Chandigarh, Monday, August 24, 1998
|
Chandigarh, Monday, August 24, 1998 |
NCTE
loath to award recognition |
Espousing the cause of
educated immigrants Chalk
and talk won’t do |
What ails varsity education An impressive quantitative increase has taken place in the strength of universities and institutes of engineering, technology and medicine in the country during the past 50 years. Efforts have also been made to improve the quality of education through faculty improvement programmes (FIP), university leadership programmes (ULP), academic staff colleges (ASC), countrywide classroom (CWC) through INSAT, national-level open universities (NOU) and the national assessment and accreditation council (NAAC), to name a few. The guiding principle has been, as the first Prime Minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru rightly put it, “If all is well with the universities, all would be well with the nation.” Our teachers, educational administrators and students are second to none. We have been spending crores of rupees every year on infrastructure and facilities, in spite of the resource crunch. It is true that universities have come to reflect many of the distortions and tensions afflicting the society. It is also correct that the research base of the Indian economy is weak. Yet, we need to understand why all is not well with our university education. A lot of debate has taken place on the subject. It has been seen that there is not enough stress on the development of a self-regulatory quality assurance mechanism in our higher education. The focus has to be shifted to quality education. We cannot gloss over the fact (now a ruling of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission) that educational activity (a composite term for teaching, training, examination is a “service” under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. Accordingly, the student as both consumer and customer, has the right to question the institute if there is same deficiency in the quality of education imparted. More important than this technical liability under the CPA, is the moral responsibility of any institute of higher education towards parents and society. It is the taxpayer’s money that goes into heavily subsidising all forms of education. Resources generated by colleges or universities are only a small part of the total expenditure. Many experts believe that education has suffered under the World Bank/IMF imposed structural adjustments in developing countries. Institutions of learning cannot be coerced into earning money for themselves. Inculcation of basic values and development of skills related to our economic perceptions are delicate tasks which cannot be entirely left to the mercy of private bodies or market forces. It transpires that the trio consisting of the government, the gamut of trade-industry and business and the university system should work together to ensure that our higher education is of international standards. While generation of internal resources is desirable, this does not absolve the government of its responsibility to spend at least 6% of the GNP on education. As for the business world, it is not enough on its part to bemoan lack of workplace abilities like communication and business skills among the educated. The industry should regularly provide a systematic feedback to engineering, technology, science and commerce institutes, universities and schools of business management through their own established chambers like the FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM. Such proactive feedback will enable the academia to come out of its ivory tower and orient the courses, labwork and training to meet the actual demands of modern competitive business. There is no other way to effectively enhance the “employability” of graduates and ensure the relevance of their degrees to the world outside the academic set-up. The real task of quality assurance, however, has to be performed by the universities themselves. Quality is the buzz word and the new mantra for survival. The international Organisation for Standards (ISO) enlists several definitions of quality, such as: Fitness for use, * Compliance with specified requirements,* Freedom from defects, imperfections..., * Degree of excellence, * The totality of characteristics of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated and implied needs (as defined in ISO 8402: 1994). Quality education refers to education which renders its recipient fit for use by a prospective employer in particular and society in general. The student should, in addition, be free from the defects and imperfections that distort the social fabric, he or she should have a sense of satisfaction and should acquire characteristics that bear on the ability to satisfy stated and implied personal, family and social needs. These aspects are being neglected in designing courses at all levels of our education. ISO-9000 is a family of international standards which describes the basic elements from which a quality management system can be evolved. These standards use internationally accepted standardisation methodology. Sharing of experience among experts, compilation of best practices, open consultation and decisions by consensus are the foundations of these standards. First produced in 1987 and updated in 1994, these are now adopted in more than 90 countries and recognised worldwide. Their benefits include improved quality awareness throughout the organisation (the university), clarity in the distribution of responsibilities, increased involvement of all (employees, students, teachers, management, government, trade and industry) in quality goals, higher internal efficiency, better image (of the organisation) and consistency in the performance of tasks, procedures, services rendered and the final products (the trained graduates). ISO-9000 clauses, as applied to education, aim at building quality into the system rather than inspecting for quality at the last stage (the final year-end examination of students). Right from the admission stage onwards to design of courses, their management, purchase and utilisation of books, journals, equipment; teaching methods; selection, training and promotion of teaching and non-teaching staff; carrying out projects and research activities; tests, periodical assessments; university’s administrative procedures, grading of students and their placements — all these and many more procedures for related services (e.g. repair and maintenance of instruments for routine and research work, mechanism for feedback from various sections and preparation of results can be gradually brought within the purview of the ISO framework. This would reduce unnecessary paperwork and operational costs. Above all, when all procedures are documented, there is no ambiguity and no delay. The functioning being transparent, reliable and self-regulatory; system failures can be easily traced and responsibility can be fixed. To utilise ISO-9000 framework for bringing about tangible quality improvements in higher education, there has to be total re-thinking and re-organisation of the management philosophy of these institutions on the lines of progressive corporate sectors. The latest concept is that of total quality management (TQM). For this the top management executive of a university (the Vice-Chancellor) has to commit himself to a vision — a quality policy. The objectives of this policy have to be clearly stated in a quality manual to be prepared after the widest possible consultations. Procedures, work instructions and management information systems (MIS) come next. An internal educational audit capability has be developed. Paths of least resistance and overlooking of non-conformities have to be scrupulously avoided. This is possible only if the person at the top is vigilant and believes in developing a team spirit. ISO-9000 can be viewed as a basis for continuous quality improvement and total quality management (TQM). The use of statistical techniques (ISO-9001) leads to the rational analysis of the data obtained painstakingly by the entire team through various exercises. Basing management decisions on facts and statistical inferences is an important pre-requisite of TQM. Educationsists should analyse causes of poor performances of the various sub-systems in universities and colleges. Only then appropriate corrective steps can be taken to maintain the standards envisaged in the quality policy. In today’s environment, it is not possible to get work of high quality done from an educated workforce by adopting repeatedly, the attitude: I am OK, you are not. Teamwork, transparency, commitment to clearly spelt-out standards, motivation through personal example and integrity, put together, can enable a university to achieve the declared quality policy level. To attain international standards in higher education, it is necessary to remove obsolete ideas, procedures, scientific equipment and other inputs. Old concepts and methods have to be jettisoned and new ones, like those of TQM and ISO-9000, implemented. If this is not done, interaction and networking with premier organisations across the world is unthinkable. No collaboration or joint
venture with an institution of international standing is
possible unless we first establish our own credibility in
terms of a successful quality education policy. For this
the TQM approach and the implementation of
internationally agreed standards in the form of ISO-9001
clauses, to our universities, is both essential and
inevitable. |
NCTE loath to award recognition CHAMBA: While the new academic session in the District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) in Himachal Pradesh will commence in the next few months the issue of recognition to these DIETs by the National Council for Teacher Education (apex body) is still to be decided. This has put the Himachal Government in a fix as this also involves the future of would be junior basic teachers (JBT). A recent survey conducted by experts of the NCTE reveals that none of the HP DIETs conforms to the norms laid down by it. Sources say the state government has brazenly flouted the NCTE rules and regulations to run the DIETs. The launching of DIETs in the state was a part of a primary education project in Himachal Pradesh for which the World Bank advanced huge loans worth crore of rupees. The survey by the NCTE team has revealed that the previous government in the state diverted a greater chunk of the bank loan for the DIETs elsewhere. The present government has also remained indifferent towards the state of the DIETs though it has constantly been harping on improving primary and secondary education. The NCTE, much to the chagrin of JBT trainees, has not accorded recognition to any of the nine DIETs in the state. The NCTE has pointed out that there is no diet in the state with professionally trained qualified teaching staff. A lecturer in Hindi teaches English and a lecturer in History teaches psychology at the Chamba DIET while trained graduate teachers (TGTs) and in-service JBT teachers are working against the posts of lecturer in various DIETs. In the DIETs, school-cadre lecturers with B.Ed./M.Ed or any other professional qualification can be appointed to teach the pre-service and in-service JBT teachers, the DIET Manual enshrines. But in reality many subjects cannot be taught due to lack of teachers. The posts of lecturer in various disciplines have been lying vacant even as professionally qualified lecturers are working in various senior secondary schools. Like the MCI, the NCTE is
