EDUCATION

STATE OF EDUCATION-IV
‘Education system needs minor changes’
Chitleen K. Sethi
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 26
Two college Principals of the city who are rather positive about the present state of education are Ms Usha Gupta and Ms Usha Dhawal. Both of them feel that the present system of education is moving in the right direction, but a little change here and there can increase its effectiveness manifolds.

Ms Usha Gupta, Principal, MCM DAV College, Sector 36, says, ‘‘Today knowledge is power. And I feel that there is so much to do, to learn and study. There are so many courses being made available to the students. What else can they ask for? Education is also for acquiring knowledge, creating and sharpening skills and not for jobs alone.’’

‘‘No doubt there is a dearth of jobs, but instead of telling others to improve, it is better to start bringing in changes in our homes itself. We can easily take to dual-class system where the college infrastructure is put to use in evenings also. There are so many courses which can be offered to students specially hostellers so that by the time they finish their studies they are not just graduates, but are skilled in many other things which will help them in getting jobs when needed.’’

What about the discipline in colleges? ‘‘Discipline will not be a problem if we are able to give students enough to do. Keep them busy and that will take care of everything. Teachers, too, are underutilised, they are capable of giving much more to the students than what they ultimately do. But then to create an atmosphere or culture like this, the heads of institutions will have to take some innovative steps. But I think all this was very much possible,’’ she says.

What do you think about the vocationalisation of education? ‘‘Vocational education is something which should percolate down in every industry, big or small. The fact that in India jobs are classified as white and blue-collared, is something which makes people feel that some jobs are good and some bad. But the truth is that if one is trained properly in his or her particular vocation, one is respected.’’ ‘‘Training and education are continuous processes and one keeps learning something or the other all the time. Education needs to be socially relevant, she says.’’

Ms Usha Dhawal, Principal, Government Home Science College, Sector 10, however, states that besides making education socially relevant there is a need to encourage involvement of industry in education.

‘‘It’s a competitive world not just for the students, but also for the principals and teachers. It will never be enough to teach students only the courses contents, rather the focus should be on the overall development of their personality. Students having self confidence are generally able to attain much more than many others with same degrees,” she says.’’

Does the system needs to be changed? ‘‘Yes it needs to be completely revamped. Changes which are taking place in the job market are so sudden these days that we need to revise course contents continuously according to the changed needs. But since we are bound by innumerable rules, it takes many years to change the syllabus,’’ she adds.

What are the remedies? ‘‘There should be technical committees specially constituted to review the syllabus in accordance with the demands of the industry. These committees should also involve representatives of the industry and not just academicians,’’ she says.

‘‘Proper counselling is also needed on what the students should take up and focus on,” she says.’’

Autonomous college can ‘improve education’
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 26
The model of an autonomous college is the most appropriate for improving the quality of education in colleges. This was stated by Prof Amrik Singh, former Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, Patiala, while delivering a lecture at the ongoing six-day programme on managerial leadership for college principals at Panjab University here today.

He said unfortunately the autonomous college model had found no favour in north India. Lack of conceptual clarity about its benefits and opposition by teachers’ associations were the two major stumbling blocks in the way of its adoption.

“Tamil Nadu has 60 such colleges and the quality of education there is very high,” Prof Amrik Singh said. Autonomous colleges were empowered to frame their own syllabus, academic standards and mode of examinations. The college was totally free from the control of the university as well as the government and thus can respond quickly to the demands of the changing job market situations, he added.

Prof M.M. Sharma argued that in the present set up the decisions of the Principals were over regulated by the government, management and the university. He suggested that with a view to improve the quality of higher education, college principals be given more authority to deal with unpredictable situations. Principal P.S. Sangha suggested that a middle path between the existing college system and autonomous college be found out so that the merits of both systems could be used to improve the quality of higher education.

Prof Ashok Sahni in his presidential remarks stated that independent ideas should be given more space in decision making at the college level. Prof S. L. Sharma proposed a vote of thanks.

In the late evening session held at DAV College, Sector 10, Prof Yoginder Verma, Chairman, Management Studies, HP University, Shimla, spoke on human resource management. Prof Verma argued that at present our colleges lacked proper staff development programme.

Prof B.S. Ghuman, Department of Public Administration, PU, in his presidential remarks stated that performance-driven human resource management reforms were motivating organisations, including education institutions, to employ more and more people on contractual basis rather than on regular basis. Prof Ramesh Kapoor proposed a vote of thanks.

Prof S.C. Vaidya speaking on financial management in educational institutions stated that scientific financial management in educational institutions was no more a matter of chance in the light of resource crunch. Past priorities, strategies and practices needed thorough re-examination for preparing future financial plans, which would deal with global environment.

British Library’s IT centre inaugurated
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, June 26
To keep pace with the growing demand for books on information technology, the British Library has launched an IT Learning Resource Centre. It was inaugurated by the Governor of Punjab and UT Administrator Lieut Gen J.F.R. Jacob, here today.

This IT centre is part of a drive to ensure that the British Council library stay in tune with the needs of 1 lakh members, said the Deputy Director of the British Council. This drive is the result of a customer survey undertaken by the British Council.

Maintaining that Britain was an important centre for innovation in IT education, Dr Morna Nance said IT plays an important role in the growing relationship with India. “Geographical boundaries have no relevance in today’s world. No profession can thrive without keeping up to date with the latest knowhow in information technology”, she added.

The IT Learning Resource Centre here has about 1000 of the latest books and periodicals on computers, information and communication technology and IT applications in various fields. The centre will also make available the information about IT education, including CDs, tutorials and learning packages to its users.

The Governor also inaugurated the BC all-India library catalogue on the web. The catalogue includes the titles of all books, videos, CDs and other materials available in the 13 libraries of the British Council library network in India. “The library will also arrange for its members to avail themselves of materials from other British Council libraries from other states on request,” said Dr Nance.

Appreciating the venture of the British Library, General Jacob said Chandigarh was the right place to launch an IT centre as the city was set to emerge as new IT destination. He hoped that the centre would prove to be a helpful tool to the members as well as computer professionals. 

Students gherao DSW’s office
Tribune News Service

Students outside the office of the DSW, Panjab University, on Tuesday.  — A Tribune photograph