HRD Ministry to identify institutions with world class potential

HRD MInister Smriti Irani. PTI[/caption]HRD minister Smriti Irani told reporters in New Delhi that the domestic rankings of the country's educational institutes, the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), will be released in April and would assist in selecting the institutes which can be competitive worldwide."I think in the next two three months, the process of identification would be over," Irani said.In his budget speech, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said the government plans to to ensure an enabling regulatory environment to encourage ten public and ten private institutions to emerge as world class.Institutions, which are involved in interdisciplinary studies or the highest levels of research, will be chosen, HRD ministry officials accompanying Irani said.They said the Union Budget 2016 has allocated the Department of School Education and Literacy Rs 43,554 crore which is an increase of Rs 1,334.50 crores, while funds for the Department of Higher Education have been increased by over ten percent.Pointed out that funds for initiatives like the national scheme for incentive to girl child for secondary education and scheme for madrassas had been reduced, HRD officials said if there is need supplementary funds can be provided.The demands had been prepared in consultation with states, they said.Irani also said 62 new Navodaya Vidyalayas have been announced in the Budget. HRD officials said of these, the largest number of 11 such schools would come up in Chhattisgarh.After setting up of these Navodaya Vidyalyas, all districts with rural areas would have at least one such school and their total number would reach 660, officials said.The officials also said a digital depository for certificates will be created. Prospective employers can, for a fee, view the certificates of those they want to employ. However, permission of the candidate would be must to aquire this information, officials said.PTI