HIGHER EDUCATION
13.1 Chapter 9 of the NPERC Report, dealing with Higher Education, contain twenty-three recommendations (R.Nos. 198-220). Recommendation No. 220 relating to grievance redressal is dealt with in the chapter on 'The Management of Education' as the recommendation has a bearing on the educational administration as a whole.
Policy Recommendations i) Re-examination of the feasibility of a national level statutory mechanism for strongly discouraging nonstandard and sub-standard universities and colleges (R.No. 198).
ii) Universities should become instruments of development in the respective regions and consistent with this concept, curriculum, course development, etc., should undergo significant changes (R.No.214).
iii) The National Testing Service (NTS) should only be a resource institution; the testing of competencies should be left to the concerned user agencies (R.No. 215).
iv) There is no need to set up a Central Council of Rural Institutes; the functions envisaged for the Council can be performed by the UGC and State Councils of Higher Education (R.Nos.216 and 217).
v) There is no need to set up a National Council of Higher Education; the same objectives can be achieved by a two-tier structure, namely, a Council of Ministers and a Council of Secretaries (R.No. 219).
Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education 13.3 R.No. 198 is based on the following premises:
i) the unplanned proliferation of colleges and universities is the bane of higher education;
ii) the existing powers of UGC to control proliferation are inadequate.
The first premise is universally accepted. The NPE itself recognised the need to effect an all-round improvement in the institutions already established and proposed that the main emphasis will be on the consolidation of, and expansion of
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facilities in, the existing institutions and on protecting the system from degradation. The POA envisaged an important role for the UGC and the State Councils of Higher Education in securing a planned development of the higher education system. The UGC also is not in favour of establishment of colleges and universities without adequate facilities and, as early as 1972, the commission had circulated the necessary guidelines in this regard. In fact' the UGC gives grants only to those universities and colleges with established minimum 3 3 prescribed facilities. we have given careful consideration to the recommendation of the NPERC. We take note of the fact that States, in general, have been averse to a Central regulatory legislation and that the UGC itself prefers to rely on persuasion than on statutory authority. It is not advisable to set up a national level statutory mechanism to regulate the opening of non-standard and sub-standard universities and colleges. We are of the view that the proliferation of colleges without adequate facilities can be curbed to a large extent if the universities exercise rigorous control and insist on creation of necessary infrastructure and educational facilities before granting affiliation and if the State Governments respect the decision of the universities in these matters. We are further of the view that the establishment and operationalisation of State Councils of Higher Education will go a long way in the planned development of higher education.
Extension Service 13.4 In the NPERC's perspective, the higher education system should strive for a balance between regional expectations of the people and global activities in education and research. Consequently, the NPERC recommended that universities should involve themselves in developmental issues and become instruments of development for their respective regions (R. No. 214). For this purpose, it was suggested that courses in universities and colleges should be redesigned and the teachers and students should participate more actively in developmental programmes including improvement of rural schools. The spirit underlying the NPERC's recommendation is laudable; ideally extension service should be as important a function of the universities and colleges as teaching and research. However, considering the present state of higher education system, we feel that the first priority should be restoring intellectual vigour, seriousness of purpose and discipline into the higher education system in order to make it work. Academic Credit for extension work could be considered and in certain areas directly related to extension activities like social work and rural development. Even the courses can be redesigned. However, it would be neither feasible nor desirable to redesign all courses as suggested by the NPERC. Efforts should be made to secure involvement of teachers and students in extension work such as literacy. We strongly reiterate para 8.22 of NPE. Adequate facilities should be provided to ensure that all students participate in one or the other existing schemes, particularly National Services Scheme (NSS), and National Cadet Corps (NCC). Specific schemes should be formulated to encourage out of school youth to participate in
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national service and development. Some of us also suggest a two year composite programme for students who complete the +2 stage, comprising paramilitary service, development of vocational and professional skills, and extension work in rural areas. An important feature of 3P 3 the programme would be that the students would be required to participate in these programmes outside their home state with a view to promoting national integration. The feasibility and financial implications of the programme will have to be worked out. One of us does not subscribe to this view.
