New Institutes of Eminence announced by the UGC

Given, India’s high demographic dividend and a shrinking global workforce, India has a high potential to be the global human resource capital of the world. However, modern technology requires extensive training and quality instruction and for this, the Indian Government has committed to improving the quality of education in India.

What are the Institutions of Eminence?

• The Institutions of Eminence scheme has been launched by the Government of India to implement its vision of empowering the various institutions of higher learning in the country and help them become world-class teaching and research institutions.
• The scheme was by the Finance Minister in his 2016 budget speech.
• As per the current plans, at least 10 public and 10 private institutions will be identified and the government will provide them with help to make them emerge as leading global Teaching and Research Institutions.
• The scheme also aims to enhance affordable access to high-quality education for common Indians.

On what parameters are the IoEs shortlisted?

• 2 types of institutions were shortlisted by the government to be considered for IoE tag. These are- the institutes that are already ranked well in global rankings and the institutes that have a great potential for growth.
• The government used the criterion of the QS-2020 world rankings of the eligible institutes, with the QS-2019 India rankings and NIRF rankings to be used as a tie-breaker if necessary.
• All institutions not in the ranking were excluded completely from consideration.
• The decision-making committee has also given consideration to various greenfield institutes which have the potential to start afresh and make a great impact.

Benefits of IoE tag

• The Institutes which have been granted the IoE tag will have greater autonomy and freedom to decide fees, course durations and governance structures for them.
• This will allow them the flexibility and modularity to launch the new courses that the industry desires.
• The public institutions selected under this scheme will be given a grant of INR 1,000 crore.
• However, private institutions will not receive any funding from the government.