April 15, 2016
Higher Education: A brighter future for the State
The Trinamool Congress Government’s focus on the promotion of education has manifested in the holistic growth of the sector.
The following are some of the achievements under Higher Education:
More universities and colleges: The number of universities increased from 15 during 2007-2011 to 28 during 2011-2015. The State’s first Hindi-medium General degree college was started in Jalpaiguri in August 2014. Forty-six colleges have been set up in the State. The number of degree colleges increased from 485 during 2007-2011 to 530 during 2011-2015.
Santhali for SET: For the first time, Santhali was introduced as a subject in the State Eligibility Test, thereby opening up avenues for the recruitment of assistant professors in Santhali in different colleges of the State.
Reservation: The State Government enacted legislation to provide 17% reservation for OBC students without reducing the total number of seats available for the general category students. In 2014-15, the very first year of implementation, a total of 59,612 OBC students were admitted. The State has made an additional provision of Rs 1,000 crore to implement this.
New teaching posts: 1,545 teaching posts and 1,022 non-teaching posts were created in the State-aided universities, government colleges and government-aided colleges. Candidates were selected to fill up 126 vacant posts of principals and 2,883 posts of assistant professor in government-aided colleges.
Vivekananda Merit-cum-Means Scholarship Scheme: Under the Vivekananda Merit-cum-Means Scholarship Scheme, which provides financial assistance to meritorious students belonging to economically weaker sections of society, scholarships amounting to Rs 170 crore were granted to 1.78 lakh students.
The amount of Plan Expenditure out of State Budget has increased from Rs 374.27 crore during 2007-2011 to Rs 885.77 crore during 2011-2015. For 2016-17, Rs 456 crore has been allocated for the department.
