Patna, July 16: The government will implement the "University Management Information System" as part of higher education reforms to monitor everything related to students and faculty members.
"University Management Information System is an ambitious step for the overhaul of higher education. Once it is in place, we will have the 'student lifecycle' and 'faculty lifecycle' at our fingertips," education minister Ashok Choudhary said at a conference today. "All nine universities in the state will be connected online and we will be able to smoothen the process of admission, registration, examination, evaluation and degree distribution for students."
The system will be introduced as soon as possible, the minister added.
He was speaking at the International Growth Centre (IGC) - Bihar Growth Conference inaugurated by Governor Ram Nath Kovind. Asian Development Research Institute member-secretary Shaibal Gupta, who is also IGC's country co-director, was present on the occasion.
As part of the system, answer sheets will be scanned, digitised and sent for evaluation to any part of the country or the world, as practiced by CBSE and other institutions, thereby eliminating chances of corruption in the evaluation process.
"We are planning digital lockers for marksheets and certificates. Students will be able to access and download them with ease," Choudhary told The Telegraph on the sidelines of the conference. "They can be verified online from anywhere in the world. This will cut down on hassles faced by students in verification of their degrees while taking admission or during recruitment at other places. Once this is in place, it will shut down corrupt practices in their distribution."
The Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (Rusa), a Centre-sponsored scheme launched in 2013 to provide strategic funding to eligible higher education institutions in the states, has prepared the "request for proposal" for the new system.
Tenders will be floated in around a month and will be implemented with the help of Bihar State Electronics Development Corporation to bring all nine universities - Patna University, Magadh University, BN Mandal University, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University, LN Mithila University, Jai Prakash University, Veer Kunwar Singh University, Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University and Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University - under its fold.
The University Management Information System will make sure that the growth trajectory of each faculty member in the universities is available to the stakeholders and the students. It will encompass their educational qualifications, academic papers, seminars, research, and all other types of contributions. A component for human resources management will help resolve issues related to salary payment, promotion, retirement and pension of faculty members and other personnel of universities.
"I am pained to see professors running from pillar to post for several years to get their legitimate pension and retirement benefits. It's my dream to establish a system that pays every single penny to teachers on their day of retirement," the minister said.
Choudhary said Bihar has become the only state to use interactive voice response system to daily verify students' attendance and various aspects of the food delivery scheme in 50,000 schools.
"The Union HRD ministry has recommended other states to follow the Bihar model."
"Another major initiative is underway to recast the Bihar School Examination Board. We have undertaken 'Operation Clean' to revamp it. We will implement the procedures followed by CBSE to ensure fairness in the evaluation system and its officials have assured us of all help," Choudhary said. "We are also creating a 'child tracking system' to monitor every student's progress from Class I to Class XII. It will help us recognise our problem areas."
Governor Kovind said despite a historical legacy of under-development, Bihar has become the fastest growing state in the country, well endowed with human capital.
