Govt moves to upgrade higher education; funds earmarked

CONTOURS OF THE SCHEME
>> Up to Rs 10-lakh earmarked for events that involve international experts and academicians
>> Up to Rs 5-lakh for programmes that involve national academic and industry experts
>> State-level events can entitle colleges to avail up to Rs 2 lakh
>> The scheme will have a tenure of five years and will be in force up to March, 2023
>> Applicable only to Government Colleges for events which are academic in nature
>> For workshop & training programme, the scheme entails a maximum of Rs 3-lakh
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PANAJI: In a bid to ramp up the quality of higher education and make life in Goa's government colleges exciting, fun and purposeful, the Higher Education on Thursday launched a new scheme to fund workshops, seminars, conferences, training programmes and short term courses for quality improvement.
Principals and managements of government colleges will now no longer have to scratch their heads on how to foot the bill even if they want to invite experts in specific fields from both India and abroad to guide the events.
The scheme comes into force immediately and earmarks up to Rs 10-lakhs for events that involve international experts and academicians and up to Rs 5-lakhs for programmes that involve national academic and industry experts. State-level events can entitle Colleges to avail up to Rs 2 lakhs.
The scheme will have a tenure of five years and will be in force up to March, 2023.
Designed to stimulate quality teaching, learning and research in Goa's higher education institutions, the scheme hopes to up the standards in Colleges by extending facilities to teachers and researchers. It also aims to provide a channel to academia to share knowledge, experiences and research, besides providing a platform for in-depth analysis of subjects and the latest developments in specific areas.
The scheme is however applicable only to Government Colleges for events which are academic in nature as well as those from co-curriculum areas.
For workshop & training programme, the scheme entails a maximum of Rs 3-laks as financial support to the Colleges.
To avail funds under the scheme, the convenor and the College's principal will have to submit detailed plans at least three months in advance of the date it proposes to conduct the event.
The plan will then be evaluated for its worthiness for funding by an 'expert committee' which will be headed by the Director of Higher Education and have experts in the field as members.
Among other aspects, the 'expert committee' will evaluate the proposals received from colleges and also decide the quantum of financial assistance based on criteria which will take into account the stature and number of resource persons, the number of participants and the objectives of the event.
The proposals from colleges should highlight the objectives and also list down the details of participants, including the resource persons.
Besides the 'expert committee' which will evaluate proposals and recommend the funding, another panel will be set up to evaluate and monitor the events held by the Colleges with grants under the scheme.
Beneficiary institutions will require to furnish a report on the event listing the footfalls, names of
participating resource persons and the outcomes vis-a-vis the stated objectives. Assets or equipments purchased for the events will also have to be recorded in registers.
Colleges will be mandated to spend the funds provided under the scheme exclusively for the event it sought the funds for.
The Goa government's Education Secretary will be the adjudicator in case disputes arising between applicant Colleges and the department during the process of implementing the scheme or evaluating individual applications by the 'Expert Committee'.