MAHE: An Institute of Eminence

On 9th July 2018, the Central Government of India awarded six higher education institutions the title of ‘Institute of Eminence’. The Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) headed by former chief election commissioner N.Gopalaswami picked these institutions that, according to the panel, showed the potential to find a place among top 500 in global rankings.

The Human Resource Development Ministry announced the names of these universities, of which three belong to the private sector and the rest in the public sector.

MAHE (Manipal Academy of Higher Education) has been selected as one of the three Private universities that have been given this status, the other two being BITS Pilani and the upcoming Jio Institute of Reliance Foundation. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bombay, IIT-Delhi and IISc Bangalore are the three public universities selected under this title.WhatsApp Image 2018-07-09 at 5.57.27 PM.jpeg

What does this mean?

This title has been given to these institutes to recognise their efforts in various fields that contribute to providing premier education. The chosen institutes shall be supervised differently from other universities and will be given incentives to help them achieve ‘world-class’ status in a reasonable period. The primary purpose of this is to assist the institutions to reach world-class teaching standards and to promote the exponential growth of research.

“The #InstituteofEminence are important for the country. We have 800 univ, but not a single university in top 100 or even 200 in the world ranking. Today’s decision will help achieve this. Improving ranking needs sustained planning, complete freedom & public institutes getting public funding.”

Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar tweeted. 

Click here to read the entire thread.

How does this help MAHE?

AUTONOMY

Manipal Academy of Higher Education(MAHE)  will be provided with full academic and administrative freedom. As of now, the other private and public institutions have to seek approval from the UGC (University Grants Commission) of India before making changes in the curriculum or start a new course, MAHE, now recognised as an institute of eminence by the government will have the freedom to do so on its own hence gaining flexibility in altering the curriculum.

FUNDING
While the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry will fund the three public institutions in the next five years under this scheme, MAHE belonging to the private sector will not be eligible for government funding although will be able to access the public funds for research purposes.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
MAHE will be eligible to hire foreign faculty, provide admission to international students and collaborate with universities abroad without having to consult the government. The fee structure can also be modulated for the international students without any restriction.

WORLD RANKING
The tag is given with the sole purpose of helping the institute reach the standards of a ‘world-class’ institute and to enter into academic collaboration with the top 500 in the world ranking without the permission of the UGC.

MAHE has over 28,000 students from 57 different nations along with 2500 faculty and almost 10000 other support and service staff. Consisting of sister campuses in Jaipur and Sikkim and off-campuses in Dubai, Malaysia, Mangalore and Bangalore, the institute offers various courses that cater to a wide variety of students. As of now, it is not clear as to how the distribution of funds, recruitment of international faculty and the admission of international students will take place considering its vast global presence.

A hearty congratulations to MAHE for achieving this milestone! Celebrating over 63 years of excellence, and many more years of eminence.

As Manipalites, we are proud to study in such an esteemed institute and will work towards reaching greater heights.

-Written by Janice Coutinho 

-Photography by Arun Raj 

-Featured Image by Jyotinder Singh

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