contemplating a writ petition in the Supreme Court
seeking a ban on fresh admissions to JBT courses in
various DIETs until the state government provides
adequate infrastructure, the sources confirmed. |
Espousing the cause of educated
immigrants “Indian-Canadians of Punjabi origin with high academic qualifications are forced to work in factories or ply taxis as their degrees are not recognised either by the Canadian Government or universities there. It is a serious problem. My endeavour has been to solve it,” says Mr Gurmant Singh Grewal, a Deputy Leader of Opposition in the House of Commons, Canada. Belonging to the main Opposition Reform Party, Mr Grewal was in India recently. During his three-week sojourn here, he met not only Vice-Chancellors of some universities in North India but also held discussions with bureaucrats and political leaders on the issue. “I had a limited success this time. I will continue to work on the issue so that degrees by Indian or Canadian universities are acceptable in either of the countries. Once this happens, the chances of our educated immigrants getting white-collar jobs will improve,” he emphasises. Mr Grewal did his masters in Business Administration from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, before emigrating to Liberia 15 years ago. In 1993, he moved to Canada where he is the youngest among immigrants to be elected to the House of Commons. It took him less than six years to accomplish this. “I feel that because of the present system, the brain drain to Canada is not being properly utilised. Only those in academics can find a solution to the problem. We can only provide political and administrative support. That is why I held dialogues with Vice-Chancellors of some universities during my three-week stay here. My discussions with those connected with the Education Department, too, were fruitful. “During my interaction with academicians in Canada, I was told that there was lack of information from Indian universities which was a major hurdle in getting the degrees recognised. Once the communication was improved, things would start falling in order. More interaction is required between academicians of the two countries. “I have impressed upon the people in Canada that we have highly qualified people among our immigrants. We should utilise their learning and qualifications rather than dump them as taxi drivers, factory workers and small businessmen. Canada will immensely
benefit from this brain drain from India which has been
continuing for a long time. At the same time, the
immigrants will get their due”, says the optimistic
leader. |
Chalk and talk won’t do With the growing complexities of business, owing to the pressure of competition, the suitability of fresh MBAs shouldering challenging business responsibilities in the early years of their careers, have been an issue of debate in industry and business circles. The common criticism that fresh MBAs face is that they are too concept-oriented and lack action focus. Business management is a practice-oriented discipline, yet teaching in a majority of our business schools takes place in a structured framework with emphasis on lecturing. The learning paradigm in the classroom is pitcher and vessel — teacher pouring knowledge into empty vessels. There has to be increased focus on learning, not teaching. For achieving this goal, the classroom environment should be both informal and interactive. Besides the case study method, management faculty should actively use new generation tools that promote interactive learning such as business simulation exercises, video-tapes, use of internet, multimedia and satellite aided instructions. Besides interactive learning inside the classroom, students must get a sufficient exposure of the business world through suitable training programmes in companies and regular interaction with their executives. Following initiatives on the part of the faculty would certainly help reinforce the concepts students learn in the classroom: * Having greater attention towards summer training which is sandwiched between two academic years. Summer training projects should have higher weightage in terms of marks or grade points. The duration of projects should also be increased to at least 12 weeks. * To the extent possible, faculty members and the executive concerned from the sponsoring organisation should jointly evaluate the summer training report submitted by students upon completion of their assignments. * Students should be encouraged to go for projects in smaller or medium scale units instead of big companies as these units offer a better scope for learning. Students would also have better access to key information in smaller organisations. * The faculty must arrange frequent visits of management practitioners to business schools. It would give students an opportunity to know something about contemporary business practices and help them analyse the gap between pure practice and theory. * Wherever possible
students should be encouraged to pick up small
consultancy projects in groups, with small-scale units
located nearby. |
Youth & Career
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