UGC issues guidelines to introduce community engagement course in HEIs

CHENNAI: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued fresh guidelines for fostering social responsibility and community engagement in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) by introducing a course in all the institutions.

The guidelines have been developed by the expert group through a series of consultations and have been revised to include key recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and responses by students, faculty and staff of HEIs have been incorporated in this revision.

Accordingly, it was recommended that each HEI conduct a course to provide community engagement to all undergraduate and postgraduate students so that their appreciation of rural field realities is holistic, respectful, and inspiring.

Such a course will enable students to learn about challenges faced by vulnerable households and develop an understanding of local wisdom and lifestyle in a respectful manner.

The main objective of the course includes developing an appreciation of rural culture, lifestyle and wisdom amongst students, learning about the status of various agricultural and development programmes, understanding the causes of distress and poverty faced by vulnerable households and exploring solutions to apply classroom knowledge of courses to field realities and thereby improve the quality of learning.

On the outcome of the learning, the UGC said after completing this course, students will be able to gain an understanding of rural life, Indian culture and ethos and social realities and develop a sense of empathy and bonds of mutuality with the local community.

The outcome will also appreciate the significant contributions of local communities to Indian society and economy and learn to value the local knowledge and wisdom of the community besides identifying opportunities for contributing to the community’s socio-economic improvements. The course will also have fieldwork such as interaction with self help groups and study their functions and challenges; planning for their skill-building and livelihood activities and visiting Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act project sites, interaction with beneficiaries and interview functionaries at the work site.

In addition, there will also be several field visits to Swachh Bharat project sites and conduct Mission Antyodaya surveys The course will have two credits, 30 hours, at least 50 per cent in the field.

It was recommended that each HEI conduct a course to provide community engagement to all UG and PG students