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Skill Based Education

The Government has taken several steps to strengthen the knowledge and skills of the graduates,
requisite for the current job market and to make them employable.

1. Learning Outcomes-based Curriculum Framework (LOCF)

• In August 2019, the UGC directed all the central institutions, to form a subject-specific
committee to implement the Learning Outcomes-based Curriculum Framework (LOCF). The
fundamental premise of LOCF is to specify what the students completing the
programme are expected to know, understand and be able to do by the end of the
programme.

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• The LOCF helps the students become active learners and make the teachers become effective
facilitators laying the foundation of lifelong learning.

• The idea behind the framework is to decide the desired outcome within the framework of the
presently followed Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) for the undergraduate and
postgraduate programmes and then design the syllabus in order to obtain the desired outcome.
These outcomes will be determined based on the skills, knowledge, understanding,
employability, graduate attributes, attitudes, and valued which are gained by the students after
completing the programme.

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2.Choice Based Credit System (CBCS)

• The CBCS is another important measure taken by UGC to enhance academic standards and
quality in higher education through innovation and improvements in curriculum,
teaching-learning process, examination and evaluation systems.
• CBCS provides a “cafeteria” type approach in which the students can take courses of their
choice, learn at their own pace, undergo additional courses, acquire credits and adopt an
interdisciplinary approach to learning.

Some of features of CBCS are:

✓ Shift in focus from the teacher centric to student-centric education.

✓ Student may undertake as many credits as they can cope with (without repeating all
courses in a given semester if they fail in one/more courses).

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✓ CBCS allows students to choose inter-disciplinary, intra-disciplinary courses, skill

oriented papers (even from other disciplines according to their learning needs, interests
and aptitude) and more flexibility for students.
✓ CBCS makes education broad-based and at par with global standards. One can take
credits by combining unique combinations.
For example, Physics with Economics, Microbiology with Chemistry or Environment Science
etc.
✓ CBCS offers flexibility for students to study at different times and at different institutions to
complete one course (ease mobility of students). Credits earned at one institution can be
transferred to another institution.

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3.National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF)

✓ The National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) is a competency-based framework
that organizes all qualifications according to a series of levels of knowledge, skills and
aptitude. These levels, graded from one to ten, are defined in terms of learning
outcomes which the learner must possess regardless of whether they are obtained through
formal, non-formal or informal learning. NSQF in India was notified on 27th December 2013.
All other frameworks, including the NVEQF (National Vocational Educational Qualification
Framework) released by the Ministry of HRD, stand superceded by the NSQF.
✓ Under NSQF, the learner can acquire the certification for competency needed at any level
through formal, non-formal or informal learning. In that sense, the NSQF is a quality assurance
framework. Presently, more than 100 countries have, or are in the process of developing
national qualification frameworks.

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✓ The NSQF is anchored at the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) and is
being implemented through the National Skills Qualifications Committee (NSQC) which
comprises of all key stakeholders. The NSQC's functions amongst others include approving
NOSs/QPs, approving accreditation norms, prescribing guidelines to address the needs of
disadvantages sections, reviewing inter-agency disputes and alignment of NSQF with
international qualification frameworks.

✓ The UGC is also providing Skill based education under National Skill Qualification
Framework in Colleges and Universities through its scheme of Community Colleges, B. Voc.
Degree Programmes and Deen Dayal Upadhyay Centres for Knowledge Acquisition and
Upgradation of Skilled Human Abilities and Livelihood (DDU KAUSHAL Kendras).

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4. Jeevan Kaushal
• In Sep 2019, the Government launched the Curriculum for Life Skills (Jeevan Kaushal).
The UGC constituted Expert Committee prepared a Curriculum for Life Skills (Jeevan Kaushal)
for Under Graduate Programme.
• The curriculum is designed to impart and strengthen the knowledge, skills and dispositions
believed to be the best requisites of the current Industry and thereby empower the talent inherent
in each learner.
• Life Skills like communication skill, interpersonal skill, time management, problem solving ability,
decision making capacity, leadership ability and integrity play a crucial role in boosting the
employability of the students.

