NON TEACHING STAFF ASSOCIATION OPPOSES PROPOSED RESTRUCTURING OF UG COLLEGES

NON TEACHING STAFF ASSOCIATION OPPOSES PROPOSED RESTRUCTURING OF UG COLLEGES

20-JULY-ENG 7

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA-----------------------------The Bihar State University and College Employees' Federation (Veer Kunwar Singh University region, Ara) has strongly opposed the state government's proposal to restructure undergraduate colleges and amend the University Act. The Federation described this move as one with serious and far-reaching consequences for Bihar's higher education system, university autonomy, and student interests. Regional President Shashiranjan stated that universities are not merely examination-conducting bodies but are key centers for teaching, research, curriculum development, examination management, quality control, faculty development, and academic autonomy. If undergraduate colleges are removed from the administrative and academic control of universities and placed directly under the Higher Education Department, the role of universities would be curtailed, and the affiliation system would be weakened.

Federation office-bearers stated that the proposed arrangement would undermine the effectiveness of statutory bodies such as the Academic Council, Boards of Studies, Faculties, and Examination Committees. This would disrupt the long-standing academic coordination between universities and colleges and is likely to adversely affect curriculum development, examination systems, research activities, evaluation processes, and the overall quality of higher education. The Federation further noted that the National Education Policy (NEP-2020) emphasizes strengthening multidisciplinary and university-based higher education institutions. In this context, the proposal to detach colleges from universities and place them under departmental control appears contrary to the core spirit of the policy. The Federation has demanded that the state government reconsider the proposed amendments and make a decision only after extensive consultation with universities, teachers, employees, education experts, student representatives, and other stakeholders. They warned that if the decision is not withdrawn, a movement would be launched in a democratic and constitutional manner. Present on the occasion were Federation Patron Anil Singh, Zonal Secretary Dhananjay Singh, Satendra Kumar, Chinmay Prakash Jha, Anil Kumar Singh, Rajkamal, Shekhar, Avinash, Ramesh Rai, Manish Srivastava, Jaiveer, Sanjay Singh, Akshay Pyare, Radha Raman Singh, Vikas Kumar, Akhilesh Pandey, Brajesh Kumar, and Sulochan Kumar, among others.