DBT-Star College Mentorship Programme
The Department of Bio Technology – Star College Mentorship Programme was launched to mark the 75th year of India’s independence.
About DBT – Star College Mentorship Programme
- The programme aims to promote scientific temper among the youngsters in the country.
- The program envisages star college in every district.
- It is a PAN (Present Across Nation) India scheme.
- The programme will help towards concept of handholding, networking and outreach in the field of research.
- The programme will organize workshops, hold meetings, conduct handholds in colleges in rural areas and also conduct outreach activities in government schools.
DBT-Star College helps Star College Scheme
It will help the new colleges to develop as per the mandate of the Star College Scheme. The Star College Scheme was started by DBT in 2008. It supports universities and colleges to improve science teaching. It aims to improve critical thinking among students and encourage their hands on experience at undergraduate level. Ultimately, the Star College Scheme was launched to increase the number of students taking up science subject. As of November 2021, around 278 colleges are supported by the scheme. The main objectives of Star College Scheme are as follows:
- Strengthens physical and academic infrastructure to achieve excellence in training and teaching
- To improve the quality of teaching and learning
- To stimulate original thinking
- To provide better access to library facilities
- To strengthen ties with foreign institutions.
- To devise standard curricula and Standard Operating Procedure kits for practical
- To increase student access to research laboratories
- To conduct specialized training programmes for faculties
What is the Star Component in the Programme?
There are two components in the DBT-Star College Mentorship Programme. They are strengthening component and star component. Under the strengthening component, support is provided for three years. After that a task force or committee evaluates the performance of the programme or the college where the programme is held. Based on its performance, “Star Status” is awarded. If the performance is not up to the satisfactory level, the strengthening support is extended for two more years.
Need for the programme
According to UNESCO, the enrolment of young people in science has been declining steadily. The Budapest Declaration, 1999 underlined the importance of science education for all. India is lagging in science-based researches. The country has only 140 researches per million population. On the other hand, a developed country like that of the US has 4,651 researchers per million population.