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5.Focus on New Technologies

• Further, a committee was formed in Oct 2018, under the Chairmanship of Shri B.V.R. Mohan
Reddy, for preparing short term and long term perspective plan for the All India Council
for Technical Education (AICTE).
• Main recommendations of the committee include:
(i) courses on emerging technologies namely, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT),
Block chain, Robotics, Quantum Computing, Data Sciences, Cyber Security, 3D Printing & Design
& Augmented Reality (AR)/ Virtual Reality (V R).
(ii) greater focus on multi-disciplining courses by reducing the seats in conventional disciplines and
converting the existing seats into these courses.
Accordingly, AICTE has decided that no new conventional discipline will be allowed from the
academic year 2020-21 and National Institute of Technical Teachers Training & Research (NITTTR)
Chandigarh has been given responsibility to prepare curriculum of the emerging technologies.

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Schemes by Government

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1.National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT)

• From November 2019, the Ministry of HRD, will launch a new Public Private Partnership
(PPP) Scheme, named National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT).
• The objective is to use technology for better learning outcomes in Higher Education.
• The AICTE would be the Implementing agency for NEAT programme.
• The objective is to use Artificial Intelligence to make learning more personalised and
customised as per the requirements of the learner. This requires development of technologies
in Adaptive Learning to address the diversity of learners. The Government would act as a
facilitator to ensure that the solutions are freely available to a large number of economically
backward students.
• The Government would create and maintain a National NEAT platform that would provide one-
stop access to these technological solutions. EdTech companies would be responsible for
developing solutions and manage registration of learners through the NEAT portal. They would
be free to charge fees as per their policy. As their contribution towards the National cause, they
would have to offer free coupons to the extent of 25% of the total registrations for their solution
through NEAT portal. MHRD would distribute the free coupons for learning to the most
socially/economically backward students.
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2. Paramarsh
• The Union Minister for Human Resource Development launched the University Grants Commission
(UGC) scheme ‘Paramarsh’.
Objective: To mentor National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) accreditation
aspirant institutions for promoting quality assurance in higher education.
Implementation:
• The scheme will be operationalized through a “Hub & Spoke” model wherein the Mentor Institution,
called the “Hub” is centralized and will have the responsibility of guiding the Mentee institution through
the secondary branches the “Spoke” i.e. through the services provided to the mentee for self
improvement.
• This will allow a centralized control over operational efficiency, resource utilization to attain overall
development of the mentee institution.
Target: The scheme will target 1000 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) for mentoring with a specific
focus on quality as enumerated in the UGC “Quality Mandate”.

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Expected Benefits:
• It will lead to enhancement of overall quality of the mentee institutions and enhance its profile
as a result of improved quality of research, teaching and learning methodologies.
• It will help the mentee institution in getting NAAC accreditation.
• It will also facilitate the sharing of knowledge, information and opportunities for research
collaboration and faculty development in Mentee Institutions.
• It will help in providing quality education to the 3.6 crore students who are enrolling to Indian
Higher Education system at present.

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3.'Scheme for Trans-disciplinary Research for India's Developing Economy' (STRIDE)

• The University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved a new initiative, Scheme for Trans-
Disciplinary Research for India’s Developing Economy (STRIDE), to support socially relevant, local
need-based, nationally important and globally significant research projects.
• The UGC has set up an advisory committee under its Vice Chairman Bhushan Patwardhan, to oversee
the entire scheme.
Components of the Scheme
Component 1: The Scheme will provide for research capacity building in diverse disciplines by mentoring,
nurturing and supporting young talents to innovate pragmatic solutions for local, regional, national and
global problems. Grant available is upto Rs. 1 crore.
Component 2: It will mainly focus on enhancing problem solving skills with the help of social innovation
and action research to improve wellbeing of people and contribute for India’s developing economy. Grant
upto Rs. 50 lakh to 1 crore is available for projects under this component.
Component-3 will fund high impact research projects in the identified thrust areas in humanities and
human sciences through national network of eminent scientists from leading institutions. Grant available
under this component is upto Rs. 1 crore for one Higher Educational Institution and upto Rs. 5
crores for a multi institutional network.
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Expected Benefits from the Scheme

• It will help strengthen transdisciplinary research culture in colleges and universities.
• Trans-disciplinary research is a team effort of investigators from different disciplines to create new
conceptual, theoretical, methodological innovations that integrates and transcends beyond discipline-
specific approaches to address a common problem.
• It goes beyond mere production of knowledge and extends to the practical use of the knowledge
outside academic endeavour.
• It will provide opportunity to build multi sectoral linkages between university-government-community-
industry for national development and wellbeing of people.
• It will give major impetus to high impact research in Humanities and Human Sciences.

