First ever Higher Education Fair to start from April 3 at Biswa Bangla Convention Centre

Kolkata: The first ever two-day Higher Education Fair in the state will be held on April 3 and 4 at Biswa Bangla Convention Centre in New Town. The state Higher Education department will invite Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to inaugurate the fair.

"The fair will be a forum for exchange of ideas and good practices of the universities. The universities will set up tents inside the venue and will showcase their achievements," said state Education minister Partha Chatterjee, after holding the 10th meeting of the Higher Education Council at Bikash Bhavan on Friday. The meeting was attended by vice-chancellors of all varsities.

According to sources in the Education department, there will be eight technical sessions and the subjects will be decided by the vice-chancellors. A number of clusters have been formed, dividing the universities into groups.

The department will also invite academicians from around the globe to speak on the subjects that will be selected. The list of rules laid by the department on the basis of West Bengal Universities and Colleges (Administration and Regulation) Act, 2017, was circulated among the vice-chancellors.

Chatterjee reiterated that the rules have nothing to curb the autonomy of any university, as is being alleged by the Opposition. He also made it clear that the convocation date will be decided by the respective universities.

Chatterjee urged the vice-chancellors to carry out proper training of the students regarding choice based credit system (CBCS) in various universities, as a section of students are still facing difficulties to understand the nitty-gritties of the system properly.

The minister also enquired about the various vacant posts in the university and said that the reservation policy is acting as a hurdle when it comes to recruitment in the post of professors. "I have asked the vice-chancellors to take proper steps to fill up such posts," he maintained.