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News analysis
Higher education: other issues merit govt attention
P.P.S. Gill
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 23
Punjab has finally withdrawn the hike in fees, funds and other charges imposed on the government and government-aided private colleges. Nevertheless, there are other issues of higher education that also merit attention. First, it is pertinent to mention that what the Amarinder Singh Government had done was not something new. The Akali-BJP Government too had drawn up a blueprint to revamp higher education, cut costs and gradually phase out financial aid to the universities at the rate of 10 per cent per annum to bring it to zero per cent in 10 years.

This was to be achieved by gradually revising the fee structure every year. These proposals were last taken up by the Parkash Singh Badal Government on August 8, 2000, and were deferred till Capt Amarinder Singh retrieved them.

In fact among the proposals shelved at that time, besides a hike in the fee, were to break away from Panjab University, convert Guru Nanak Dev University into an “open university” and affiliate all government and government-aided private colleges with Punjabi University. Even the continuation of 40 per cent grant to Panjab University (the Centre pays the remaining 60 per cent) was made conditional and politically linked to the transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab.

Even the decision to abolish free education to the girls was that of the Badal Government that had argued that not charging fees in a democracy was discriminatory .

In the memorandum on hike in the fee, it was contended that financial constraints had resulted in “continuous deterioration” in quality of education. So much so that even stationery items could not be made available in colleges though the budget allocations for the department of higher education had increased by 1017 per cent between 1983-84 and 2002-03. And in between there had been no hike in the admission and tuition fee structure. Thus, the steep hike was approved and notified on May 12.

At the national level, the state secretaries at a meeting in New Delhi in January had decided that all universities and colleges should adhere to UGC teaching norms and also effect a time-bound “reasonable” hike in the fee structure.

But the Punjab government violated this principle of “reasonable” hike with impunity. The last time the fee structure was revised, only for the government colleges, was in 1984. And for the first time, government-aided private colleges were included in the ambit of revised rates. This was done because these 140-odd colleges were covered under the 95 per cent grant-in-aid scheme from the state.

A Fellow of Panjab University, Prof Charanjit Chawla, and Principal Dr A.C. Vaid, say that mere withdrawal of the revised rates is not the end of the matter. Punjab must frame a policy on higher education, aimed at human resource development and draw up a roadmap for the youth, showing them direction and pulling them away from alcohol and drug menace.

Another important aspect that needs attention is the private teaching shops or “academies”, that are concentrated Ferozepore, Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur districts. These academies mainly enroll girl students, who alone are eligible to appear as private candidates at the undergraduate level.

Prof Chawla points out that because of paper leakage and unfair means at some of these academies, Panjab University had disaffiliated these as “associated” colleges, stopped setting up examination centres there and started sending the roll numbers directly to private girl candidates at their residences. A resolution is pending in the Panjab University Senate, demanding the scrapping of these academies.