National Testing Service 13.5 While accepting the importance of delinking jobs from degrees and the need for a National Testing Service (NTS), the NPERC recommended that the NTS need not be a body for conduct of tests in a centralised way (R.No.215). One of us, however, does not accept the idea of delinking jobs from degrees. Testing of competencies, in the NPERC's view, is best left to user agencies, whether they be employers or educational institutions. The NTS should be a developmental agency engaged in research and performing certain service functions such as building models for tests, test development, test administration and clearing house of experiences. The majority is of the view that unless the NTS undertakes the conduct of tests, the organisation cannot acquire the required expertise and develop into a competent resource centre, as envisaged by the NPERC.
Rural Universities 13.6 NPE envisaged the development of a pattern of education related to the needs of rural communities and strengthening and supporting of programmes of Gandhian basic education. Following this the POA suggested the setting up of a Central Council of Rural Institutes to formulate and implement a well coordinated programme of rural education. A proposal for setting up such a Council was formulated by the Department of Education based on a project report prepared by the Education Consultants (India) Ltd. The NPERC opined that there was no need to set up a Council and that the functions envisaged for the Council can be discharged by the UGC and the State Councils of Higher Education themselves (R.No. 216-217). However, the Department of Education felt that this was not a feasible recommendation for the following reasons:
i) Only one State has so far set up the State Council of Higher Education. Even if more Councils are set up, their main focus would remain on conventional system of higher education.
ii) Because of the rapid growth of the conventional system, the UGC has not been able to give adequate attention or necessary encouragement to the development of rural universities. It will be difficult for the UGC to rearrange its priorities in favour of rural institutions.
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iii) Many rural institutions provide integrated education including education at school level. These institutes are 3 3 not affiliated to the university system and do not come within the purview of the UGC. Therefore, a separate body like the Central Council is required to promote their activities.
iv) The proposed Central Council will also initiate and encourage setting up of new rural institutes. The UGC cannot perform this function.
We are of the view that a Central Council of Rural Institutes is necessary to provide the much needed fillip to rural education on Gandhian lines and that it should be set up immediately.
National Council of Higher Education 13.7 The NPE envisaged the setting up of a national body covering higher education in general, agricultural., medical, technical, legal and other professional fields in the interest of greater co-ordination and consistency in policy, sharing of facilities and developing inter- disciplinary research. The NPERC took the view that coordination can as well be achieved by having a Council of Ministers and a Council of Secretaries dealing with subjects related to higher education instead of creating another institution (R.No. 219). Following NPE, the Department of Education initiated the process of consultation with Planning Commission, the UGC and other Ministries concerned like Agriculture and Health. All these organisations expressed reservations about the proposal to set up an apex body as they felt that such a body would erode the autonomy of existing institutions. Therefore, while recognising the importance of achieving coordination, we agree with the recommendation of the NPERC.
Other Recommendations 13.8 The following are the recommendations of the NPERC which have no policy implications:
- Restructuring the University Grants Commission (R.No.200)
- Relieving universities of the responsibility of holding undergraduate examinations (R.No.201)
- Adequate research facilities in every college imparting post-graduate instruction (R.No.202)
- A quick examination by the UGC of the report of the Committee on Autonomous Colleges (R.No.203)
- Early decision on the report of the Gnanam Committee (R.No.204)
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3 3 - Decentralisation of curriculum development (R.No.205)
- Study by UGC of the implementation of the conditions associated with revision of the pay-scales of university and college teachers (R.No.206)
- Pre-induction teacher training (R.No.207)
- Research (R.Nos.208-213)
- Diversification by Agriculture Universities (R.No.218)
13.9 R.Nos. 206, 208-213 and 218 are general suggestions which we are sure would be taken note of by the agencies concerned. We limit our observations to the rest of the recommendations listed in para 13.8
Restructuring of the UGC 13.10 The NPERC suggested a change in the structure of the UGC by providing for at least five full-time Members, apart from the Chairman and Vice-Chairman, with specialisation in the specific areas of teaching, research, extension, management and finance (R.No.200). We were informed that the question of restructuring the UGC on the lines suggested by NPERC had been considered in the past. Though the U.G.C. Act was indeed amended in 1971 to provide for three full-time Members the amendment was later repealed as it was felt that it would not be desirable to have two categories of members, viz., full-time Members and part-time Members, with the latter having, by implication, lower role and status as compared to full-time Members. We appreciate this point of view and feel that there is no need for appointment of full- time Members.