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4. Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA).

• RUSA is the centrally sponsored scheme launched in October 2013 that aims at providing strategic
funding to higher education institutions throughout the country.
• The scheme is being operated in mission mode for funding state universities and colleges to
achieve the aims of equity, access and excellence.
• Funding is provided by the central ministry through the State governments and Union Territories (UTs),
which in coordination with the Central Project Appraisal Board monitors the academic, administrative and
financial advancements taken under the scheme.
• Since 2016-17, the government has spent an average of Rs 1,500 crore every year on RUSA.

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Objectives
• Improve the overall quality of state institutions by conforming to the prescribed norms and standards.
• Adoption of accreditation (certification of competency) as a mandatory quality assurance framework.
• Promoting autonomy in state universities and improving governance in institutions.
• Ensure reforms in the affiliation, academic and examination system.
• Ensure adequate availability of quality faculty in all higher educational institutions and ensure capacity
building at all levels of employment.
• Create an enabling atmosphere for research in the higher education system.
• Correct regional imbalances in access to higher education by setting up institutions in unserved and
underserved areas.
• Improve equity in higher education by providing adequate opportunities to the disadvantaged.

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Funding:
• The central funding (in the ratio of 60:40 for general category States, 90:10 for special category
states and 100% for union territories) would be norm based and outcome dependent.

• The funding would flow from the central ministry through the state governments/union territories to the
State Higher Education Councils before reaching the identified institutions.

• The funding to states would be made on the basis of critical appraisal of State Higher Education Plans,
which would describe each state’s strategy to address issues of equity, access and excellence in higher
education.

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5. Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY)

• UAY promotes industry sponsored, outcome-oriented research projects. The objectives of UAY
scheme are
✓ promote innovation in areas that are directly of relevance to the manufacturing and design
industry.
✓ To spur innovative mindset in the students and faculty in premier technological institutes.
✓ To bring a coordinated action between academia and the industry
✓ To strengthen the laboratories and research facilities in the premier technological institutions.
✓ To have outcome-based research funding
• Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY) was announced with a view to promote innovation of a higher
order that directly impacts the needs of the Industry and thereby improves the competitive edge
of Indian manufacturing.
• The scheme focuses on a viable industry-academic collaboration where industry shares a part of the
cost of research.

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Other Initiatives/Schemes to Promote Research and Technology Ecosystem

• Setting up of Research Parks: The Government has approved setting up of Research Parks at IIT
Kharagpur, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Gandhinagar and IISc
Bengaluru.
• Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship: The scheme offers direct admission to meritorious students
in the Ph. D programmes in IITs, IISERs and IISc.
• Smart India Hackathons: It is a nationwide initiative to provide students a platform to solve some of
the pressing problems of daily lives.
• SETU (Self Employment and Talent Utilization): It is a techno- financial, incubation and facilitation
program to support all aspects of start-up particularly in technology driven areas.
• Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC) is established in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) for
promoting innovation ecosystem within their campus.

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• Trainee Teacher Scheme: It had been initiated in National Institute of Technologies (NITs) with the
objective to attract, motivate and sponsor best graduate engineers for part time M.Tech and Ph.D.
programmes.
• VAJRA (Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty): This enables NRIs and overseas scientific
community to participate and contribute to research and development in India through monetary
support by the government.
• Prime Minister’s Science, Technology & Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC): It is an
overarching body which assesses the status of specific S&T domains, comprehends challenges,
formulates immediate, mid and long term interventions and presents a roadmap to the Prime Minister.

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UGC Schemes
Earlier, the UGC has introduced following Schemes, with an objective of improving quality of
teaching and research in the Institutions of higher education:

• University with Potential for Excellence (UPE)

• Colleges with Potential for Excellence (CPE)
• Centre with Potential for Excellence in Particular Area (CPEPA)

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In March 2018, two schemes of the UGC i.e. 'Universities with Potential for Excellence' (UPE) and
Colleges with Potential for Excellence' (CPE) subsumed as the components of 'Enhancing Quality

and Excellence in select State Universities' and 'Enhancing Quality and Excellence in
Autonomous Colleges'. These targeted interventions in well performing State Public Universities and
Autonomous Colleges are meant to bring about significant quality enhancement and improvement in
teaching and research.

