Kerala State Higher Education Council call for private varsities

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) wants the State Government to consider the proposal of establishing private universities in the State.

The Thiruvananthapuram Declaration on Transnational Education adopted by the meet urged the Union Government to create a policy regime to attract foreign students, including students from the Indian Diaspora, to study in Indian Universities and academic institutions.

Talking about the meet on transnational education, KSHEC Vice President T.P.Sreenivasan said the objective of the Central Government was to enhance the gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education to 30 per cent by 2020 from the current level of around 19 per cent.

For this, more universities needed to be set up. However, the Government did  not have financial stability to start new universities. The only option was to either allow reputed universities open educational institutions in the state or allow corporates to sponsor courses in universities, Sreenivasan said.

The declaration also urged the UNESCO to organise a convention of member states to discuss the formulation of a global policy regime on open education.

The declaration also wanted the Union Government to establish a working group of academicians to review the implications of the new opportunities in transnational education.