disciplines, expressing hope that CARE website and Reference List of Quality Journals will be useful to create more awareness and help the cause of promoting academic integrity and ethical publishing.