Launch of Portal to Enable Transformative Change.
NEW DELHI: The University Grants Commission (UGC) is pleased to announce the launch of a portal to monitor and support the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, and its strategic initiatives across Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in India. The portal is expected to be launched soon and will provide a much-needed platform to facilitate the effective implementation of the NEP and its initiatives.
In an interview with this newspaper, Professor M Jagadesh Kumar, the Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), stated that the UTSAH portal (Undertaking Transformative Strategies and Actions in Higher Education) will provide comprehensive information about the UGC’s efforts to promote quality reforms in higher education.
Professor Kumar has stated that the portal is anticipated to be released by the end of February. He further mentioned that there is an ever-growing demand for accurate and reliable information regarding higher education from policymakers, students, and researchers around the world. Such information is fundamental to the efficient and informed formulation of policies for social and economic development.
“The data collected on the UTSAH Portal will be beneficial for policy-making within and outside the government,” he said. HEIs will benefit from a user-friendly portal designed to facilitate the submission of information regarding initiatives, achievements, and best practices. The portal is additionally equipped to track outputs and outcomes across essential fields, allowing for a more comprehensive overview, he said.
Following extensive consultations with various stakeholders, including institutions, universities, colleges, IITs, IIMs, and others, a portal has been developed. The primary purpose of this portal is to collect information from higher education institutions (HEIs) across ten distinct areas, each with its own set of key performance indicators and targeted activities.
The National Education Policy (NEP) seeks to promote multidisciplinary and holistic education, which can be facilitated through the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC), a facility that stores information on credits earned by students of Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). To ensure quality education, the University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman has identified a range of key performance indicators, including multiple entry and exit, multidisciplinary programs, credit framework, digital empowerment and online education, skill development and employability, research, innovation and entrepreneurship, capacity building of teachers, quality, ranking and accreditation, equitable and inclusive education, and promotion of Indian languages and Indian knowledge systems and internationalisation of education.
