The SAARC Chair, Fellowship
and Scholarship Scheme was instituted in 1987 with the aim of providing
increased cross-fertilization of ideas through greater interaction among
students, scholars and academics in the SAARC countries. The Standing
Committee at its Twenty-seventh Session while recognizing the importance
of the Scheme for Member States decided to hold a workshop in Nepal to
recommend means of more effective implementation of the Scheme.
Pursuant to the above
decision, the second meeting of the Technical Committee on Human
Resources Development (Colombo, November 2002) considered the
recommendations on operational modalities of the SAARC Chairs,
Fellowships and Scholarships Scheme as proposed by the Workshop held in
Kathmandu on 22-23 October 2002. After approval by the Standing
Committee, the revised Scheme has become fully operational. The Second
Meeting of the Heads of University Grants Commissions/Equivalent Bodies
held in Islamabad in June 2004 has requested the Member States to
allocate funds for effective implementation of the Scheme.
SAARC CHAIR, FELLOWSHIP AND
SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME
(Revised)
Recognizing that the SAARC Chair, Fellowship and Scholarship scheme did
not work well since its inception in 1987, the Workshop on operation and
related issues of the Scheme held at Kathmandu on 22-23 October 2002
revised modalities on conceptual framework, organisational management
and coordination and financing of the Scheme.
The recommendations of the Workshop were
reviewed by the Second Meeting of Technical Committee on Human Resources
Development held in Colombo on 7-8 November 2002. Following is the
revised Scheme as recommended by the TC HRD:
I. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE
SCHEME:
Objectives
i.
To promote regional unity,
solidarity, peace and a common understanding amongst peoples of the
region through exchange and sharing of knowledge, skills and technology.
ii.
To contribute to the human
resource development needs of the member states by meeting the needs of
social and economic growth through enhancement and exchange of skills
and knowledge base existing within the region.
iii.
To inspire and enable scholars
to further their capabilities to achieve personal fulfillment and to
contribute to the benefit of the SAARC region through the generation and
application of new knowledge.
Tests for
viability
-
The scheme
will only operate effectively if it offers benefits to the individuals
involved. These benefits must include both short term aspects (eg
financial reward) and longer term aspects (eg career progression).
-
The scheme
will operate effectively if it offers benefits to the funding agency
involved. These benefits must be substantial enough for the scheme to
attract financial support in competition with other funding
priorities.
-
The scheme
will operate effectively if it offers benefits to the host
institution/country.
Operational
aspects and roles of chairs, fellows and scholars:
Chairs are to be filled by
people who are at the level of university professor or equivalent and
will therefore have demonstrated evidence of high quality research and
scholarly work in the past. They are likely to be in middle age and are
expected to have completed around 15 years in a university/research
institutes. They will be expected to undertake a large research
portfolio in addition to a limited amount of teaching. The position is
intended to allow the individual to make significant strides in his/her
field of research, thereby contributing to his/her career progression.
For the individual this will represent an opportunity to deepen their
knowledge and enhance their reputation in their field. For the
institution and the host country, there will be direct benefits in terms
of teaching, supervision and publication; and there will also be side
benefits in terms of supervision of – and interaction with - local
research students, consultants and others. The duration of the post
should be not less than six months.
Fellowships are intended for
PhD holders who may be working in a university, research body or
organisation, but who would like to build an academic career. Fellows
will be expected to conduct some research, but will also be expected to
maintain a reasonable teaching load. The position of Fellow is intended
to provide the individual both with university-level teaching
experience, and with the opportunity to develop their research and
publication portfolio. The host institution will benefit directly from
the teaching and the research undertaken – whether this is self-directed
or undertaken as a research assistant to a senior academic. The
duration of the post should be not less than six months.
Scholarships are for
Graduate/Masters and PhD programmes. These will be purely academic
degrees. The benefit to the individual will be the opportunity to study
for a higher degree in a specialized area or in an institution with a
high reputation in his or her particular field of interest. There are
two direct benefits to the institution or host country: first, the
supervisor under whom the student is doing his PhD programme will
benefit from assistance in research and publication; second, the
institution will have a high-quality student who is likely to succeed in
his/her studies, enhancing the academic reputation of the institution
offering the programme. The duration of the scholarship will be the
normal course duration. If the nominating country desires to utilize the
scholarship for under-graduate, then the sponsoring country should
accommodate them also.
II. ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND
COORDINATION OF THE SCHEME:
A diagnostic study of country papers
revealed the following problem areas within the existing framework.
1. The programme is not given wide
publicity.
2. Logistic and financial
arrangements are insufficient.
3. There is lack of information
about proper institutions and appropriate resource points.
4. The absence of a coordinating agency is acutely felt.
In
view of the above, the programme needs to be revamped. The situation has
been reviewed and the procedure streamlined. Under the revised
arrangement, the SAARC Secretariat will adopt a uniform mechanism and
take stock of the requirements of the member countries.
As regards to the offer of seats on the
Scheme, the Member States may pledge more seats on the bases of their
institutional base and capacity in future. However, to give continuity
and make functional the revised Scheme, to start with the same number of
seats offered by the Member States as contained in the Report of the
Meeting on SAARC Chairs, Fellowships, and Scholarship held in New Delhi
on 22-23 September 1988 and subsequently approved by the Standing
Committee may be followed.
