HRD Ministry releases 5-yr vision plan 'EQUIP'

The department of higher education of the HRD Ministry on Friday finalised and released a five-year vision plan 'Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP)'.

This is in accordance with the decision of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for finalizing a five-year vision plan for each Ministry, an official statement said here today.

This report has been prepared after a detailed exercise done by the experts covering the following ten areas -- strategies for expanding access, towards global best teaching/learning process, promoting excellence, governance reforms, assessment, accreditation and ranking systems, promotion of research and innovation, employability and entrepreneurship, using technology for better reach, internationalisation and financing higher education.

The groups of ten experts drawn from senior academicians, administrators and industrialists have suggested more than 50 initiatives that would transform the higher education sector completely.

The groups have set various goals for higher education sector, including Double the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education and resolve the geographically and socially skewed access to higher education institutions in India, upgrade the quality of education to global standards and position at least 50 Indian institutions among the top-1000 global universities etc.

For each initiative, the groups have recommended modalities for implementation, investments and timelines.

The proposal would now be taken for inter-departmental consultations and appraisal through the EFC mechanism before being taken to Cabinet for approval.