Kerala will be made a higher education hub through reforms, says chief minister

KOCHI:   The government aims to make Kerala a hub for higher education through comprehensive reforms, including infrastructure development, changes in curriculum and teaching system, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Saturday.

The chief minister was speaking at a function to announce city-based Rajagiri Business School’s accreditation by the American professional organisation, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

Pinarayi said that there is an organic link between education and industry. The government is making efforts to implement the report of the three commissions appointed in connection with higher education reforms. Better financial support, quality and human value will be provided for the sector, he said.

The CM said that academic freedom of universities will be ensured along with utilising advancements in the field of information technology. “Projects including K-Fon (Kerala Fibre Optic Network) are for this purpose. 

The government has already implemented several development projects in the field of higher education and `117 crore has been allocated for providing scholarships to 1,89,971 students,” he said
The latest NAAC grading shows that interventions by the state government had yielded results.

The University of Kerala is now among six universities in the country to achieve an ‘A’ grade. Four state institutions have been named among the top 100 universities in the country under the National Institutional Ranking Framework. 

These gains can be extended with further support of Rajagiri Group of Institutions, Pinarayi added.
Fr Benny Nalkara CMI, the provincial of Sacred Heart province, Kochi, presided over the function and honoured the Chief Minister with a memento. Rajagiri Group of Institutions director Fr Dr Jose Kuriyedath; Rajagiri Business School director Dr Sunil Puliyakot; Rajagiri College of Social Science principal Dr Binoy Joseph and others participated. 

Rajagiri Business School is recognised for its outstanding contributions in the areas of teaching, research and curriculum development. A total of 20 colleges in India have received the AACSB recognition and Rajagiri is the only educational institution from Kerala to have achieved it.