PANAJI
Doing away with the affiliation system for colleges by 2035 is one of the major thrusts of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 - the implementation of which is going on in a phased manner in Goa’s education sector.
As the move aims to transform colleges into autonomous, degree-granting, multidisciplinary institutions, Goa is gearing up for two Cluster Universities- one each in North and South for now.
Though the State Budget 2025-26 speaks about the formation of Cluster Universities, the project doesn’t seem to be a reality very soon as the Directorate of Higher Education is working towards framing modalities for clustering colleges to promote academic collaboration and resource sharing.
Once the affiliation system goes, according to NEP, colleges must upgrade themselves into multi-disciplinary autonomous higher educational institutions to become empowered to award degrees. In case their resources and circumstances do not permit them to do so, they must be integrated into a university, merged, consolidated or become part of a cluster. If they are unable to do any of these, they will face closure.
“Apart from forming a Cluster University, Goa has no other options -- for colleges to upgrade and be empowered to award a degree, it should have a minimum of 3000 students. The Constituent Colleges of University concept also won’t work in Goa as under this management will have to surrender all their powers. So, the only option is University Cluster,” the official explained.
Clustering will help to get 3000 students. Cluster University will be headed by a Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, Registrar and others.
It is learnt that considering the feasibility and ground check once a pilot project is launched, Goa may consider having taluka-level clusters, if required. For now, South Goa Cluster University is most likely to be headquartered in Quepem, while the Goa Engineering College campus at Farmagudi may serve as the North Goa cluster.
“The move will help in sharing college resources and facilities with students of colleges within the cluster, and turn into a hub for providing skill-oriented multidisciplinary programmes for students,” according to the Chief Minister.
The official said that colleges not part of clusters will be constituent colleges of the university. If a college becomes a constituent of the university, funding, recruitment, and decisions on starting new courses will be taken by the university, and the management of colleges will only look after infrastructure.
Colleges would have the choice of joining Goa University or one of the two cluster universities in their respective districts.
