ADDRESS :
DR. MADHURI SHAH
CHAIRMAN
UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION
 

Chairman University Grants Commission

Madam Chairman, Prof. Menon, Shri Thungon, Smt. Grewal, members of the Central Advisory Board of Education and Friends,

While I was listening to the thought-provoking observations made by the Chairman which covered the entire gamut of education and the basic philosophical considerations and have an immediate impact on education at all levels, I was wondering whether I should confine myself only to university education or should I cover some of the issues which are common to all levels of education I have a feeling that judging from newspaper reports of some university or the other having a strike or examinations being postponed, or being held six months after schedule, there is a crisis which has engulfed universities and colleges. It seems that higher education is in the doldrums. Let me hasten to say that fortunately for us all the universities are not functioning as ineffectively or in a crisis- situation as some of those which happen to make the headlines. At the same time, we cannot be complacent.

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No one would like to undermine the role of the universities in the socioeconomic development of the country. Various schemes for national development have been implemented and are being implemented by personnel trained in universities and colleges. Never the less, it is time that we ask ourselves the question whether the aspirations of the society, specially of a developing country like ours, are met by the response we get from the ever growing expectations and aspira- tions of university education which we find amongst the young people, amongst the political leaders, amongst different States, different cities and even rural areas. It is often said that the standards of university education have deteriorated in the last two or three decades, that there is a wide gulf between standards obtained in one university and the other. No one can deny that. But I would not say that standards have deteriorated in all aspects. In fact, no systematic study has been made so far to see whether the top 20 per cent, thirty years ago performed as well as the top 20 per cent, today, though I must admit that the lowest 20% of the past performed better than perhaps the lowest 20% of today because we have opened the doors of higher education and there has been a phenomenal increase in numbers during the last three decades or so. It used to be 14-15 per cent rise every year in university and collegiate enrolment which has now stabilised at about 3.5%. But what do you find? We find that a large number of universities come into being, some even through Ordinances by the State Governments without perhaps adequate pre- paration or adequate survey of the needs of the areas which they serve. I think objectivity in opening up of universities and colleges is a desideratum if you want to

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take care of the quality of higher education and want to economise and stretch every rupee that we spend to get the best results.

There are as many as a dozen universities today set up in different States which are yet to be declared fit by the University Grants Commission for receiving its assistance There can be no Coordination without adequate consultation with the Central Government and the Commission before setting up new universities. I think we have to develop healthy conventions in this behalf so that we may be able to adequately support the new universities and simultaneously take care of the older ones. What Las happened in our country is that we have been prompt in setting up new institutions and supporting them but at the same time allowed the older institutions which have really served the country effectively in the past to languish because of Jack of support and due care I think this is what need to be changed. We want to introduce worthwhile economies in education and get the best results out of every paisa that we spend. There is another problem. If you think of 3.5 per cent rise in enrolment at the collegiate level and consider that 400 and odd new colleges have been started in the last 5 years, you begin to understand why there are about 1/4th of the colleges in the country which we can term as non-viable. This is one of the issues which takes us to the question of quality versus quantity because colleges and universities set up are without adequate preparation.

The quantum of knowledge as well as the new directions in which knowledge is increasing are new

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factors in the present situation. The result is that by the time a student enters the university and comes out after doing his Master's course quite a few of the things which he has learnt may have become obsolete. Prof. Menon was talking about the oil engines. I am reminded of my own nephew who became an engineer, came home and he could not even fix a small fan because the model of the fan to which he had been used in the engineering college was 25 years old and the new fan was something which he had never seen before in his laboratory. This shows the irrelevance that one finds in university education.

While everyone is conscious of this fact why is it persisting ? What should we do so that we may bring in greater relevance ? The Commission has outlined a programme for restructuring of courses, and for promoting use of modern methods of teaching and the preparation of materials but it is very difficult to change the conservatism obtained in universities and the attitudes of teachers who are already working in the universities. It is absolutely essential that we bring in much greater relevance in higher education, if it has to give a lead and contribute effectively to the developmental needs of our country. Restructuring of courses has taken place in a few universities.

There have been many fundamental changes like the core curriculum, the foundation courses and the applied courses. One of the methods of bringing in relevance is to enable the students to apply in the field what they learnt in the universities and colleges and to undertake research in areas which are useful. I do not

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deny the need for basic or fundamental research but at the same time, let us understand and appreciate that every student who joins a postgraduate course or a graduate course is not carved out for research, and, therefore, the courses need a change, just as we need to have a change right at the school stage. Take elementary education. What is it that we need to add in elementary education ? Do we need to learn more of science, or more of language and mathematics ? At the school level, we try to teach to the middle level in a class of 50, while philosophising that individual differences exist in all children and no two children are the same or similar to one another. We switch on our radio at the stroke of ten when the class starts and the teacher goes on hammering the same old thing to all the 40-50 children in the class. What is needed is the development of innovative materials and teaching practices which would take care of multi-level learning capabilities and which will also take care of the individual differences among school children.

This would also take care of the gifted children because we do not want to think of vertical mobility only where the child is promoted from one class to another but also of horizontal growth. Now what have we provided in our educational system at the school level for horizontal growth ? Is our curriculum a two-tier or three-tier curriculum for every standard ? It is necessary that in certain classes we have a curriculum for standard 1, 2, 3, 4 or even 5, 6, 7 which is a basic curriculum. In addition to it, the teacher should build up, and should be enabled to build up, on that curriculum some thing more which would be suited to the needs of gifted

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children and to modify the same to meet the needs of the slow learners. What we need today is a wide spectrum of learning experiences which should cover the entire system of knowledge which is applicable at that particular level of learning.

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