1.Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship

• The Government approved the Scheme Prime Ministers Research Fellowship (PMRF) at a total
cost of Rs.1650 crore for a period of 7 years beginning 2018-19.
• Under this Scheme, the best students who have completed (in last 5 years) or are in the final year of B.
Tech or Integrated M.Tech or MSc in Science and Technology streams from

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IISc/IITs/NITs/IISERs/IIITs, with atleast 8.0 CGPA, will be offered direct admission in Ph. D
programme in the HTS / llSc, after going through the selection process.
• Such students will be offered a fellowship of Rs 70,000/- per month for the first two years, Rs
75,000/- per month for the 3rd year, and Rs 80,000/- per month in the 4th and 5th years.
• Apart from this, a research grant of Rs 2.00 lakh Will be provided to each of the Fellows for a
period of 5 years to cover their foreign travel expenses for presenting research papers.
• A maximum of 3000 Fellows would be selected in a three year period. Government provides necessary
budgetary support to all Institutions including lITs and IISc, inter-alia for up-gradation of research.

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2.Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0

• The UBA aims that the knowledge base and resources of the Premier Institutions of the country are to
be leveraged to bring in transformational change in RURAL developmental process.
• Under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0, the institutions have been selected on a Challenge Mode and the
scheme has been extended to 750 reputed Higher Educational Institutes (both public and private) of
the countIy. Also, scope for providing Subject Expert Groups and Regional Coordinating Institutes to
handhold and guide the participating institutions, has been strengthened.
• lIT Delhi has been designated to function as the National Coordinating Institute for this
programme and the Ministry intends to extend the coverage to all the reputed Higher
Educational Institutes, in a phased manner. Each selected institute would adopt a cluster of villages /
panchayats and gradually expand the outreach over a period of time.

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Key Points
• Unnat Bharat Abhiyan is a flagship program of the Ministry for Human Resource Development
(MHRD).
• It aims to link the Higher Education Institutions with a set of at least (5) villages, so that these
institutions can contribute to the economic and social betterment of these village communities
using their knowledge base.
Main Objectives:
• To engage the faculty and students of Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in identifying development
issues in rural areas and finding sustainable solutions for the same.
• Identify & select existing innovative technologies, enable customization of technologies, or devise
implementation methods for innovative solutions, as required by the people.
• To allow HEIs to contribute to devising systems for smooth implementation of various Government
programmes.
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Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0

• It is the upgraded version of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 1.0. It was launched in 2018.
• The scheme is extended to all educational institutes; however under Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0
participating institutes are selected based on the fulfillment of certain criteria.

Performance So Far

• Currently under the scheme, 13072 villages have been adopted by 2474 Institutes.
• The technological interventions under the UBA cover different subjects broadly categorized like in the
area of sustainable agriculture; water resource management; artisans, industries and livelihood; basic
amenities (infrastructure & services) and rural energy system.
• This has transformed the living conditions in villages and has been beneficial for rural India.

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3.Impactful Policy Research in Social Science (IMPRESS)

• The Ministry for Human Resource Development has launched the web portal of the Scheme
“Impactful Policy Research in Social Sciences (IMPRESS)”.
• Under the Scheme, 1500 research projects will be awarded for 2 years to support the social science
research in the higher educational institutions and to enable research to guide policy making.
• IMPRESS scheme will be used to understand and solve problems facing the society. The
scheme will be implemented at a total cost of Rs 414 crore till March, 2021.
• Indian Council of Social Science and Research (ICSSR) will be the project implementing
agency.
Objectives of the Scheme
• To identify and fund research proposals in social sciences with maximum impact on the governance
and society.
To focus research on broad thematic areas such as :
▪ State and Democracy
▪ Urban transformation
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▪ Media, Culture and Society

▪ Employment, Skills and Rural transformation
▪ Governance, Innovation and Public Policy
▪ Growth, Macro-trade and Economic Policy
▪ Agriculture and Rural Development
▪ Health and Environment
▪ Science and Education
▪ Social Media and Technology
▪ Politics, Law and Economics.
• To ensure selection of projects through a transparent, competitive process on online mode.
• To provide opportunity for social science researchers in any institution in the country, including
all Universities (Central and State), private institutions.
• ICSSR funded/recognised research institutes will also be eligible to submit research proposals
on the given themes and sub-themes.

