New Delhi, April 4: Twelve new central universities that India is launching will start by offering only research programmes — MPhil and PhD — unlike existing varsities that are controlled by the Centre.

The new universities will focus exclusively on research, at least initially, though they can later expand and offer undergraduate and postgraduate courses not involving research as well, top government officials have told The Telegraph.

The decision means the government’s rushed attempts to kick-start the new universities will not help ease the pressure on India’s stretched undergraduate and non-research postgraduate education system.

Most major central universities in India at present either offer courses ranging from undergraduate studies — offered through constituent colleges — to research.

Some, like Jawaharlal Nehru University and the University of Hyderabad offer postgraduate studies.

But the 12 new universities will initially offer only research programmes, human resource development (HRD) ministry sources said.

“We will leave it open to each university to decide what research programmes they want to start with. At least one university wants to start with only MPhil courses. That is fine,” a source said.

The 12 new universities are to come up in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Orissa, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Bihar.

At least three of the 12 are expected to start offering courses from the 2009 academic session itself, though more may begin.

Three state universities — in Chattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh — have also been upgraded to central status under the Central Universities Act, 2009, approved by Parliament, under which the new universities have been created.

The three upgraded universities already offer both undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

The strategy to focus only on research initially at the new universities is based on three major considerations, sources said.

One, it will allow the universities to initially “find their feet” without the pressure of a large number of students, officials argue.

Indian higher education already suffers from a massive shortage in faculty and officials admit hiring quality teachers for the new universities will prove a challenge.

The magnitude of that challenge will depend on the number of students that have to be catered to, and focusing only on research allows the universities to restrict entry to only a very select band of students.

Two, the new universities will start from temporary campuses while their final locations are determined, and infrastructure is created, and research programmes, especially in the humanities, are relatively easier to start from such campuses.

But it is the final consideration that ministry officials are most excited about — the prospect of using the research courses to build a cadre of potential future teachers who would be loyal to “their” university.

“We are hoping that the first few who study their MPhil or seek a doctoral degree at the new universities would be loyal to the institution where they studied, and are likely to be willing to teach there once they have completed their academics,” a senior official explained.

Not all of the new universities will be based near major cities or state capitals.

Officials argue that students who have obtained degrees from the varsities will be best equipped to continue as teachers in “fairly difficult” conditions.