Bengaluru, DHNS: Centre's scheme to help learners cope with depression, pressure. In an effort to check the rising suicides in colleges and universities, the Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched an initiative called Peer-Assisted Learning, or PAL, Union Minister of State for HRD, Mahendra Nath Pandey, said here on Saturday.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the ‘Global Summit on Quality Higher Education’ organised by the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC).

A large number of suicides have been reported from across the country in the recent past.

On Saturday, a first-year MFA student committed suicide at the University of Hyderabad, exactly nine months after the suicide of Dalit student Rohith Vemula in the same university.

Pandey said, “There is a lot of competition among students these days that leads to depression. Parents also mount pressure. One of the measures under this scheme is to promote interaction between students. There are students who are good in academics and those who are not. The former will assist the latter under PAL. We have conveyed to all universities and other institutions to implement the scheme.”

Change in NAAC review

Meanwhile, the peer review teams of the NAAC that inspect colleges and universities will have to wrap up their assessments in fewer days and with fewer members.

The agency is also bringing in other measures to increase the credibility and quality of its assessments.

D P Singh, director, NAAC, told reporters that the peer team that visited colleges would have to complete their assessments within two days. Earlier, the team was given three days. With regard to universities, the number of days for the inspection will be three days instead of five. The size of the peer teams has also decreased. It will be three for colleges and 5-10 for universities.

“The usual practice is for peer teams to have experts from each faculty. This would not be required under the new scheme,” he said. The measure is aimed at accrediting more institutions in a short span of time.

Besides, the logistical responsibilities for peer teams will be given to a third party rather than leaving them to the institutions being assessed. The measure is aimed at increasing transparency during the assessments. Additionally, efforts are being made to try and bring in more experienced assessors from top institutions such as the IITs and IIMs to increase the quality of assessments, Singh said.

MoUs

The NAAC has signed MoUs with the Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan and the Tertiary Education Commission, Mauritius, to strengthen ties and facilitate accreditation and assessment functions between the institutions.

Delegates from various countries attended the global summit.