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| EDUCATION TRIBUNE |
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Universities
need to improve Anonymous
complaints to trigger school inspections Campus
Notes
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Universities need to improve THE Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2011 have only confirmed what all of us knew all along. The rankings, which are published every year, have no Indian universities or institutions in the first 200. According to Ben Sowter, QS Head of Research, “There has been no (relative) improvement from any Indian institution this year. Universities can no longer do the same things they have always done and expect to maintain their position in a ranking or relative performance.” What it means in simple words is that all initiatives of the government have failed to improve our higher education system and the more we try to change, the more we remain the same. India has approximately 20,000 colleges and 500 universities, excluding the deemed universities, and many autonomous bodies of higher learning. We take pride in some of our elite institutions, particularly IITs and IIMs, and like people to think that they are world-class. The fact, however, is that our best ranks only at 218 in the world. It is time to take some concrete steps to measure up to the best in the world. One of the major reasons of our universities being mediocre is that they are unwieldy and unmanageable in shear number of programmes they offer and number of colleges affiliated/associated with them. The heads of various institutions believe in empire- building rather than quality improving. Most of our Central and state universities boast of number of students on their rolls which on an average runs into lakhs. For example, Panjab University, Delhi University and many others have more than a lakh or a lakh-and-half number of students, whereas average number of students in top 200 universities is not more than 26,000. Therefore, it is almost impossible for a Vice-Chancellor to academically and administratively control such jumbos and the situation results in campus unrest and churning out of poor quality pass-outs. It is often argued that universities need these numbers to survive as they are “poorly” funded by the Centre or states and they are left with no choice but to keep adding more and more campuses outside their location and keep adding programmes that “sell”, through distance-learning mode or otherwise. The upward revision of pay scales of teaching and non-teaching staff has further aggravated the situation of lack of funds. There is no denying the fact that teacher in any higher learning system must be well paid, however, a balanced distribution of all resources, financial and others, is what distinguishes between an able administrator and a run-of-the-mill Vice-Chancellor. Also, unionism in educational institutions in India has taken its toll. Most of the universities and colleges have very strong student/teacher unions, which, while professing to be working for the wellbeing of their respective communities, are perceived by the Principals/Vice-Chancellors and parents as major impediment to good governance and hence to academic excellence. University education has become totally meaningless for most of our students. Also, many teachers relate the hours spent in teaching with the money they make. They do not enjoy teaching and take up the job to earn their livelihood. As young children, we were told that the pedagogy is the noblest of professions. Alas, no more. Add to all this a poor infrastructure, lack of suitable academic atmosphere, defective examination system, bookish and uninspiring curriculum, unreasonable admission and attendance rules —a perfect recipe for campus unrest. It is a fact that most of the Vice-Chancellors are political appointees and lack the requisite academic excellence and administrative experience. Therefore, they run universities as per their whims and fancies. Anyone who may have made it on merit soon gets suffocated and frustrated in an unprofessional atmosphere and prefers to quit. Paucity of funds for research and appropriate physical and intellectual infrastructure is another reason. We are not a knowledge-sharing society but “knowledge-depressing” society as such universities don’t share their faculty, support other institutions in research or help in building best practises in other colleges/universities. We are shy of copying even time-tested good things, and prefer to commit our own mistakes and learn the hard way. Some colleges affiliated with different universities have potential for excellence in academics but are constrained by the syllabi which are beyond their control. Autonomy in curriculum for colleges of higher learning, especially in subjects of engineering, management, medicine, etc., is considered vital. Our institutions have failed to create a temper of basic and applied research and problem-solving among the students. Knowledge is useless if it can’t be put to use. Many states are opening up establishment of private universities to plug the gap between need and availability of institutions for higher learning. However, barring a few exceptions, our universities are not universal in nature, spirit and scope. Most of the universities only coordinate the functioning of colleges affiliated to them and act as examination conduct and degree distribution centres. More “functioning and effective” universities is, no doubt, the need of the hour. However, the way we are expanding in a haphazard manner, higher education system is fraught with the dangers of reducing its credibility still further. Growth always entails problems, such as system becoming unwieldy and succumbing under its own weight. One major problem is with our mindset; we do not want to accept that we are mediocre and need to do something to improve. Self-knowledge and honest assessment is the first step towards any improvement. If we don’t know and acknowledge the problem, there can never be any improvement.
