Kerala to borrow Rs 2,000 crore from World Bank for higher education projects

Thiruvananthapuram: With the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) facing financial constraints, the Kerala government has decided to borrow Rs 2,000 crore from the World Bank to fund higher education development projects.

The decision was announced at a Vice-Chancellors' Conclave organised by the Kerala State Higher Education Council on Tuesday.

The World Bank has agreed to provide the loan. In this context, all vice chancellors have been asked to prepare project proposals worth Rs 100-150 crore each.

Inaugurating the conclave, Higher Education Minister Roji M John said the government would unify university laws as part of higher education reforms. A Bill to this effect will be introduced in the next Assembly session.

The minister also said Kerala should facilitate the establishment of private universities, deemed universities and foreign universities in the state. At present, university representatives on the search committee for appointing vice-chancellors are nominated by the senates. This power will be transferred to the syndicates, he said.

Roji M John also called for the completion of the necessary legal amendments to facilitate the appointment of permanent vice-chancellors at universities.

The conclave decided that universities would be sent a policy document aimed at improving the four-year undergraduate degree programme at the earliest.

The vice-chancellors also congratulated the government for taking strict action over the incident involving Vice-Chancellor Dr Ciza Thomas at Kalady University.