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4.Leadership for Academicians Program (LEAP) and Annual Refresher

Programme in Teaching (ARPIT) for higher education faculty.
▪ In Nov 2018, the Government launched two new initiatives; Leadership for Academicians
Programme (LEAP) and Annual Refresher Programme In Teaching (ARPIT). Both these
programs were launched under the Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on
Teachers & Teaching (PMMMNMTT).

(a)Leadership for Academicians Program (LEAP)

▪ It is a flagship leadership development training programme (2 weeks domestic and 1
week foreign training) for second level academic functionaries in public funded higher
education institutions.

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Objective
▪ The main objective is to prepare second tier academic heads that are potentially likely to
assume leadership roles in the future.
▪ The programme would provide senior faculty, with high academic credentials, the required
leadership and managerial skills including skills of problem-solving, handling stress, team
building work, conflict management, developing communication skills and understanding.
▪ The programme will provide training for coping with the complexity and challenges of
governance in higher education institutions, financial & general administration.
Implementation
▪ The implementation will be through 15 National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) top
ranked Indian institutions.
▪ The foreign universities identified for the training are also within the top 100 in the world global
rankings.

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National Institutional Ranking Framework

▪ This framework under Ministry of Human Resources outlines a methodology to rank institutions
across the country.
▪ It is uses broad parameters for ranking various universities and institutions of India.
▪ The parameters broadly cover “Teaching, Learning and Resources,” “Research and
Professional Practices,” “Graduation Outcomes,” “Outreach and Inclusivity,” and “Perception.”

(b) Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching (ARPIT)

▪ It is a major and unique initiative of online professional development of 15 lakh higher

education faculty using the Massive Open Online Courses platform SWAYAM. It is meant for all
in-service teachers and faculties in order to enhance their career prospects. The refresher course
will make them acquaint with new subjects and learning processes.
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About the refresher courses

▪ The courses cover a diverse range of topics such as Indian culture & Heritage Studies, Pedagogical
Innovations & Research Methodology, Latest Trends in Pedagogy and Assessment, Personal-
Emotional Development and Counselling, Neural Networks etc.
▪ It is a 40 hour module with 20 hours of video content and 20 hours of non-video content.
▪ They are offered in a highly flexible format and can be done at one’s own pace and time.
▪ All faculties who have successfully completed the online refresher course will be certified.

Implementation

▪ For implementing, 75 discipline-specific institutions have been identified and notified as

National Resource Centres (NRCs) in the first phase.
▪ These institutions are tasked to prepare online training material with focus on latest developments in
the discipline, new & emerging trends, pedagogical improvements and methodologies.

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5.“Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC)”.

▪ The Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched the web portal of the
Scheme “Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC)”.
▪ Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur is the National Coordinating Institute to
implement the SPARC programme.
The Objective of Scheme
▪ SPARC aims at improving the research ecosystem of India’s higher educational institutions by
facilitating academic and research collaborations between Indian institutions and the best
institutions in the world from 28 selected nations to jointly solve problems of national and
international relevance in the first phase.
▪ Under this Scheme, 600 joint research proposals will be awarded for 2 years to facilitate
research collaboration between Indian research groups with the best in class faculty and
renowned research groups in the leading universities of the world, in areas that are at the
cutting edge of science or with direct social relevance to the mankind, specifically India.

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Thrust Areas
▪ A set of 5 Thrust Areas which are Fundamental Research, Emergent Areas of Impact,
Convergence, Action-Oriented Research, and Innovation-Driven and sub-theme areas in each
thrust area has been identified.
▪ A set of Nodal Institutions (NI), from India, for each participating foreign country has been
identified.
▪ The role of an NI is to help and coordinate with willing Participating Indian Institutions to forge
an alliance with the Institutions of the concerned participating foreign country.
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
▪ The IPR developed out of the project will be decided as per norms of the participating
Institutes. The Indian Institute will get the benefits out of Patents / Royalty, rather than the
foreign institute or the individual faculty.
▪ All disputes will have Indian jurisdiction. Any special deviation will be resolved by MHRD
through the SPARC Liaison cell and approved by the Apex Committee.

