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Quantity
outpaces quality in growth of universities Studyscape Campus
Notes
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Quantity outpaces quality in growth of universities IN his speech at the golden jubilee celebrations of the Dayanand Education Society in Latur, President Pranab Mukherjee said: “Today there in no Indian university’ amongst the top 200 universities in the world. This situation must be improved.” The President’s concern ought to be the concern of all Indians associated directly or indirectly with the Indian education system. The broad consensus today is that with the passage of time, there is gradual degradation of quality in Indian universities. Even the best Indian universities of the early 20th century don’t have a tinge of their past. It is amazing that smaller nations, like Singapore and Hong Kong, have universities that figure among the world’s top 200. The latest survey of 2013 of ‘Quacquarelli Symonds University Ranking: Asia’ reveals that there are 17 per cent more Asian universities in the top 200 of the world university ranking, but nine of the top 10 Indian universities have slipped in their rankings (out of top 300) since last year. In comparison to a total of 11 Indian universities that have made it to the top 300 of the world university rankings, there are 72 from Japan, China (68) and Korea (53). Reasons attributed for this are decrease in academic reputation, high student-faculty ratio and lack of international engagement. Degradation of the Indian education system warrants a revival of intellectual convention that created wizards like J. C. Bose, C. V. Raman, Ruchi Ram Sahni. There is need to think and analyse — what went wrong, where, when and how. This serious matter warrants deep thinking and overhaul of our education system retrospectively. At present, the country has as many 620 universities, including state universities (298), deemed to be universities (130), Central universities (44) and private universities (148). At no stage quantitative increase of universities could keep pace with qualitative aspect. Compromising with quality in the field of education can prove disastrous leading to chaos in the whole of society. Now is the time for our policy makers to make a critical appraisal to diagnose the parameters of ailing universities. Funding State universities cater to 95 per cent of higher education. However, these keep on starving for funds right from their inception. Yet today’s Indian economy is sustained largely by the human resources produced by these poorly financed and understaffed state universities. Although allocation of Rs 44,000 crore to higher education during the XI Plan was really a boon to the Indian knowledge industry an analysis at the macro level would reveal that majority of universities could not fully utilise the allocated funds. How judiciously others spent it, only God knows. No exaggeration to say that responsibility of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the government starts with the release of grants and ends with the audited utilisation certificate. No proper appraisal is done at any stage to evaluate the proper utilisation of funds. Not only this, Central universities, which approximately towards 5 per cent of higher education, consume the major chunk of funds. Teaching as a profession Most university teachers join the profession by chance, not by choice. Also, our topmost students have the preference for medical and engineering professions, followed by civil services and management. Those opting for university teaching invariably join the profession as a ‘last’ resort. Teaching is an art which combines the subject knowledge with the ability to communicate in an effective manner. There is difference between reading from prepared notes, speaking and teaching. Sadly, this fact is invariably ignored during the selection of teachers. Majority of teachers don’t fit in this parameter. It is strongly felt that for imparting training in effective teaching in each state, there should be at least one academy for teachers’ training on analogy with the Indian Military Academy or Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. Rotation of headship Rotation of headship in various departments of universities was adopted on the analogy of Western universities, where HoD was also supposed to perform administrative duties in tandem with the ones teaching and research assignments. As teachers were reluctant to do headship, so the best way to solve the problem was through the rotation of headship. In Indian context, such an arrangement is taken as a platform to settle personal scores with other colleagues. Secondly, no HoD can understand intricacies of administration in a short period of three years. This certainly affects the smooth working of the department. Time-bound promotions Before the pay revision of college and university teachers in 1973, there was no time-bound promotions for the teaching fraternity. The Career Advancement Scheme started by UGC somehow discourages university teachers to strengthen their CVs. One more negative point of this scheme is that teachers are reluctant to move from one university to other for the lack of financial incentives. The result is that newly established universities fail to attract talent for the posts of associate professors and professors. No accountability Lack of accountability of teachers adds to inefficiency. Moreover, there is no provision of annual confidential report which is hindrance in the discharge of duties in sincere and efficient manner. Administration In any university, academics and administrative set-up work in tandem. Admittedly, the bureaucracy and faculty should realise each other’s importance in the effective implementation of rules and regulations. A weak administration adversely affects the working of the university. Capable and experienced registrars, controller of examination and finance officers are not easily available. Therefore, universities should start practical and specialised courses for administrators. Cosmopolitan culture Till the 1960s, Indian universities had a cosmopolitan culture amongst the students as well as faculty. However, such a tradition is slowly dying, except for IITs and IIMs. This surely affects the quality of teaching. Majority of state