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| EDUCATION TRIBUNE |
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Banishing
‘class war’ from higher education Campus
Notes Studyscape
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Banishing ‘class war’ from higher education THE University Grants Commission (UGC) has constituted a committee to prepare fresh regulations for the maintenance of standards in private universities. The committee comprises eight members, with a dominant majority from state-owned universities or bureaucrats. Prima facie, the guiding belief behind the constitution of the committee is that all is well with state-owned universities and that it is basically the private universities that are required to be reined in. Such approach is not in the national interest. Politicisation, nepotism, a work culture dominated by lack of accountability, bureaucratic apathy towards education and foregoing the interests of students are some of the maladies afflicting our state-owned universities. Despite infusion of huge financial resources, none of these universities figures amongst the top 200 in the world. The quality of Ph.Ds produced by these and the lack of faith shown by the industry in the capabilities of their graduates are pointers that need to be taken note of. It seems that the endeavour of the powers that be is to deflect the attention from the disorder prevailing in the state-owned universities rather than improving the standards of education in the country. Inability of the Central and state governments to cope with the massive expansion of the higher education sector has resulted in large-scale emergence of private education providers. Some suspect that it is the fear of growing power of the private sector that has prompted the public sector to exploit our social milieu and start a ‘class war’ in the higher education sector. The requirement, on the other hand, is to identify the strengths of the two sectors and to leverage those for the benefit of higher education. However, the approach of doyens from the public sector is, “I cannot cultivate the field, but I will create conditions that you cannot cultivate it either”. A short-sighted policy, bordering on the concept of ‘scorched earth approach’, being followed by the state players would finally singe all stakeholders. Any policy should aim to create a level-playing field for all the participants. That is not to say that all private education providers are ethical and totally dedicated to the cause of education, but there are many private universities that are doing a good job. The universities, state-owned and private included, face numerous problems. The need of the hour is to identify the problems and to join hands to overcome those. The national interests, not those of a narrow segment that has already failed to deliver, should prevail. The process of dialogue between the regulators, which are mostly dominated by erstwhile public sector employees, and private universities has taken a back seat. Buoyed by its own success, the private sector has been asserting its claims more assertively, prompting the public sector helping frame regulations to curb its growth. In the absence of mutual trust both sides are dissipating resources that could otherwise be gainfully utilised. The number of court cases related to the higher education sector bear testimony to this new phenomenon. Today the environment in the higher education sector has reached a critical juncture and a new type of public-private relationship is needed. The higher education sector in the recent years has changed enormously, but our regulators still believe that regulation basically implies ‘fault finding’. Their efforts are solely directed towards equipping students with certificates and degrees. There is no overall vision of what the imparting education must accomplish. On the other hand, buoyed by the advent of technology, remoulding pedagogy in consonance with the requirements of the 21st century and dedicated to establish their credentials, many private universities are beginning to emerge at the national level in their own right. Some of these have even opened campuses abroad that are doing well. Self-regulation is slowly being ushered in but the system struggles to contain the ‘socialist onslaught’ unleashed unfairly on it. Many organisations from the industry, like FICCI and EPSI, have taken up cudgels to improve the standards of higher education. The message is quite clear — public and private sectors have to learn not only to co-exist but to complement each other’s capabilities. In some ways the assertiveness and competitive spirit of the private sector makes co-operation harder. Its professional approach, concept of accountability and emphasis on deliverables strengthens the feeling of insecurity in the state-owned universities and by extension in the regulators. All sorts of regulations, fair and unfair, are unleashed that act as stumbling blocks to the growth of the private sector. Even the Association of Indian Universities, which is dominated by public universities, has framed rules that debar private universities from becoming its members till they complete five years of existence. There is more to be gained from cooperation than engaging in conflict. Our education leaders need to show farsightedness and start by confronting the immediate causes of mistrust between the public and private sectors. There are some private players who have resorted to unethical means purely for the sake of profit. Similarly, one cannot ignore the sordid saga, where two public universities were engaged in mudslinging, involving claim to overall sports shampionship, due to fudging of university records. One can well imagine the state of academic affairs, involving teaching and research with access to colossal funds, in the public universities if a minor aspect like claim to sports championship could trigger fudging of records. As per a recent report, there are 450 colleges in a state-owned university running without principals, some since as far back as 2008. The report says that some of the departments of the same university are without their heads and requisite faculty. The same university allowed 161 colleges to run without affiliation, some for over three years. There are black sheep in both sectors but their conduct should not dictate the overall relations between the public and private universities. The commitment to get to know each other better must extend to more co-operation rather than regulation. As far as their operations are concerned, the government and the regulators should treat both sectors on a par. Our national interests demand educating our youth, so that we can reap the fruits of our demographic dividend. That involves the policy of give and take, irrespective of the origin of universities. Research is a capital-intensive activity that can be undertaken by public universities more easily due to ready access to funds and other resources. On the other hand, the private sector can cater to the numbers to ensure bridging the skill-set gap to meet the requirements of the industry. Between the two they could even share resources to promote research in private universities and to usher in new pedagogical practises. There are plenty of reasons for creating an environment of mistrust and rivalry, but the lesson learnt from history is that everybody loses if the stakeholders allow legitimate worries to get out of hand. The public and private sectors in higher education must learn to cooperate. The writer is a former Vice-Chancellor of Chitkara University, Himachal Pradesh