The allotment of seats offered by the Member
States would be taken into account on equity basis. However, due
consideration may be given to the concerns of Least Developed Countries
and Small Island Developing States while allotting seats received under
the Scheme
Applications and selection
procedure:
Chairs and Fellowships
SAARC chairs are
prestigious positions. These are expected to provide opportunities of
interaction with academicians, intellectuals, think-tank and also with
electronic and print media thereby leading to better understanding among
the member states. It is, therefore, imperative that the selection
procedure of scholars should be transparent. Whenever a chair is
available vacant, the UGC/Ministry will invite nominations from the
universities and other research organizations. The circular will
highlight terms and conditions of appointment and also outline the
domains of duties and responsibilities of the incumbent. The Vice
Chancellors of universities will ensure that the position is widely
circulated. After receipt of nominations, the UGC/Ministry will
short-list the applications and carry out discussions with eligible
candidates during which each candidate will illustrate his/her action
plan. The name(s) of the selected person(s) will be conveyed to the
SAARC Secretariat for onward transmission to the recipient UGC/Ministry.
Final
terms and conditions of appointment will be notified by the deadline to
be fixed by the UGC of the country to which the scholar belongs. The
period of initial appointment will be six months to one-year extendable
upto two years subject to the needs and satisfactory performance to be
evaluated by the host country. Persons beyond 65 years of age may not be
considered. The selection process may be completed by the end of
February; so that, the chair does not remain vacant which will ensure
continuity of the academic and research projects in hand.
The UGCs/Ministries
were identified as nodal agencies for implementation of the Scheme in
all Member States.
SAARC Scholarships:
a. All focal points will forward
seats offered in each discipline to the SAARC secretariat by 31
July each year.
b. SAARC secretariat will publish the
number of seats available in each discipline in the form of a
brochure/booklet and circulate among the member countries by 15
August each year.
c. The identified focal points in
the member countries will advertise the seats offered by other countries
in the national newspapers and invite applications from interested
citizens by 30 September each year.
d. The respective countries will
compile the applications category-wise and subject-wise. Short listing
will be completed by end of 31 October.
e. Member countries will ensure that
incomplete applications and/or applications received after the deadline
may not be entertained.
f. Interview calls to the eligible
candidates will be issued by 15 November.
g. Interviews may be conducted by
16 December.
h. Member countries will submit two nominations i.e. one
principal and one alternate candidate for each seat available to the
SAARC secretariat by 31 December.
i.
SAARC secretariat will communicate final results to the Ministry and the
UGC by 10 February.
Intimations to successful candidates and the ministries concerned will
be sent by end of February each year.
III.
FINANCING OF THE SCHEME
Chairs
The
duration for SAARC Chair may be a few months to a few years, depending
on the need and availability. The person selected for the SAARC Chair
should be provided with the following financial support;
1.
Salary and allowances must not
be below the scale enjoyed by the host country/institute at the same
level. Rather the scale shall be 20 per cent above (i) the scale in host
country/institute or (ii) scholars own institute, then whichever is
higher.
2.
Residential accommodation as
provided to the Professor in the recipient university.
3.
Office facilities as provided
to other professors of the recipient university.
4.
Air ticket economy class
should be provided by the sending government.
5.
Medical care to the scholar
and his/her family member
6.
Provision for some initial
establishment costs.
Fellowships
Fellowships amount should be at par with the salary and allowances of
Reader/Associate Professor in the scholar’s own university or host
university, whichever is higher. The candidate should also be waived
with admission fee, tuition fee, visa fee. S/he should be provided with
book allowances, establishment allowances and medical care.
Return air
ticket by economic class should be provided by the sending government.
Scholarships
The
scholarship/stipend should be sufficient enough to cover the
local expenses comfortably. The candidate should also be given waiver of
admission fee, tuition fee, visa fee. He should be provided with book
allowances, establishment allowances and medical care.
Return air
ticket economic class should be provided by the sending government.
ROLE
OF THE SAARC SECRETARIAT
The
SAARC Secretariat will play central as well as lead role in the
operationalisation of the Scheme with the following specific tasks:
i.
The Secretariat will remind
UGCs/Ministries of all Countries well in advance of the stipulated
time-frame for advertisement of the Scheme by Member Countries. (A
uniform prescribed format for inviting applications which will be
developed by the Secretariat and circulated to all Member Countries.)
ii.
The Secretariat will publish a
brochure on the Scheme every year. For this purpose, member countries
will forward details about the course/programme (eligibility criteria to
the admission, duration of the courses, start of the academic year,
deadline for receipt of applications and fees etc.) offered by
universities/institutions in their respective countries. The details of
monetary aspects of the scholarship, fellowship and chair package to be
offered to the nominees of SAARC states each other’s scholars may also
be incorporated in the brochure. The brochure will be circulated to all
Member Countries for wider distribution.
iii.
The Scheme will also be
advertised at the SAARC Secretariat’s website.
_____________________
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