Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute gets LoI on deemed varsity status
Times of India | 2 September 2024
SRFTI, Kolkata KOLKATA: The ministry of education, on the advice of UGC, has issued the letter of intent to SRFTI Society, Kolkata, for fulfilment of certain conditions within a period of three years before conferment of deemed university status. Faculty members and students are happy that the deemed university status will formally recognise film-making as an educational discipline.
According to the letter, the ministry has asked the Society to fulfil the following conditions within a period of three years before conferment of the status.It is required to secure the necessary approvals from relevant statutory councils for the proposed courses, as outlined in the letter of intent. Additionally, the Society must ensure that the courses are aligned with the National Education Policy-2020. To meet the standards set by the UGC and relevant statutory councils, the Society is expected to hire qualified faculty members. Furthermore, it should present strategies for enhancing the teaching capabilities of faculty members in specialized and innovative courses, as well as plans for student placement upon graduation.
The government has asked for a notarized affidavit stating that "the entire moveable and immovable assets allocated to the institution deemed to be-university shall not be leased or otherwise disposed of without the prior permission of the commission and the government". Moreover, the Society must provide a legal undertaking affirming that all movable and immovable assets of the institution deemed to be university will be utilized for conducting academic activities, promoting research, and fulfilling related administrative requirements, including outreach educational activities. Lastly, the Society is required to align its Memorandum of Association (MoA) and rules with the UGC (Institutions deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2023, and submit the updated documents accordingly.
Himashu Khatua, SRFTI’s former director, said, “Unfortunately, SRFTI diploma holders often did not even get the same scale and salary as those from Jadavpur University. Once SRFTI gets the deemed status, this disparity will not be there for the future batches. They will also be able to pursue Phd programmes. I am happy that the ministry has agreed to the proposal to grant this status. What is even more gratifying is that along with SRFTI, a letter of intent has been sent to FTII too has been granted for conferment of the deemed university status.”
Sukanta Majumdar, SRFTI alumnus, professor and head of the department of sound recording and design, said the biggest advantage of this status will be the recognition of filmmaking as an educational discipline. “Earlier most diploma holders were happy joining the industry to further their career. Now, many want to pursue master’s in film studies programmes after doing the diploma here. But the graduation degree that they had before joining SRFTI and not their diploma at SRFTI was their passport for that. Effectively, their diploma didn’t give them any advantage for getting admission for a master’s degree course. If anyone wants to do a Phd, they have to do a master’s degree from somewhere else before they can do it. That takes up a lot of time. The deemed university status will solve these problems.”