BHOPAL: The higher education department has to issue second order within a week citing loss of millions of dollars. All because of delay in the beginning and hurried activity at the last moment. The higher education department (HED) issued an order on Saturday to principals of listed colleges, warning them that if tracking of (ex) students is not completed by February 15 then the department will lose $ 9 million of the World Bank project. Earlier, HED had issued an order on 28 January warning the principals of 115 colleges that $ 13 million are at stake if NAAC accreditation is not completed by March 31.
Tracking of former students is an important Disbursement Linked Indicator (DLI) for the World Bank project for Higher Education Quality Improvement Project (HEQIP). According to norms of World Bank $ 9 Million will not be released until tracking record of students of identified colleges is sent in the report- last date of which is February 15. According to norms, colleges selected for the project should maintain track of at least 90% of their former students. Alumni meet should be held regularly and ex-students should remain in touch of their colleges besides helping the colleges in ways they could.
“Tracking of students is a regular activity and it cannot be done in a day or a week. My college is fifteen years old and I was transferred here fifteen months ago. Previous principals didn’t maintain records of old students and I have to face the challenge of taking out old records and tracing ex-students,” said a principal requesting anonymity. Another principal said that the HED conducted its first training for the World Bank project in December 2017- about a year ago. The state government and the HED kept sitting idle for more than two years and suddenly woke when they were told about disbursement linked indicator- mode of payment.
Under this system World Bank disperses funds only after intervening steps are completed. The $ 300 million World Bank project was approved in June 2015. About $ 56.50 million have been disbursed as first installment but HED will not be able to avail it until basic parameters like NAAC accreditation and tracking of ex-students are met. D has warned the additional directors and principals of the colleges to complete the formalities in prescribed time limit or they will be held responsible for the lapse.
