Siliguri, May 23: North Bengal University (NBU) has taken the first step towards decentralising its educational system. It has decided to start postgraduate courses in Raiganj and Malda from the coming academic session.

Other district colleges are also being considered for introduction of such courses.

The decision was taken at a meeting held at the NBU vice-chancellor Pijush Kanti Saha’s office yesterday.

Students can now pursue postgraduation in Bengali or History from Malda College. At Raiganj College, Bengali is the only subject that is being offered.

Till now Darjeeling Government College was the only institution, apart from North Bengal University, that offered postgraduate courses in Botany, Zoology and Nepali.

Though the postgraduate degrees are awarded by NBU, the college conducts its own exams and has its own set of syllabi. NBU also plans to introduce two more subjects, English and Geography, at the post-graduate level in Darjeeling Government College in the coming academic session.

The decision will make things easier for students, who till now had to depend on NBU for pursuing higher studies.

While visiting the region earlier, state higher education minister Satyasadhan Chakraborty had stressed on the need for a “de-centralisation programme” which would make higher education “accessible” to a larger section of the society.

“A qualitative and quantitative improvement in higher education can be achieved through such kind of de-centralisation. At the same time, there will also be a let-up in the burden on NBU,” Saha said.

NBU, the only university here, caters to the six districts of north Bengal and Sikkim. Around 74 colleges are affiliated to NBU. The varsity is also mulling introduction of postgraduate courses in colleges like Jalpaiguri’s AC College, Balurghat College and Siliguri College.

“In order to start post-graduate courses, a college needs to have at least six full-time teachers, adequate classrooms, well-equipped libraries and laboratories. Our inspection team will conduct a survey. If the colleges have the necessary infrastructure, we will start the courses from the next session,” said the vice-chancellor. Saha is also scheduled to meet officials of the Sikkim government tomorrow to prepare a map for higher education in the state.