universities are fit to be called ‘local’ universities which prefer local staff and local students, where teaching is done in a vernacular language, though on paper the medium is claimed to be English. This is one of the factors why majority of our universities don’t attract foreign students. Curriculum Most universities don’t care to revise the curriculum periodically. The pace at which knowledge and information is multiplying warrants the regular update of syllabi. People from diverse fields like administrators, managers, engineers, librarians, scientists, accountants, and artists having practical knowledge should be encouraged to work for universities. Regulatory bodies Presently, UGC, All-India Council of Technical Education and several such bodies are entrusted to regulate the institutions of higher education. These bodies act as funding agencies and also overlook the other norms. Presently, there is very little or no coordination amongst these statutory bodies, which causes unnecessary hindrance in the smooth functioning of universities. In a report the Professor Yashpal Committee (2009) had suggested the integration of various statutory bodies related to education into one agency, “National Commission for Higher Education and Research ”. Constitution of one apex body can facilitate better governing of the institutions of higher education. However, no concrete step has been taken to implement the recommendation of the report. It is high time our policy makers formulated a comprehensive plan for the university system to meet global standards. But, before taking any decision, a proper evaluation of the existing system is warranted. The writer is at Rajiv Gandhi National
University of Law, Patiala |
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Studyscape LONDON: Parents taking part in interactive and arts-related activities with their toddlers could boost their kids’ happiness and everyday skills, a new study has found. Researchers at Oxford University and the Open University found that child happiness, as reported by their parents, was linked to how frequently the children were engaged in activities such as reading, storytelling, shopping, and painting. In contrast, passive activities like looking at picture books or watching television brought no discernible benefits. Watching television appeared, in this analysis, to have a negative impact on child happiness that was statistically significant. The results also suggested that more active activities may boost the development of a child's motor and social skills. For example, painting or engaging in arts and crafts could promote the development of movement skills, while reading, telling stories and singing had a significant impact on both talking ability and social skills. — PTI
IGNOU offers one-year course in plantation management
NEW DELHI: The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is offering a one-year post-graduate diploma course in plantation management from the July 2013 session, said a statement from the university. “The programme provides exposure to various management practices that are relevant for professional management of the sector as well as technical know-how required for effectively managing plantations like tea, coffee, rubber and spices,” it added. Although the duration of the programme is one year, candidates have the flexibility of completing it within four years. The medium of instruction is English and the course fee is Rs 5,000. Graduates in any discipline can apply for the course. — IANS
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Campus
Notes INDIA’S food security policy aims to ensure the availability of foodgrain to the common man at affordable prices and it has enabled the poor to have access to food, said Professor S.S. Chahal, Vice-Chancellor, Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh, during a refresher course in "Health and Life Sciences" at the Academic Staff College of the university. Professor Chahal, while delivering his talk on "Food Security Issues for Removing Hunger and Improving Human Health in India", said the policy had focused essentially on the growth in agricultural production and the support price for procurement and maintenance of rice and wheat stocks. He said the higher production of paddy in Punjab resulted in a decreasing level of groundwater. “The least preferred crops such as pulses and oil seeds are also needed to be produced in Punjab for compensating the decreasing level of groundwater,” he said. In another lecture, Professor Vasudha Sambyal from the Department of Human Genetics emphasised the role of various genetic and racial elements in disease susceptibility. Professor Anish Dua from the Department of Zoology explained the working of scanning electron microscope (SEM) and gave a detailed account of various applications of SEM in various fields of life sciences.
PCS coaching
All-India Services Pre-Examination Training Centre of Guru Nanak Dev University will conduct 16-week coaching classes for preliminary and main examinations of the Punjab Civil Services (PCS) and Central Civil Services. The classes will be held from August 5 to November 22. Dr Daljit Singh Arora, Director, said Rs 6,000 would be charged as fee from the general category students, while no fee would be charged from the reserved category students, including SC/ST, OBC and minority communities like Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and Jains. Admission interviews would be held on July 25 at the center, he said.
Garment exhibition
An exhibition on garments, designed and stitched by the students of the Lifelong Learning Department of the university, was held at the Working Women’s Hostel recently. Around 300 students of dress designing, cutting and tailoring, textile designing, cosmetology, computer applications and computer hardware maintenance participated and displayed their products in the exhibition. Manmeet Singh, IG, Intelligence Bureau, inaugurated the exhibition. The university has played a vital role in providing self-employment to the womenfolk. The department so far has trained about 4,000 students in vocational courses. Such courses are also being run at Amritsar Central Jail to train jail inmates. — Contributed by G.S. Paul
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IGNOU offers one-year
course in plantation management
