In March, Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar was at an engineering college in Vijayawada. He said: “From a small village and my father, who earns 70 rupees a month, as a school teacher, I have experienced countless challenges from students facing rural backgrounds and weaker departments.” | Photo source: GN RAO / Hinduism
University Awarding Committee Chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar was sworn in from a top academic position on Monday, insisting that he pursued student-centered initiatives during his three years at the helm of the national higher education regulator. During his tumultuous innings at the UGC, soon after an equally unquiet tenure as the Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi, he brought in steps such as the introduction of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for undergraduate and postgraduate admissions and most recently, draft guidelines for the appointment of faculties and Vice Chancellors at universities recognized by the UGC.
The report of the Standing Committee on Parliamentary Education is an example of the JNU entrance examination, and it is recommended to review the quality of the question paper and the design of the Cuet exam to ensure that it meets the purposes envisaged in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Like JNU, he had to face protests from student organizations and opposition parties. However, he is open air.
Talk to it HinduProfessor Kumar said any initiative he had as UGC president was student-centered. “From a small village and my father, who earns 70 rupees a month, as a school teacher, I have experienced countless challenges facing students from rural backgrounds and disadvantaged groups. This experience has shaped my understanding and belief that reform must provide the most vulnerable efforts to the most vulnerable, not just education for a few, whether it is promoting equitable training, whether it is promoting equitable education, or whether it is promoting the development of enrollment. Employability, my efforts have been aimed at making the system more inclusive, empowering and meeting the real needs of students,” said Professor Kumar.
For him, the most fulfilling work was a key component of implementing the NEP. “It involves raising awareness among academics and institutional leaders and engaging them by having them provide feedback and advice.
He also has to face criticism when implementing the NEP, especially on funding the state government. The parliamentary panel noted that NEP compliance requires the expenses of several responsible persons, and that expenditures for such compliance are also borne by the states, even if the goal is set by the coalition government. He had to face criticism for the draft regulations for implementing the pre-order standards in higher education institutions. The UGC must withdraw the provisions in the draft regarding unfulfilled posts from general candidates after protest.
Encourage flexibility and connection with the industry
Asked about his most challenging task as UGC chair, Professor Kumar said: “One of the most challenging but meaningful tasks is the introduction of Cuet for Affenture and Lidge Grodadure admissions. CUET enhances equity and transparency in the admissions process. Cuet ensures training at MALARE, and he is talking about implementation of MALARE,” MALERARE added the implementation of MALROS or MALLE SMALLE SMALLE to implement the program, which is implemented in a way that the program is implemented. (MMTTP) Creating motivated, dynamic and competent teachers is also an inspiring experience.
Some of the guidelines issued by the UGC during its tenure include the transformation of higher education institutions into multidisciplinary institutions, the inculcation of human values and codes of work ethics, life skills in curriculum frameworks and credit systems, and guidelines on acceleration and deceleration degree programs to integrate skills-based education and Microdro/Nano guidelines.
UGC also proposed regulations requiring the appointment of inspectors of higher education institutions. “The regulations are an important step in safeguarding the interests of students. The Ombudsman is an impartial authority dedicated to addressing student dissatisfaction. These regulations make a significant contribution to creating a more supportive and responsive educational environment by providing students with reliable means to express their problems,” said Professor Kumar.
The introduction to the UGC Professor of Practice (POP) position is another pet reform by Professor Kumar. “For decades, Indian academic and industry have operated in parallel lanes. The PoP initiative brings them together. By allowing institutions to appoint accomplished professionals without conventional academic qualifications, the PoP framework opens the door for experts from diverse fields—technology, public policy, arts, healthcare, law, entrepreneurship—to enrich classrooms with real-world insight,” he said.
The introduction of the University Grants Committee (campus of foreign higher education institutions in India) was released in 2023 and has promoted the establishment of campuses of top foreign universities in India.
Professor Kumar has different views on the controversy of language. During my tenure, the Chief UGC actively encouraged the creation of academic content in a regional language, supported bilingual pedagogy, and began training steps for teachers. Bharatiyabharatiya bhasha pustak yojana announced in the Alliance Budget that this vision has been constructed by building quality textbooks in the Indian language, especially in technical translations, especially in technical, especially in technical. Inspiring authorship and integrating multilingual content into the mainstream – remains a complex and long-term task. ” he said.
publishing – April 10, 2025 at 11:41 am
