Poor state of colleges

THIS is what happens when a government college is opened in a hurry, without the requisite infrastructure and staff, in a bid to reap electoral dividends: with hardly any classes conducted, the students’ precious year is wasted as 90 per cent of them flunk the exams. Then Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur had announced the opening of the college in Kupvi, a remote subdivision in Shimla, in November 2021, with the first session beginning in July 2022, keeping in mind the Assembly polls that were held later that year. Betraying apathy, the college is still functioning from a private building since its site is yet to be finalised, even as the second batch of students is in.

In the first session, 70 students joined BA-I, but no teacher was appointed. This job was left to the Parent-Teacher Association, which could arrange only two private teachers for a brief period. Not surprisingly, the combined strength of BA first and second-year students has dwindled sharply and it is likely to drop further with 63 of the 70 BA-I students failing to clear the exams, though now they have three teachers (the strength is still inadequate).

This situation is symptomatic of the poor state of higher education in Himachal Pradesh. Last year, when the state took the lead in announcing the adoption of the New Education Policy-2020, most teachers were sceptical of the government’s ability to do justice to the ambitious programme. They had claimed that the majority of the colleges in the state were running without a principal and there was a shortfall of at least 1,500 teachers. In this scenario, it is doubtful if the NEP-2020, which envisages a multiple choice-based system, learning in local languages, skill development and flexible entry and exit options, can be implemented in letter and spirit.