Eyeing on foreign collaboration intake of students from abroad, the prestigious 121-year-old Khalsa College Amritsar (KCA) has become first amongst colleges affiliated with Guru Nanak Dev University, to become an 'Autonomous College' in the state.
The status has been conferred by University Grants Commission (UGC), following rigorous evaluation process on College's achievements in academic, sports and cultural arena and its role in dissemination of knowledge to society at large.
Khalsa College Governing Council (KCGC) President Satyajit Singh Majithia indicated to the media today that College would like to collaborate with top educational institutions world over.
He said it was a matter of pride for the institute to become autonomous in its working and they would have more academic independence, more financial security with more funds from UGC and freedom in framing new syllabi, courses or enhancing number of seats in various courses.
He said UGC sent high-powered inspection teams, which finally submitted the report recommending the status. He said they were open to tie up with top educational institutions and colleges world over and would also initiate distance learning in days to come.
He also reiterated the KCGC's commitment to the rural and border areas for imparting the value based, professional education to empower them to earn a livelihood .
Accompanied by KCGC honourary secretary Sardar Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina, Mr. Majithia said the College administration will be run by a Governing Body to be headed by him in the capacity of KCGC President and it will have 12 members including nominees from the UGC, Government of Punjab, GNDU and KCGC. An educationist or industrialist will also be nominated by the management.
He said the status was granted following the new scheme of the UGC under which the top colleges in the country will be given autonomous status.
Chhina said management applied for the status last year and UGC reviewed infrastructure, academic activity, financial status and academic achievements of the College for the evaluation before the status was given.
He said that recognition would help the College financially as it would get one and half times more grants from the UGC annually. The status was conferred following the meeting of the full bench of the UGC on May 10 and the completion of formalities.
Majithia complimented the Principal Dr. Daljit Singh and others staff members for their hard work. Daljit Singh said the degrees and detail marks cards (DMCs) would be given by the GNDU, but the examination would be conducted by the College.
Under the new scheme, teachers would also stand to benefit, as they would be part of the Academic Council, Board of Studies and Governing Body. Thus, they would be part of the corporate life of the college.
He said the students would also stand to benefit as they would be studying in an environment, which would help the institution achieve academic excellence.
