West Bengal State Council of Higher Education (WBSCHE)

The West Bengal State Council of Higher Education (WBSCHE) was established on July 29, 1994 and started functioning from April 1995

o Promote cooperation and coordination with the Higher Education Department and Higher Education Institutions of the state o Coordinate with the academic administrators of the country o Framing policies and programs in maintaining quality of teaching, examination and research o Oversee the academic standard of higher education in the state o Channelize higher education in desirable direction on the basis of socio-economic need Statutory Mandate

The Council is engrossed in (1) Encouraging and promoting innovations in curricular development Involving in preparation of draft structure of new University Preparing draft copy of Private University Act and forwarding to the HE Department for finalisation of the proposal Undertaking initiatives with the Board of Secondary Education Council in motivating more students to pursue higher education and helping in increasing the overall GER in HE. Drafting proposal on Students’ Union Elections of the State

Affiliating new subjects in exiting degree colleges (both at UG and PG levels) Recommending establishment of new private B Ed., B P Ed and M Ed colleges Recommending names of Chancellor’s nominee Examining proposals for new private universities Participating in state-aided university networking (SUN) projects Framing strategies in acting as Nodal Centre as appointed by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) for WB, Bihar and North-East states for mandatory accreditation of HE institutions imparting professional courses The Council at present is engrossed in (2)

Proposed activities (1) To prepare strategic plans in formulating common academic schedule, common syllabi for UG and PG studies To implement Common Entrance Test for PG studies To create and maintain a comprehensive information database on higher education in West Bengal To endorse effective and efficient use of ICT by the HEIs (nodal centres with nodal officers) To go hand-in-hand with the HE department to implement RUSA proposal of the MHRD

Proposed activities (2) To suggest HE department in initiating State Incubation Centre for new recruits (both teaching and non-teaching staff) To suggest HE department for promoting Administrative Development Centre To advice HEIs in modification of examination system To advice on Inter-university faculty exchange program, both within and outside the state To suggest some expert Committees for monitoring quality assurance in HE To focus on e-governance

Strength Strong liaison with the HE department of the State A laudable vision for promoting higher education considering socio-economic scenario of the state on a sustainable basis A strong desire to achieve the objective

Weakness Dearth of human resources Inadequate infrastructure

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