New Delhi: Students and employers will now be able to verify degrees issued by private universities in Chhattisgarh online, with a new state portal creating a digital trail of a student’s academic journey from admission through degree issuance.
The portal, developed by the Chhattisgarh Private Universities Regulatory Commission (CGPURC), covers all 21 private universities in the state and brings together information on their courses, fees, officials, committees and PhD research guides.
The system was recently launched by Governor Ramen Deka at Lok Bhavan as part of the state government’s efforts to strengthen transparency and oversight in private higher education.
One of the key features is the linking of a student’s academic record from the point of admission to the issuance of the final degree. This could help regulators identify irregularities such as a degree being issued without a corresponding admission record or academic entries being created retrospectively.
The portal also allows students to check information at the course level, including whether a particular programme is validly operating and has the required recognition or approval. This is intended to give prospective students more information before they choose a university or programme.
For employers and other educational institutions, the digital records could reduce the need to separately contact universities to verify a candidate’s qualifications. The system is designed to allow verification of the degree as well as the academic record associated with it.
The portal also puts information on fees charged by private universities in the public domain, along with details of serving officials, various committees and their members and PhD research guides.
The state government is simultaneously stepping up monitoring of academic programmes offered by private universities. Courses with low enrolment, poor academic output or complaints will be reviewed, with necessary action to be taken based on the findings.
The monitoring will examine whether courses have adequate faculty, regular classes and examinations and evidence of substantive academic activity.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said the government was prioritising students’ futures and the quality of higher education.
“Our government is giving the highest priority to students’ futures and the quality of higher education. This system of digital records will give students accurate information while strengthening transparency, accountability and trust in the higher education system,” Sai said.
The new system effectively brings university-level information, course-level regulatory details and student academic records onto a common digital platform, giving students and other stakeholders a single point of access to information on private higher education institutions in the state.