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Anonymous complaints to trigger school inspections EMERGENCY inspections of UK schools could soon be triggered by anonymous groups of angry parents under plans to improve standards — enraging headteachers, who fear they would be subjected to vendettas without being given the chance to face their accusers. Under the new inspection regime, from next month, parents will be able to log on to a website and complain about teaching quality, behaviour standards or anything else they are unhappy about. If the complaints reach a critical mass — the number has not been announced — they could force an emergency inspection by the education standards watchdog, Ofsted. The transfer of power to parents has been condemned by heads, who fear the website could be like the “Rate My Teacher” site, where pupils could say what they liked about their teachers. Brian Lightman, general secretary of the association of School and College Leaders, said: “We have serious concerns about Ofsted’s website to gather parental views. “Of course parents should be able to raise concerns and comment on schools’ performance, but allowing anyone to post comments anonymously leaves the system, and schools, open to all kinds of abuse and puts the website’s credibility at risk.” Mary Bousted, the general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, added: “A parent with a vendetta could trigger an inspection through pure maliciousness by using a number of email addresses.” Ofsted said any parent would be able to log on anonymously but they would they would have to register which schools their children attended. Miriam Rosen, the chief schools inspector, said Ofsted had no figure in mind for the number of complaints required to prompt action, but that if there was a “surge” of parents complaining about the same school it was likely an inspection would be ordered. — The Independent
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Campus Notes THE university has granted a “special chance” to the students of the BE/B.Tech course to clear their re-appear papers of even semesters (second, fourth and sixth semesters) during the December 2011 semester examination. According to varsity officials, all such eligible candidates who have passed or have re-appear in eight-semester examinations may clear their re-appear papers of previous even semesters during the December 2011 examination. A fee of Rs 4,000 per semester will be charged from these students. Further, such candidates will have to fill in their examination form online through their colleges up to October 20. While this has been claimed as a "special chance" given by the Vice-Chancellor, the varsity added that the examination rules as per the BE/B.Tech Ordinance would prevail in the future course. Health assessment camp
The Women's Studies Centre (WSC) of the university organised a one-day health assessment and awareness camp for the girl students of the university recently. According to the WSC Director, the camp was held in collaboration with the Department of Psychology. The students were assessed on physiological as well as psychological parameters of health.
Youth centre for skill development
A Youth Centre for Skill Development for all services was launched by the university recently. According to project director Lt Col (retd) D.S. Deswal, the centre has been started under the aegis of the Students' Welfare Office of the university and it will provide career guidance, soft skills training and coaching for various services, including defence services. Special focus will be on developing communication skills, broadening general awareness, facilitating personality development, and equipping the students with interview skills, he said.
Seminar on tourism and culture
The links between tourism and culture, including their sociological, psychological, historical, technological aspects, were highlighted at a seminar on "Tourism-Linking Cultures" organised recently at the Institute of Hotel & Tourism Management (IHTM) of the varsity on the occasion of World Tourism Day. Speaking on the occasion, Parvinder S. Bali, noted chef and programme manager, Oberoi Centre for Learning and Development, Delhi, said food was an important link in joining different cultures. Describing food as a cross-cultural influence, he highlighted the popularity of Indian cuisine abroad. In his address, Bali urged upon students to treat their work with passion and love to emerge successful in their profession. He shared his experiences and gave valuable information to students about food and cuisines. Mamta Bhatnagar of ITC Welcome Group threw light on the various aspects of tourism and culture. Professor Sunita Malhotra spoke about the importance of emotions in the tourism and hotel sector. She briefed students about the psychological factors vis-à-vis tourism. Professor N.S. Gill gave a presentation on the importance of IT tools in the tourism sector, while Prof. Amar Singh spoke about the historical aspects of tourism and its cultural effects. The Director, IHTM, Prof. Dalip Singh, gave an overview of the tourism and hospitality sector.
Calendar of events released
The calendar of events of literary-cultural activities and youth welfare activities along with the bulletin of information on youth festivals 2011 of the varsity was released recently. Releasing the calendar, MDU Vice-Chancellor lauded the efforts of students and the Youth Welfare Office for organising such events, which, he said gave boost to literary-cultural promotion as well as facilitating personality development of students.
Conference on thermodynamics
The Department of Chemistry will organise the Sixth National Conference on Thermodynamics of Chemistry and Biological Systems (NCTCBS-2011) from November 2 to 4. The conference will be organised to celebrate the International Year of Chemistry-2011.
UGC-NET coaching from Oct 17
The University Centre for Competitive Examination (UCCE) will conduct coaching classes for the preparation of UGC-NET examinations from October 17. Interested students can apply for the coaching classes up to October 12. The application forms are available at the UCCE office in the Indira Gandhi Vidya Bhawan. — Contributed by Bijendra Ahlawat
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D.
S. Cheema