What is Higher Education, Manipur University ?

Gitchandra S Oinam *

Surprise! HRD ministry, UGC can not define higher education. In a reply to Mr. Jitendra Sharma RTI applicant, UGC said "the term higher education has not been defined in the UGC Act 1956". Department of higher education, UGC, do not know the meaning of the term "Higher Education" HRD department of higher education said the answer can be given by UGC.

The query was referred to UGC. However, the commission reproduced some section of UGC Act that talked about its functions but were nowhere close to a definition of "higher education" UGC said, "it shall be the general duty of the commission to take, in consultation with the universities or other bodies concerned, all such steps as it may think fit for the promotion and coordination of university education and for the determination and maintenance of standards of teaching, examination and research in universities" Times of India reported.

Many people are confused about Higher Education, because there have been a lot changes recently, including institutions changing their names and titles.

Also, do you fully understand the letters that often appear alongside courses, such as BA and BSc?? And do you wonder what exams or steps you need to take to go on your education after you graduated from 3- 5 year University? To start with the definition of the term-Higher Education- In fact, there is no simple definition of higher education. The international definition of tertiary (post school) education divides it into two parts. Type A (Higher Education) and Type B (Further Education).

A higher education qualification at degree level takes a minimum of three years to complete, more typically four. It will have a theoretical underpinning, it will be at a level which would qualify someone to work in a professional field and it will usually be taught in an environment which also includes advanced research activity. Shortly, Higher education mainly and generally means university level education or at collage level of similar level that train people for particular jobs is further education.

It offers a number of qualifications ranging from Higher National Diplomas and Foundation Degrees to Honors Degrees and as further step, Postgraduate programmers such as Masters Degrees and Doctorates. These are recognized throughout the world as representing specialist expertise supported by a wide range of skills that employers find very useful. Further education is generally includes those post graduate studies in where you can gain your Master and Doctorate degrees.

These degrees mark the highest one can earn, though they are divided into two levels. A master's degree, for instance, is awarded for a particular course of study beyond the baccalaureate degree. They come in various categories, such as a Master of Arts, Master of Science, and Master of Theology. The amount of time it takes one to earn a master's degree depends upon the program one is enrolled in, but one should usually expect to study at least for 2 years.

The second type of graduate degree, and one considered higher than a master's degree, is a doctoral degree. These are awarded for a particular course of study beyond the master's degree. Doctoral degrees can be professional degrees, such as the Doctor of Ministry, or academic degrees, such as the Doctor of Philosophy. Those who earn doctorates often assume the title 'Doctor.' The amount of time one must study before earning such a degree varies greatly by field, institution

Here are the definitions of most frequently used terms related to Higher Education:

Bachelor's Degree: It is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts three or four years.

Master: It is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate or graduate course of one to three years in duration. In the UK it is sometimes awarded for an undergraduate course whose final year consists of higher-level courses and a major research project. In the recent standardized European system of higher education diplomas, it corresponds to a two-year graduate program to be entered after three years of undergraduate studies and in preparation for either high-qualification employment or for doctoral studies.

Doctorate: It is an academic degree of the highest level. Traditionally, the award of a doctorate implies recognition of the candidate as an equal by the university faculty under which he or she has studied. There are essentially three types of doctorates: research, first-professional (USA only), and honorary. Research doctorates are nearly always awarded in recognition of academic research that is of a publishable standard (even if not actually published) and represents at least a modest contribution to human knowledge. It is usually assessed by submission and defense of a doctoral thesis or dissertation, though in some cases a coherent body of published literature can be accepted instead. Honorary doctorates are awarded for a substantial contribution to a field but this need not be academic in character.

The RTI applicant also wanted to know if all the colleges affiliated to the state universities come under the definition of the term" higher education". This question was also referred to the UGC. On this part, UGC instead of giving any farm answer gave the definition of the term "affiliation" and collage as explained in the UGC Act which any common people will find it difficult to understand. It is said, "Affiliation" together with its grammatical variations, includes, in relation to a collage by, association of such collages to the privileges of, a university.

Manipur University was established on June 5, 1980, under the Manipur University Act.1980 (Manipur Act 8 of 1980), as a teaching cum-affiliating University at Imphal with territorial jurisdiction over the whole of the state of Manipur. It was converted into a Central University w.e.f. 13 October 2005. The Manipur University Act No.54 of 2005 received the assent of the President on 28 December 2005.

As envisaged in the policy programmes of the UGC for the development of collegiate education, College Development Council, MU was set up at the Manipur University under syndicate resolution no. 5 dated 1-10-1985, to ensure the proper planning and integrated development of affiliated colleges. There are 22 members of the CDC with Vice-Chancellor as its ex-officio chairman.

University has 4 schools - School of Science, School of Humanities, School of Social Sciences, and School of Medical Science etc. University has 72 affiliated collages in which affiliate government collage-34, government aided collages-8, permanently affiliated private collages-18, private affiliated collages-7 and permitted private collage-6 and one constituent college i.e. Manipur Institute of Technology (MIT).

Financial management of the Manipur University collages are partly from UGC grant, private donors, collage development and admission fees etc. and state government grant in case of state government aided collages. Financial positions of private and aided collages in the state are very poor. The University Grants Commission (UGC) provides financial assistance to eligible colleges which are included under Section 2(f)* and declared fit to receive central assistance (UGC grant) under Section 12 (B) ** of UGC Act, 1956 as per approved pattern of assistance under various schemes.

The college should have a minimum of 5 (five) permanent teachers (or teachers appointed on regular basis in case of Government colleges) at the lowest end of the scale with a progressive increase in staff as the number of students and class division increases. The minimum enrolment of students under this scheme is 100 for grant seeking collages.

The proposal, for assistance from the Commission for all the building projects will, in no case, exceed 80% of the total allocation. Each college recommended by the Expert Committee will be eligible to receive up to Rs. 10.00 lakhs as a 'one time grants' amount may be differ from time to time. The colleges may utilize the UGC assistance for following items: - Class rooms, Laboratory, Library building, Canteen building, Development of sports facilities, Hostels, Examinations hall etc.

The higher and technical education in Delhi comprises of 131 colleges, which includes 5 medical colleges, 8 engineering colleges. Delhi has five universities; seven deemed universities and one Open University. With regard to Delhi education and Colleges in Delhi, out of 165 Degree colleges run by the govt. in Delhi, 82 are under Delhi University and the remaining 83 are affiliated to GGSIP University. The Government of Delhi has a decent share in the education system. Out of these, 16 collages are under the blessings of UGC and Delhi government on sharing basis of 95:5 on approved recurring expenditure and 50:50 for non-recurring expenditure.

Manipur government must formulated clear cut management of higher education, further; state may ask UGC cent percent funded collages in Manipur for the improvement of quality education in the state. So that some of the state government collages or government aided collages may able to convert into central collages. Beside, Manipur University has to look into all such steps as it may think fit for the promotion and coordination of collages in determination and maintenance of standards of teaching and examination.

The Manipur University has to exchange programmes and academic collaboration through the signing of MoUs with foreign universities around the world as well as premier Indian universities like JNU, Delhi.