HYDERABAD: Soon, the city’s premier universities —
Osmania University (
OU), University of Hyderabad (UoH), and English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) — might have, on-board, foreign faculty from institutes across the world. This, courtesy the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) latest decision to grant full autonomy to these three varsities.
Elated with the decision, university officials said that this status would not only add more weight to their brand but also help in attracting good teaching talent. Incidentally, EFLU and UoH are the only central universities from south India that have full autonomy.
“Now, the varsity will get a chance to hire native speakers for all of its foreign language courses. We will start this process very soon and also inaugurate an
University Finishing School to provide skill-based training to students. The university is also planning to start online course through its open education resource programme,” said Suresh Kumar E, vice-chancellor, EFLU.
At OU too, which is in its centenary year, authorities are gearing up to roll out a series of initiatives. “The autonomy status will give flexibility to the university in this globally competitive world. Authorities are in discussion with departments, centres and faculty on how best the autonomy can be implemented,” said
Gopal Reddy Ch, registrar, OU.
Reacting to the honour, UoH vice-chancellor, Appa Rao Podile said that the new recognition will serve as an incentive to work harder to achieve global benchmarks of excellence in education. “I am acutely aware that this greater autonomy comes with the weight of responsibilities and expectations...No doubt there’ll be challenges ahead, including mobilising resources, offering competitive programmes and attracting academic talent, while not losing sight of the public university’s social responsibilities and commitment to social justice and equity,” he said.
(Representative image)
