Govt will have a say in MPhil, PhD progs TIMES NEWS NETWORK Mumbai: In a move that has been panned by academicians, the state has asked colleges wanting to offer MPhil and PhD to get a clearance from the government. This will be in addition to the university’s approval process. At present, colleges across Maharashtra are required to apply to the university they are affiliated to if they want to offer these programmes. The varsity, in turn, appoints a local inspection committee, which visits the institution to check whether the required facilities and faculty are available. The state government has no role in this process. As per the new rule, the state government will have a say in accepting or rejecting applications from colleges to offer MPhil and PhD. Principal secretary (higher and technical education) Joyce Shankaran said that with the University Grants Commission (UGC) permitting MPhil degree holders to enter the teaching profession without appearing for the National Eligibility Test (NET) or State Eligibility Test, several students have enrolled for MPhil and PhD. This has prompted the state to step in as it wants to monitor quality standards. Shankaran said the director’s (higher education) office will have to be kept in the loop on the approval process. The UGC recently made changes in the eligibility criteria for college/varsity lectureship following the recommendation of the Mungekar Committee, which was set up to review utility, effectiveness and continuity of the NET. Acting on the interim report of the committee, the UGC announced that MPhil and PhD candidates would be exempted from taking the NET. While MPhil candidates will be eligible for teaching at the undergraduate level, PhD fellows will be eligible for postgraduate teaching. However, academicians view this move as “government interference’’. The principal of a well-known college said the state was trying to make money as MPhil and PhD courses were becoming popular. “Now, we will have to grease the palms of clerks in Mantralaya to get approvals. When academicians and experts of a university conduct checks on our campus and faculty, why does the government want second-level checks?’’ asked a senior guide in the Pune university. Best regards Naikal __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.