Universities set to share resources

CHENNAI: In an effort to facilitate sharing of infrastructure and faculty resources, leading universities across the state will soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding. When it materialises, the MoU is expected to greatly increase the resources that students will have access to, beyond the realm of their respective university. A meeting regarding sharing of resources was convened a few months ago by the University of Madras, and attended by Vice Chancellors of several universities including the Anna University, Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University, Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. “The MoU is to assist the academic community by facilitating exchange of resources like faculty and infrastructure between the universities in order to benefit the students. Even among PhD students, if their thesis subject concerns two areas, a guide and co-guide can be had from different universities,” said Col G Thiruvasagam, VC of the University of Madras. The draft agreement regarding this arrangement will soon be placed by the respective universities with their concerned statutory bodies,” he explained.Speaking of under-utilisation of resources in several parts of the state, the VC explained that in many rural areas, demand for pure science courses was only in single-digit numbers. Yet, lakhs are spent on creating infrastructure in those colleges like equipment and on faculty, which are not used to the optimum. Lesser demand for pure science courses is also the result of lowering the eligibility for professional courses (by the AICTE), he reasoned. In order to make science courses lucrative, their employability has to be ensured, he explained.He was speaking at the launch of an internship camp for 150 school students across the state, organised by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. Those students who had scored over 90 per cent in their class X exams were chosen for this camp, and they would be part of lecture sessions by renowned persons in the sciences. This initiative, launched in 2008.