The four-member committee at University Grants Commission (UGC) headed by professor P Balaram, former director, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, recently submitted a report to the commission recommending that varsities should send teachers on sabbatical leave for pursuing research. The report suggested that it would help in “promoting and improving the quality of research in Indian universities and colleges”.

The UGC report submitted by the panel further suggested that universities and colleges should develop action plans to send mid-career teachers on sabbatical leave for pursuing research and writing. “The UGC should encourage and support state universities and affiliated colleges to put in place a rigorous but generous program that would offer sabbatical leave to mid-career teachers for pursuing research and writing books and monographs which consolidated accumulated original research knowledge,” the report read.

The rule should be made mandatory for both private and public institutes, said the report. It also suggested the need for mid-career national level sabbatical awards on a competitive basis for a year. It may be introduced to enable 50-100 faculty members to pursue research, which may provide an opportunity for faculty to build collaborative contacts with major national and international institutions.

Developing classroom pedagogics, curriculum and system of assessment, promoting academic integrity, remedial teaching, encouraging vernacular languages, use of technology and media platforms and policy internships, are among the other recommendations made by the committee.

Source: India Today