India may host world's first Meta University by June next

The world's first Meta University, to promote multi-disciplinary learning at the higher education level, may take off in India by June 2012.

The proposal, part of a concept note to promote innovation at the college and school levels, was recently submitted to the Union Human Resource Development Ministry by the National Innovation Council, headed by Mr Sam Pitroda.

“The Minister has green-lighted these (proposals) for immediate follow-up….Most of these require only marginal additional allocations as they can be woven into existing funding streams. Also these do not require policy changes or amendments in law and can be rolled out in academic year 2012,” a source close to the development said.

According to the concept note, the Meta University will use the platform of the already established National Knowledge Network to create a “unified sensibility that combines intellect and emotion, analytics and synthesis, the right brain and left brain – attributes that foster innovation.” The model is based on combining “collaborative learning” and “multi-disciplinary learning”. In other words, the Internet and the Web will provide the communication infrastructure, while a network of universities will offer courses in various disciplines.

The idea is to allow students and teachers to access and share teaching material, scholarly publications, research work, scientific work, virtual experiments etc, says the concept note. Also, students enrolled in a primary college or university will be able to pursue courses in other universities and colleges.

“It will be possible for an engineering student from, say, IIT Kanpur to also enrol for a course in ancient history from Jawaharlal Nehru University or a mathematics student from Indian Institute of Science can pursue a course in comparative literature from Jadavpur University,” says the note.

Sources said once the proposal is finalised, a draft memorandum of understanding will be offered to participating institutions.

In a month's time, a mentor group comprising heads of institutions and thought-leaders in education will also be created.

Among the other proposals at the school level are scholarships for innovation, setting up of specialised centres and setting up a National Innovation Promotion Scheme on the lines of the National Service Scheme in colleges.