ADDRESS BY PROF. SATISH CHANDRA,
VICE-CHAIRMAN, UNIVERSITY GRANTS
 COMMISSION
 

PROF. SATISH CHANDRA

Vice-Chairman

University Grants Commission

Mr. Chairman, I wanted to make some points regarding the higher education sector. Some papers regarding the priorities of the UGC and the work which the UGC has done during the past two or three years have been placed on the table. The papers include UGC's guidelines on autonomous college, for supporting research in natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, and examination reforms. So I will not take your time in going through the points raised in the papers.

Mr. Chairman, the priorities of the UGC for the V Plan are consolidation and restructuring of education, reform of the examination system, the introduction of autonomous colleges and restructuring of the syllabi. The questions of examination reforms and autonomous colleges have been widely discussed in the press. In order that this matter may be taken to the wider community and the wider community support these programmes, the UGC has held a series of regional workshops. The first was held in the South in Madurai, the second in Ahmedabad and the third at Chandigarh. Generally speaking, these workshops have supported and welcomed the scheme of examination reforms and autonomous colleges. As far as examinations are concerned, Mr. Barrow has emphasised that changes at the top are necessary. otherwise there is considerable pressure at the higher secondary level to continue the present system of examinations. Since there are large number of universities and each of the university has special problems, the UGC selected a dozen universities so that change of the examination system could start somewhere. I am glad to report to this August Assembly that the semester system and internal assessment have been introduced in a number

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of universities, Particularly in the unitary universities. In the affiliating universities we have tried to introduce the question bank system.

The idea of the question bank system has sometimes been misunderstood. The broad idea of the system is that while the questions as a whole may be known to students, the students would not know which particular question they would be asked to answer. The provision of a question bank with the help of experts in the field and students would ensure that the questions reflect the new developments in the subject, cover relevant and significant aspects of the course, and are properly framed. The scheme can be implemented in a variety of ways by dividing the questions on various cards which a student could choose at random, or by including in the question paper not only the questions contained in the question bank but new questions to test the creativity of the student etc. The question bank, of course, would have to be reviewed and restocked every 2-3 years. The basic idea is that the element of chance which is so strong in the present examination system should to a considerable extent be taken away. The system would also enable a much greater degree of decentralisation of the examination system and could perhaps be worked with less supervision as at present. Apart from the 12 universities selected by the Commission for experimenting with the examination reform, any other university which shows an interest can be included. A number of universities such as the Jawaharlal Nehru University, the Aligarh Muslim University, most of the Agricultural Universities and Engineering Colleges and Technical Faculties in the existing universities have already shifted to the internal assessment system coupled with the semester system. It is expected that during the next session many more universities will opt for this system.

The guidelines regarding autonomous colleges are placed on the table before you. While strongly favouring the concept of academic autonomy in viable college the Commission considers it wrong to induce colleges to ask for autonomous status merely by dangling money in front of them. We have therefore made it clear that only marginal financial support may be available for colleges opting for autonomy. Secondly autonomy does not mean that all authority would pass to the Governing Bodies of the colleges. The academic functions will have to be entrusted, in large measure, to the academic staff of the college. In other words, the teachers in the college will be asked to assume a greater responsibility.

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A suggestion has been made that the Central Government or the UGC should directly establish autonomous colleges. The Commission has however made it clear that it does not favour the establishment of new colleges in the name of autonomous colleges, Existing institutions which have a competent staff, a good governing body and which has maintained,a high standard of teaching and research will be considered for an autonomous status. I am glad to inform this house that the UGC has already received a number of proposals from various universities in the States forgiving autonomous status to colleges in their jurisdiction. The UGC is actively considering these proposals. In a number of States where both the colleges and the universities are keen for autonomous colleges, existing legislation is a hindrance. It is hoped that State Governments would suitably amend the existing University Acts to make a provision for autonomous colleges.

We have elsewhere discussed the problem of making the courses more relevant to social needs. The Commission is strongly of the opinion that this programme can only be successful if autonomous status is given to viable colleges. It is only then that instead of every college teaching the same course they would. be enabled to embark upon new courses and new approaches relevant to the needs of the community around a particular college.

The problem of giving a rural orientation to higher education has been discussed by Government and various agencies for a long time. UGC has appointed a Committee to go into the matter with the help of experts drawn from Agricultural Universities and other concerned agencies. An important point which the Committee has made is that it would be wrong to demarcate colleges in the urban and the rural sector for purposes of giving an orientation of the syllabi towards rural problems. Academically, colleges with a strong faculty which may be located in towns may be better equipped for giving a new direction to the syllabi than the rural colleges which generally form the weakest link in the academic chain at present. Secondly, parents of students studying in the rural colleges are not prepared that their wards be given a type of education which is different from the one given to students in the cities. The courses would therefore have to be devised in such a way that any student which takes these courses would be eligible for admission to higher courses offered by specialised institutions. Perhaps this could be done by determining a core content which could be common to all and subsidiary courses which would

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be elective. The U.G.C. is considering the matter further and hopes to communicate the details to various institutions in the near future with a view to implementation.

The question of work experience and vocationalisation has been discussed in the country at great length. Broadly speaking, the Commission is of the view that job-oriented courses should not displace academic courses, but diploma courses of a vocational character may be provided either at the higher secondary or at the under-graduate or at the post-graduate level. The U.G.C. is already supporting such diplomas in a number of universities. The Commission is also considering the manner in which the present courses could be made more relevant and the students be trained to apply their theoretical knowledge to practical problems. In a number of universities, production units have been established so that students may learn to integrate theory with practice and learn the dignity of labour. However, in view of the limited financial resources likely to be made available to the U.G.C. during the Fifth Five Year Plan, schemes of establishing production units in the various universities can best be worked on an inter-sectoral basis. I hope that various Ministries dealing with medium and small scale enterpries would come forward to share in these projects.

The question of salary scales for university and college teachers has been raised by a number of speakers. The U.G.C.'s proposals are in line with Government's earlier decision that the salary, emoluments and status of teachers in society should not be inferior to that of Central Government employees. I have no doubt that the revised salary scales will play an important role in inducting the right type of people into the teaching profession. I hope that despite difficulties, the States will implement the new salary scales accepted by the Central Government on the recommendation of the U.G.C.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, I like to inform the house that in its guidelines for the Fifth Five Year Plan, the U.G.C. has emphasised that during the Fifth Plan it would give greater emphasis in developing human resources rather than physical resources such as buildings. Universities have been informed that in the assistance provided to them by the U.G.C. the building components should not exceed 25 per cent. Circular on similar lines have been sent to the colleges as well. This is in keeping with the Government's decision and the exhortation of the Prime Minister that sources should not be used in setting up elaborate buildings.