Stop churning out job seekers
D. S. Cheema
INDIA is changing its education system at a very fast pace so that it fits in her strategy of development and growth. Today’s brighter and better informed students, on one hand, are lucky to be experiencing the exciting period of transition from tradition to modernity, but they are unfortunate to have been trapped in a poor quality education system which does not help them earn their livelihood, even after getting certificates and degrees from universities.

Lecture hall courses may soon be passe
Helena Pozniak
DISTANCE-learning via video conferencing has been described as about as inspiring as watching bad TV. So, when universities and colleges vie to promote their use of technology in teaching, you might be forgiven a sceptical sneer. In fact, educational technology has moved on, in both quality and availability. It’s no longer about merely transferring information to digital form.

CAMPUS NOTES

• MoU on meat and poultry technology inked

• Landscaping training course

• Don wins award

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Stop churning out job seekers
D. S. Cheema

INDIA is changing its education system at a very fast pace so that it fits in her strategy of development and growth. Today’s brighter and better informed students, on one hand, are lucky to be experiencing the exciting period of transition from tradition to modernity, but they are unfortunate to have been trapped in a poor quality education system which does not help them earn their livelihood, even after getting certificates and degrees from universities.

According to a recent study by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASCSCOM), only 10 percent of graduates from B-schools and less than 25 per cent students from engineering institutes are actually employable, while the rest are “unemployable”. Figures for international employability of our pass-outs will of course be much lower. This is also a reality that there is a gap between the demand and supply of MBAs and engineers, but the point is what quality of such material is needed.

In fact, there is a widening gap and mismatch between education and employment. The education system is churning out job seekers in such a large number that employment of the educated has assumed monstrous proportions. The percentage of unemployed youth getting jobs is decreasing every year. In 1971, 9.9 per cent youth, who had registered in employment exchanges, were absorbed. However, by 1998, this percentage had reduced to nearly 4.3, and today, the figures must be much lower.

It has now been decided to expand and enlarge the education system to meet the demands of educated, trained and skilled manpower. Experience shows that whenever any system moves at such a velocity as is being witnessed in our education system, it inherits the problems of poor quality. Growth always entails problems, such as the system becoming unwieldy and succumbing under its own weight.

Roughly, 16,000 colleges are affiliated to approximately 400 universities (excluding deemed and self-financed universities) aided by Central and state governments. Most of the states are opening up establishment of private universities to plug the gap between the need and availability of institutions for higher learning. It is well known that barring a few exceptions, our universities are not universal in nature. Most of the universities only co-ordinate the functioning of colleges affiliated to them and act as examination conduct and degree distribution centers.

There is need to revamp the entire university system and define the size, scope and operation of universities very clearly. Recent tendency by most of the universities to add programmes with the aim of generating more funds must stop. There is no point in having scores of affiliated colleges and a couple of lakh of students, if the university cannot design, develop, conduct and monitor quality education. Better functioning and effective universities is, no doubt, the need of the hour. The governance of the university should be such that decisions are taken in the shortest possible time. The systems should be transparent and the authority delegated so that each officer of the university can take decision and be loyal to that decision.

That our universities are substandard is a foregone conclusion known to one and all. It is really a pity that during the past more than 60 years, hardly anything has been done to improve them. The Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s 2010 edition of Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) has just two of our institutions — the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. It is a very poor reflection of our universities, more than 480 in number, knowing that the Indian education system has produced some of the finest brains in the world, who are doing wonders in their respective fields.

Many affiliated colleges follow the unethical practise of linking the remunerations of their temporary faculty with the number of students they get enrolled in the college. Employers obviously don’t touch the pass-outs of such universities as they carry the poor name of that particular university. The inference is plain and simple; they are headed by political appointees on the basis of anything but merit. Most of the Vice-Chancellors are misfit in the task and they keep struggling with the routine, get caught in trivia and yet thrive because they have the support of some political party. Quality of education, tapping and nurturing the best talent by creating the right academic environment and paying the faculty handsome remuneration to retain them or promoting research, etc., are not their priorities; survival for first term and extension for another term is their only agenda. The selection of Vice-Chancellors should be done in a transparent manner. In addition to this, the universities must be completely autonomous at the administrative, academic and the financial levels.

Therefore, the HRD Ministry should do something concrete to improve the existing system of our universities, simultaneously while moving on with its ambitious plans.

Lecture hall courses may soon be passe
Helena Pozniak

DISTANCE-learning via video conferencing has been described as about as inspiring as watching bad TV. So, when universities and colleges vie to promote their use of technology in teaching, you might be forgiven a sceptical sneer.