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Campus Notes THE central theme of the annual human resource (HR) summit of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) to be held here on August 3 will not only be the challenges regarding the managing of new generation human resources, but also the problems faced by the manufacturing industry in the country. According to a spokesperson, the summit titled “HR Challenges of Managing New Generation Employees in the Manufacturing Industry” could be instrumental in paving new ideas and recourses towards tackling the problem regarding the HR management. The summit comes at a time when the Indian manufacturing industry is facing a kind of slowdown in growth, he said. The sector’s share in the national GDP, which was stagnant at 15 to 16 per cent since 1980 and pegged at 15.2 per cent for the financial year 2012-13, was gradually declining which, he said, was a cause for concern. The National Manufacturing Policy 2011 sought to increase the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25 per cent within a decade and create 100 million jobs. However, at present, the Indian manufacturing sector was increasingly being staffed by new generation employees, which could prove to be a potential game changer, he said . According to a faculty member of the IIM, the summit will provide a platform to review current HR practices and share experiences in dealing with the challenges associated with managing new generation employees. Senior executives from different industries in the manufacturing sector are scheduled to attend the summit. Maharshi Dayanand
University, Rohtak Haryana is emerging as education and sports hub of the nation owing to its progressive education and sports policy. The need of the hour is to build upon the excellent infrastructure being provided by the state government and develop world-class players as well as students. This was stated by Haryana Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal at the annual sports prize distribution function of the university held at Tagore Auditorium recently. Speaking on the occasion, Bhukkal said efforts must be made to provide quality education and develop skilled human resources. She urged upon teachers to provide proper education and guidance to students. Bhukkal also presented awards to university winning teams, players, sports achievers and coaches. A commemorative booklet highlighting the sports achievements of the university was also released. Inculcate moral values: V-C To succeed in life, aim high, work hard with devotion, develop a unique personality, and inculcate moral values in one self. This appeal was made by Vice-Chancellor H.S. Chahal to the participants of the Soft Skills and Personality Development Programme organised by the Youth Centre for Skill Development under the aegis of Students’ and Youth Welfare Office of the university recently. The Vice-Chancellor said while communication skills were of utmost importance, emphasis should also be laid on personal grooming for achieving success in life. — Contributed by Bijendra Ahlawat
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Studyscape WASHINGTON: Adolescent girls who walk to school show better cognitive performance than those who travel by bus or car, a new study suggests. Moreover, cognitive performance is also better in girls who take more than 15 minutes than in those who live closer and have a shorter walk to school. The results come from findings of the nationwide AVENA (Food and Assessment of the Nutritional Status of Spanish Adolescents) study, in which the University of Granada participated together with the Autonomous University of Madrid, University of Zaragoza and the Spanish National Research Council in Madrid. The researchers affirm that, during adolescence, “the plasticity of the brain is greater than at any other time of life, which makes it the opportune period to stimulate cognitive function” However, paradoxically, adolescence is the time of life that sees the greatest decline in physical activity, and this is greater in girls. Therefore, the authors of the study think that “inactive adolescents could be missing out on a very important stimulus to improve their learning and cognitive performance”. — PTI
IIT-Kharagpur plans to offer
courses in medicine
KHARAGPUR: The Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, is considering a tie-up with leading bio-medical research institutes abroad as part of its plans to offer medical programmes without changing the IIT Act, its director said. “Medical graduates coming out of the proposed medical school, who will take up different streams of engineering as part of their curriculum, will be a new breed of doctors,” Partha Pratim Chakraborty, newly appointed director of the institute said. IIT-KGP has plans to collaborate with Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore and Imperial College, London for biomedical research and medical education, he said. The institute hopes to start imparting medical education by 2016, after the 400-bed hospital on the campus is ready. — IANS
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THE
University Grants Commission (UGC) has constituted a committee to
prepare fresh regulations for the maintenance of standards in private
universities. The committee comprises eight members, with a dominant
majority from state-owned universities or bureaucrats. Prima facie,
the guiding belief behind the constitution of the committee is that
all is well with state-owned universities and that it is basically the
private universities that are required to be reined in. Such approach
is not in the national interest.
