Page 264 - DEDU501_DEVELOPMENT_OF_EDUCATION_SYSTEM_ENGLISH

Development of Education System

Notes 27.4 The Universities

The universities perform a critical role in an economy and society. They create, assimilate and
disseminate knowledge. Therefore, they must be flexible, innovative and creative. They have to
be accountable to the society. The number of universities and colleges has to be increased
several times to meet the demands. It is essential to revise the curriculum regularly at least
once in three to five years. There should be continuous internal assessment and reforms in
annual examination. There is no doubt that more choices of courses should be given to students.
But, the funding agencies have been resisting in granting more funds the are required for these
purposes virtually halting the reform process.
There must be a conscious effort to attract and retain talented faculty members. The NKC
recommends, regarding faculty appointments, that there should be “cross-pollination between
universities” and a “ceiling” of “one-half or even one-third” on the proportion of faculty
members than can be hired from within the university. With this recommendation many
prospective students who would like to join that reaching profession near their place of residence
would go to other professions in order to avoid additional financial burden if one has to live in
a distant place.
The NKC report recommends as reform in the structures of governance of universities, that the
appointments of vice chancellors should be free from direct or indirect intervention on the part
of the governments and should have tenure of six years. It points out “the size and composition
of university courts, academic councils and executive councils slows down decision-making
processes and sometimes constitutes an impediment to change.” Therefore, it recommends that
large university courts should be dispensed with. Since in large academic councils “decisions
are slow to come,” it recommends the creation of standing committees of academic councils for
“expeditious” decisions. The vice-chancellor should, then function as a chief executive officer
who has the authority and the flexibility to govern with the advice and concensor the executive
council which would provide checks and balances to create accountability.” With no university
courts and academic councils redundant, the vice chancellors would be too happy to have the
authority and flexibility’ in governance because the executive councils, which are of small size,
are very often manupulated by them. Thus, the vice chancellors will become all powerful and
accountable to none. In that event, democratic governance of universities, to whatever extent
present today, will not be there.
27.4.1 Undergraduate Colleges
Since the beginning of the liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation (LPG) era in 1990s, the
system of affiliated colleges has been under attack. There have been attempts by the UGC to
force the colleges to become autonomous and self sufficient in their financing. The NKC report
is therefore no different which recommends” autonomy to colleges, either as individual colleges
or as cluster of colleges.”
Such autonomous colleges, or clusters of colleges, would constitute a part of the 1500 universities
the NKC proposes nation wide by 2015. It clearly means that the clarion call of the NKC to
create 1500 universities by 2015 is misleading because this number will include such colleges
which are raised to the status of universities. The NKC should have realised that only 200 out
of about 17,700 colleges have opted for autonomous status so far, because all such proposals
had hidden agenda of privatisation of higher education and learning them to the market forces.
The NKC proposes possibilities for college remaining affiliated colleges or colleges which are
not good to be autonomous. The first is to remodel them as community colleges which “could
provide both vocational education through two-years courses and formal education through
three-year courses.” These colleges could “provide holistic education and eligibility for
employment to the disadvantaged” by focussing on work or skin based education. The second is
“to establish a central board of undergraduate education (CBUE) along with state boards of
undergraduate education (SBUE) which would set curricula and conduct examinations for
undergraduate colleges that choose to be affiliated with them.” Some of the existing undergraduate

258 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY