UGC Issues Norms for Ethics in Higher Education

• 27 Dec 2019

Why in News

Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has adopted the Higher Education Quality Improvement Programme Mandate to improve the quality in higher educational institutions.

• The Quality Mandate was developed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) which contains 5 documents covering the 5 verticals of Quality Mandate-
  
  • Evaluation reforms
  • Eco-friendly and sustainable university campuses
  • Human values & professional ethics
  • Faculty induction
  • Academic research integrity

Key Points

• The quality mandate aims at evolving higher education system to equip the country's next generation with vital skills, knowledge and ethics for leading a rewarding life.
  
  • Student evaluation plays a crucial role in improving the quality of Higher Education in the country.

Five Documents on 5 verticals of Quality Mandate

• Evaluation reforms: Under this, the report ‘Evaluation Reforms in Higher Educational Institutions in India’ has been published in order to make student assessment more meaningful, effective and linked to ‘Learning Outcomes’.
• Eco-friendly and Sustainable University Campuses: The SATAT - Framework for Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Campus development in Higher Educational Institutions encourages universities to adopt reflective policies and practices to enhance the environmental quality of the campus and to adopt sustainable and green methods in its future.
• Human Values & Professional Ethics: A policy framework ‘MulyaPravah – Guidelines for Inculcation of Human Values and Professional Ethics in Higher Educational Institutions’ has been developed to discuss and streamline the process that helps to infuse the culture of human values and ethics in educational institutions.
  
  • The guidelines for values and ethics in higher education call for students to-
    
    • Observe modesty in their overall appearance and behaviour.
    • Maintain good health and refrain from any kind of intoxicants.
    • Maintain harmony among students belonging to different socio-economic status, community, caste, religion or region.
• Faculty Induction: The guidelines for Guru-Dakshta – A guide to Faculty Induction Programme (FIP) will fulfill its main objective to sensitise and motivate the faculty to adopt learner centred approaches, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) integrated learning and new pedagogic approaches to teaching-learning, assessment tools in higher education.
• Academic Research Integrity: UGC is putting up efforts for setting up a Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics (UGC-CARE) to continuously monitor and identify quality journals across disciplines. It will be useful to create more awareness and help the cause of promoting academic integrity and ethical publishing.

University Grants Commission

• It came into existence on 28^th December, 1953 and became a statutory organization of the Government of India by an Act of Parliament in 1956, for the coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of teaching, examination and research in university education.
• The head office of the UGC is located in New Delhi.

Source: TH