13.11 The NPERC also suggested the opening of regional offices with adequate decentralisation of authority and functions (R.No.200). We were informed that the UGC had accepted the need for establishment of some regional Offices and also received a report of the Administrative Staff College, Hyderabad. We strongly recommend that regional offices should be set up at the earliest, with adequate authority and functions.
Undergraduate Examinations 13.12 The NPERC while recommending that Universities should be relieved of the burden of conducting undergraduate examinations (R.No.201), did not suggest any alternative arrangement for this purpose. We note that the Gnanam Committee also made a similar recommendation. However, since most of the universities are affiliating universities, this recommendation can be implemented only when most of the colleges become autonomous or when a system of internal evaluation gradually replaces a terminal examination, or when an independent State level examining body is set up to conduct common examinations for
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all undergraduate courses.
Research Facilities in Colleges 13.13 The NPERC suggested providing of adequate facilities for research to all affiliating colleges offering post-graduate instruction (R.No. 202). While this is desirable, the resource constraint precludes the feasibility of implementing the recommendation in toto. The UGC may, however, consider augmenting research facilities in selected colleges within the available resources.
Gnanam Committee Report 13.14 The NPERC recommended early decisions on the report of the Gnanam Committee (R.No.204). We note that in accordance with the decision of the CABE, in its forty-sixth meeting held in March, 1991, a CABE Committee was appointed to examine the Gnanam Committee report in detail keeping in view the comments of the State Governments.
Curriculum Development 13.15 In 1986, the UGC initiated the Scheme of Curriculum Development Centres (CDCs) with the objective of carrying out a thorough review of existing syllabi and courses in different universities and for suggesting measures for modernising and restructuring the courses. The CDCs are located in twenty-six universities in different parts of the country. The model curricula prepared by the CDCs were discussed in national level workshops and circulated to all universities with guidelines. The NPERC, while noting that the universities and colleges were free to adapt model curricula with such modifications as they deem fit, opined that the higher education as a whole had come to look upon the guidelines of the UGC as iron-bound mandates and that this by itself had introduced a certain rigidity. on this basis, it recommended that the work done by the CDCs should be decentralised and that it should be left to the universities and colleges to seek the assistance of the UGC in the area of curriculum (R.No.205). The UGC has a legislative mandate to determine and maintain standards in higher education. curriculum reform is, therefore, very much in the UGC's Charter. What is important is that the UGC discharges its functions in a participative and interactive manner. This is exactly how the Curriculum Development Scheme was implemented. Therefore, we feel that the scheme should be continued; however, to allay any misgivings the UGC may reiterate that the universities have full freedom to adapt model curricula. The UGC should also consider specific requests from the universities for curriculum development.
Teacher Training 13.16 The NPERC recommended one year pre-induction training of teachers after recruitment to be provided by the respective 3, 3 50
universities on decentralised basis (R.No.207). The NPE had laid emphasis on preparation of teachers, both at the beginning of the service and at subsequent intervals. We were informed that in pursuance of the NPE, the UGC had set up forty-eight Academic Staff Colleges (ASCs) in different parts of the country for organising orientation programmes for newly appointed Lecturers and re- orientation of courses for in-service teachers. We were also informed that so far nearly 20,000 teachers received training at the ASCs, that the Expert Committee appointed by the UGC found that by and large, the ASCs had served a useful purpose and that the UGC had decided to continue to expand the Scheme. In view of the resource constraint, it may not be possible to provide training facilities in every university. We suggest that the UGC may closely monitor the implementation of the Scheme of ASCs.
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