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Expected Outcomes of SPARC

▪ Providing the best international expertise in solving major national problems.
▪ Help Indian academicians and researchers unravel deep and open research problems with the help of
the best collaborators abroad.
▪ Enable long-term stay for international faculty, this simultaneously helps in academic interactions,
research collaborations, niche course development.
▪ Enable a large number of Indian students to be trained in high-end experimental facilities available in
the best laboratories in the world.
▪ Produce a large volume of educational and research content in terms of high-quality journal
publications, textbooks, research monographs, patents, demonstrable technologies, products that are
jointly authored by Indian and Foreign collaborators.
▪ Develop strong Bilateral relationships in academics and research with top countries in the world.
▪ Improve International Rankings of Indian Institutions through a combination of internationalization,
research outcomes and academic interactions.
▪ Create a major International Impact for Catapulting Indian Academics and Research and help make it
competitive with the best worldwide.

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6.Impacting Research, Innovation and

Technology

▪ IMPRINT is the first of its kind MHRD supported Pan-IIT

+ IISc joint initiative to address the major science and
engineering challenges that India must address and
champion to enable, empower and embolden the nation
for inclusive growth and self-reliance. This novel initiative
with twofold mandate is aimed at:
(a) Developing new engineering
education policy
(b) Creating a road map to pursue
engineering challenges
IMPRINT provides the overarching vision that guides
research into areas that are predominantly socially relevant.

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7.The Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP)

▪ The TEQIP commenced in 2003 with World Bank assistance as a long term programme to be
implemented in three phases. The first phase of TEQIP commenced in 2003. TEQIP-H commenced in
August 2010, and ended in October, 2016. TEQIP-IH has started in 2016.
▪ The Project will focus on:
▪ Better academic standards, through accreditation, filling up faculty positions, training
faculty in better teaching methods, improved research outputs in institution in Focus
States/UTs.
▪ Better administration of the institutions with improved financial/academic autonomy.
▪ Better systems for assessment of Student Learning, higher transition rates

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8.Global Research Interactive Network (GRIN)

▪ Under the GRIN, Indian students will be provided scholarships and opportunity to work with reputed
foreign laboratories and would have liberty to come back to India and continue with their research. It
attempts to address
▪ India’s brain drain issue, and convert it into brain gain, while simultaneously focusing on improving
the quality of education in India and developing an innovation culture.
9.SANKALP (Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion)
Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) project aims to
implement the mandate of the National Skill Development Mission (NSDM), which was launched on 15th
July by Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, through its core sub-missions. The project will be
implemented in mission mode through World Bank support and is aligned with the overall objectives of the
NSDM.

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10. Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA)

Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan will target students in the age group of 6 - 18 years and in turn the execution of
RAA will span across MHRD s schematic interventions of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik
Shiksha Abhiyan in the Department of School Education & Literacy and programmes and schemes of
Department of Higher Education to encourage Science, Mathematics & Technology. It will enable children
to become motivated and engaged in Science, Mathematics and Technology (SMT) through observation,
experimentation, inference drawing, model building, rational reasoning, testability etc.

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11. UDAAN

▪ Udaan is a Special Industry Initiative for Jammu & Kashmir in the nature of partnership between the
corporates of India and Ministry of Home Affairs and implemented by National Skill Development
Corporation.
▪ The programme aims to provide skills training and enhance the employability of unemployed youth of
J&K. The Scheme covers graduates, post graduates and three year engineering diploma holders.

It has two objectives:

▪ To provide an exposure to the unemployed graduates to the best of Corporate India;

▪ To provide Corporate India, an exposure to the rich talent pool available in the State.

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11. PRAGATI
▪ Providing Assistance for Girls’ Advancement in Technical Education Initiative
The AICTE scheme envisages selection of one girl per family where family income is less than 6 lakhs /
annum on merit at the qualifying examination to pursue technical education.

▪ The scheme is to be implemented by the authorized admission centre of respective State

Governments. 4000 girls are expected to benefit of scholarships available per annum. The scholarship
amount is Rs. 30,000 or tuition fees or actual whichever is less and Rs. 2000/ month for ten months as
contingency allowance.

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12. Persons with Special Needs “SAKSHAM”

▪ Scholarship for Differently-abled children AICTE has decided to award 1000 scholarships per annum to
differently abled students to pursue technical education based on merit in the qualifying examination to
pursue technical education.
▪ The scholarship amount would be Rs. 30000 or tuition fees or actual whichever is less and Rs. 2000 /
month for ten months as contingency allowance.

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