Call for law to set up Academic City

Kovalam Declaration on making Kerala a hub of international education.

The State government should finalise the legislation on establishment of an Academic City and International Higher Academic Zones to give a boost to the internationalisation of education in the State, the Kovalam Declaration on making Kerala a hub of international education has urged.

The government should also initiate the work to identify locations for the City and for the Zones, it said.

The declaration was announced on Saturday at the culmination of the two-day Global Education Meet organised here. The State government should ensure that economically and socially weaker sections of the society have access to the new institutions, courses and opportunities created in the Academic City and in the Zones. The government should also establish procedures which would ensure gender equality in these institutions. The declaration requests the Government of Kerala to implement at the earliest the report of the Higher Education Council to set up private universities in the State.

It requests the Government of India to finalise the Higher Education Bill so that a long-term legislative framework for international cooperation is available for educational providers to make long-term financial commitments. The Union government should facilitate international student exchanges by increasing the number of fellowships available for cultural exchanges and rationalise legislation to make entry of students easier. Legislation regarding short-term employment of faculty members and researchers from other countries should be relaxed.

Along with ensuring massification of education with equity, the Centre should liberalise its visa regime to facilitate academic mobility. Academic travel should be liberalised and red-tapism in dealing with requests for such travels should be eliminated. The universities in Kerala should amend their rules and regulations to facilitate exchange of faculty members, students and researchers locally, nationally and internationally in a seamless manner. The varsities should take full advantage of technologically enhanced learning by promoting Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), ‘flipped classrooms’, and blended learning. Public and private sector companies should contribute to higher education, including research, as part of their corporate social responsibility. Good governance of educational institutions is required to ensure quality, efficiency and transparency, the declaration says.

Sources: The Hindu