Uniform academic calendar for all Karnataka varsities on anvil

The Karnataka government plans to introduce uniform academic calendar for all 17 universities in the state vis-a-vis date of opening of institutions, examinations and results.

A committee of Vice-Chancellors has been constituted for making recommendations in this regard for introduction of such a measure from the coming academic year (2014-15), Higher Education Minister R V Deshpande told reporters here.

"This is to facilitate mobility of students across universities, better access to higher educational institutions across the state and to eliminate any waste of time," he said.

Another committee of Vice-Chancellors has been formed for making recommendations to the government on designing courses relevant to the industry, trade and business and to suit employment needs, said Deshpande, who also holds the Tourism portfolio.

He said biometric systems would be introduced in all universities and first-grade colleges for both teaching and non-teaching staff for monitoring attendance by December.

The minister said a higher education academy is proposed to be set up in Dharwad, on the lines of IAS and IPS academies.

Higher Education department officials said the government had revived the proposal to set up an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Raichur and discussions had been held in this regard with Union Human Resources Development Minister M M Pallam Raju.

PTI