1200 crores investment in the educational sector in Bengal

KOLKATA, India - March 22, 2013 - PRLog -- Today (22nd March, 2013) Shri Bratya Basu, Hon’ble Minister in Charge, Dept. of Higher Education & School Education, Govt. of West Bengal, addressed Professors, Principals, Faculty members and Vice-chancellors of different technical educational institutions and universities at Heritage Institute of Technology Kolkata during a workshop on “Achieving quality through outcome based evaluation” which was jointly organized by UGC Academic Staff College in association with West Bengal State Council of Higher Education and National Board of Accreditation, New Delhi. The workshop was attended by 116 principals and faculty members from different technical colleges across Bengal including Vice-chancellors of various Universities. The objective of such workshop is to focus on achieving quality education through outcome based evaluation.
Shri Bratya Basu highlighted the essence of quality in educational excellence both for public as well as private educational institutions. He also spoke about academic auditing, common entrance test, introduction of private universities act in Bengal and many more developmental activities which the state government has framed to revive the educational sector of Bengal. “I congratulate West Bengal State Council of Higher Education for becoming the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) nodal centre for Bengal and adjacent areas. Such State Council is the first of its kind in the nation,” said Shri Bratya Basu. The Chairman, West Bengal State Council of Higher Education, Dr. Sugato Marjit, inaugurated the workshop in the presence of Dr. D. K. Paliwal, Member Secretary, National Board of Accreditation, New Delhi, Prof. Souvik Bhattacharya, Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor, Jadavpur University, Prof. Avijit Chakrabarti, Vice-Chairman, West Bengal State Council of Higher Education and Prof. Ranjan Bhattacharya, Director, UGC – Academic Staff College, Jadavpur University. Dr. Sugato Marjit has said during his inaugural address that more than 1200 crores will be invested in the education sector in Bengal within 3 years.
Dr. Marjit appreciated the efforts of private educational institutions in spreading quality education across the state and he said that the state will act as a supporting pillar for these institutions so that they can make good quality higher education available in every corners of the state especially in backward areas. “In fact the GER of Bengal is 12.6 in compare to the average in the nation which is 18”, said Dr. Marjit addressing the huge intellectuals who were present in the seminar hall of Heritage Institute. “The state has allowed private universities which will be a real boost for the private parties to invest in good quality higher education and already many proposals have come from leading players in the education sector in India who want to establish private universities in Bengal especially in rural areas like Birbhum and Bankura,” said Dr. Marjit. He also emphasized on quality aspect of higher education not regretting the quantity part which is equally important. “Unless institutions are established in backward areas of Bengal, we cannot increase the GER in higher education which is the top priority of the state along with rapid industrialization,” said Dr. Marjit.
The workshop will also continue till tomorrow and today it was addressed by Dr. D. K. Paliwal, Member Secretary, National Board of Accreditation, New Delhi, Shri Vivek Kumar, Principal Secretary, Dept. of Higher Education, Govt. of West Bengal, Prof. Souvik Bhattacharya, Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor, Jadavpur University, Prof. Avijit Chakrabarti, Vice-Chairman, West Bengal State Council of Higher Education, Prof. Ranjan Bhattacharya, Director, UGC – Academic Staff College, Jadavpur University, Prof. Ajoy Kumar Ray, Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor, Bengal Engineering and Science University, Prof. Ranjan Chakraborty, Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor, Vidyasagar University, Prof. Smriti Kumar Sarkar, Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor, The University of Burdwan and Shri Probir Roy, Executive Director, Heritage Group of Institutions.