In fact, educational technology has moved on, in both quality and availability. It’s no longer about merely transferring information to digital form. Institutions are getting to grips with its vast potential for collaborative learning; from interactive “real-life” medical emergencies to revision chat rooms, live “webinars” with worldwide experts and online personal tutorials. Students who’ve never known life without technology now have the access and aptitude to adapt to flexible learning.

“Education has shifted emphasis; we’ve realised what a great resource student/teacher collaboration is,” says Professor Andrew Middleton, senior lecturer and part of Sheffield Hallam University’s academic innovation team. “We’re using technology to encourage that interaction.”

While more adventurous tutors might use virtual environments such as Second Life to engage students, bringing round more entrenched academics to the value of new technologies can be a challenge, not to mention expensive, says Middleton. But almost every college and university has already rolled out a virtual learning environment (VLE); an online interactive space shared by tutors and students, rich with resources and interactive content. After 10 years of experience, institutions have grown more adept at exploiting their potential; from collaborative projects, peer reviews, tracking work and assessments and much more. They even allow tutors to check for plagiarism.

Further education becomes less daunting with clever use of technology, educationalists agree. Studies report that disengaged students feel more motivated when using mobile technology. Many universities, the Open University (OU) in particular, contribute to resources such as Apple’s iTunes U, which offers free educational material for downloading. “We are trying to make the jump to formal education less formidable,” says the OU.

But it’s distance learning in particular that is pushing boundaries and benefitting from improved delivery and scope; the OU has seen an unprecedented rise in young distance learners this year. Traditionally, remote students used to be more likely to drop out than those on campus; their studies lacked a social dimension.

Now, several UK universities are investing in the latest collaboration technology, and entire new campuses are being built around a remote learning module. Distance learning is cheaper and more accessible, says James Quarles, general manager of the public sector at Dell, which provides education-specific technology to UK universities; almost all students have access to computers and increasingly, webcams. “Field specialists can teach at more than one institution at once when the classroom is virtual, and students can watch a lecture via laptops or mobile phones.”

“We’re giving students what they need as individuals, when they need it,” says Duska Rosenberg, Professor in information and communication technologies at Royal Holloway, University of London. She’s currently piloting a video technology from Cisco Tandberg enabling collaborative research and learning.”Full-time students will become a rare breed. We’re wasting huge potential if we don’t seek to engage people from a broader base. We need technology sophisticated enough to be able recognise each other, like each other, laugh together, do all the things you’d do face to face.”

Some universities are even considering whether they can eliminate large lecture hall courses entirely, says Quarle, replacing them with online content and smaller group sessions. “Students will come to expect that education is a holistic, open experience, tailored to their own requirements,” he says. — The Independent

CAMPUS NOTES

CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar
MoU on meat and poultry technology inked

HARYANA Agricultural University and the National Meat and Poultry Processing Board (NMPPB) will work together to boost meat and poultry processing industry in the country. For this purpose, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between HAU and the NMPPB. The MoU was signed by the Vice-Chancellor, Dr K. S. Khokhar, on behalf of HAU at New Delhi recently. Minister of Food Processing Industries Subodh Kant Sahay was also present on the occasion.

The Government of India has established the NMPPB for promoting meat and poultry industry in the country. The Vice-Chancellor said India had great potential for export of meat but many a times, its consignments were rejected because of quality parameters. He said under the MoU, the university would provide technical assistance to the NMPPB for overall development of meat industry, including meat and poultry processing. The NMPPB would in turn provide assistance to the university to promote research and development.

Landscaping training course

A 20-day training course on "Landscaping and Flower Cultivation" was organised by the Department of Horticulture in collaboration with the Directorate of Students' Welfare of Haryana Agricultural University.

Addressing the trainees at the valedictory function, Dr Ram Kumar Yadav, Director Students' Welfare, stressed the need for development of need-based skills of farmers. He said horticulture could greatly boost farmers' income. Dr V. P. Ahlawat, Head, Department of Horticulture and course director, urged the trainees to grasp the fundamentals of landscaping. Dr S. K. Sehrawat, course coordinator, said the trainees visited the farms of progressive farmers, Pinjore Gardens, University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, and Chandigarh.

Don wins award

Dr Pawan Kumar, Associate Professor of Veterinary Anatomy, Haryana Agricultural University, has been given Dr P. S. Lalitha Silver Jubilee Award and a gold medal by the Indian Association of Veterinary Anatomists for his research paper entitled "Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy of Nasopharyngeal Tonsil Sheep" published in the Indian Journal of Veterinary Anatomy-2009.

The award was presented during 25th annual convocation and national symposium of the association at Puducherry recently. This paper was adjudged the best research paper during the symposium. — Contributed by Raman Mohan

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