AHMEDABAD: Of the 11 educational institutes in the state that have applied for private university status, seven are likely to get the necessary permissions from the state, sources close to the development said.
“These six institutions have cleared the first rung of the procedure, having been inspected by the education department. Now, the reports submitted by the education department will have to be cleared by the cabinet first, and on approval will have to be cleared by the state assembly,” sources in the education department said.
“The education department had set up inspection committees comprising vice-chancellors of various universities, senior bureaucrats of the technical education department, college principals and other education experts. The inspection process has been under way for about the past six months,” the sources said. If these clearances come in time, these institutions will be able to admit students as private universities from this academic year, they added.
One of three applicants from Surat is the Vanita Vishram Sanstha, which has been imparting education to women for 113 years. They intend to set up a Mahila University. Another century-old institution from Surat, the Sarvajanik Education Society, has also applied for university status. The third applicant from Surat is the Vidyadeep Trust.
Other applicants are Babaria Institute, Vadodara; Shroff SR Rotary, Ankleshwar; Shivashish Trust, Surendranagar; Monarch Education Trust, Dehgam and Darshan Engineering College, Rajkot.
There are presently about 50 private universities in the state, and their number is set to grow. In 2008, the Gujarat Technological University was set up, and was supposed to be the apex institution for technical education. Over time, as private universities are permitted to offer technical education, the number of colleges under it is decreasing.