HIGHER EDUCATION
 

NPE/POA Stipulations

9.1.1 The perspective on higher education has been spelt out in NPE, 1986 in paras 5.24' to 5.42. The Committee has certain differences in perception in regard to this perspective and the same are presented below.

Committee's perspective

9.1.2 Higher Education as envisaged in NPE, 1986 lays emphasis on 'reflection' rather than action (Para 5.24). While indeed reflection on critical issues facing humanity is important, higher education has a valuable role to play in regard to action on the part of those receiving it, particularly on issues such as regional development, school education (including universalisation of elementary education) etc. in fact, curriculum and the entire education process in the colleges/universities should be dynamically and integrally linked to such issues. The higher education system largely funded as it is from public exchequer should strive for a balance between the regional expectation of the people and their global. activities in education and research.

9.1.3 While the perception of NPE, 1986 for consolidation of higher education facilities (Para 5.26) which have already undergone vast expansion over the years and protection of the system from degradation is understandable, it would only be appropriate that the approach is forward looking and dynamic rather than passive. In the process of consolidation, catering to the higher education requirements of backward areas should not be lost sight of. It is not merely a question of preventing the degradation of the system but formulating innovative programmes for transforming the system into an effective instrument For achieving excellence.

9.1.4 it is not adequate if courses and programmes are redesigned (Para 5.29) merely to meet the demands of specialisation better. There is need for a complete reorganisation of academic life of colleges and university campuses with a fresh direction to the faculty and students as distinct from performing certain extension functions. Colleges and universities should be endowed with the capability to guide planning and assist people's initiatives. Such capabilities should be integrally built into the courses and programmes as already mentioned. This alone will facilitate infusing life in the campuses with a sense of societal relevance.

9.1.5 The observations in NPE, 1986 in respect of research in Indology (Para 5.33) in terms of intensive study of Sanskrit and other classical languages at least seemingly underplay the rich

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folk and tribal cultural traditions which also deserve to be investigated.

9.1.6 In the context of delinking degrees from jobs NPE, 1986 has envisaged National Testing Service (NTS) as a centralised instrument for conduct of tests. In the view of the Committee, tests could be organised by the user agencies on a decentralised basis. The NTS need only be a resource Organisation.

The Present Scenario

9.2.1 It is common knowledge that over the years quantitatively higher education has expanded. As of today, there are 172 universities and 7000 colleges. Student enrolment is of the order of four million 88% of the enrolment being for graduate courses, 9.5% for post-graduate courses and 1.1% for research work. Forty percent of the enrolment is for art courses, 21% for commerce and 19% for sciences. women account for 1.3 million of of the enrolled. Number of teachers in the universities and colleges is 2.5 lakhs. These figures have to be reviewed in the context of expansion over the last four decades the same being growth of universities from 25 to 172, of colleges from 700 to 7000 and of enrolment from 2 lakhs to 4 million. No doubt, higher education facilities have come to be provided in remote areas also and there has been increase in the number of first generation learners. The UGC has come to pay attention to quality improvement through special programmes for promotion of excellence in teaching and research. There has been a conscious effort at improving the status of teachers. Educational technology and media have come to play an important role too.

9.2.2 However, the scenario reflects very serious weaknesses. The proliferation of universities and colleges has been rather unplanned. Infrastructure facilities are seriously inadequate. There is marked mismatch between education and employment. Wastage in the system in terms of failures and order of low pass percentages is very high. Examination reforms have been slow. There are serious complaints at all levels about the, lack of responsiveness in 'the system. Academic activities are at a low ebb and the academic calendar itself gets seriously disrupted almost every year. The system of higher education continues to encourage memorization of facts and regurgitation rather than creativity. While the results in higher education are clearly determined by the ,foundation laid in school education, we cannot wait for the ills of school education to be remedied before bringing in meaningful improvements in higher education. We cannot ignore the fact that we do not have many colleges today which can pride themselves of imparting under-graduate education of the highest quality, comparable to some of the well-known institutions in the world.

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Post-policy implementation

9.3.0 The scenario of implementation of NPE, 1986/POA, as projected by the Department of Education is presented below:

- Disbursal of development grants to consolidate and develop the existing universities and colleges an average of Rs.1.9 crores per university and Rs.3.4 lakhs per college during the Seventh Plan period.

- Redesigning of courses by 27 Curriculum Development Centres.

- Obtaining of report on new educational management from the Gnanam Committee.

- Revision of pay scales of teachers w.e.f. 1.1.1986.

- Conduct of orientation and refresher courses through 45 academic staff colleges.

- Conduct of national level tests for recruitment of teachers.

- Strengthening of research, particularly in terms of creation of inter-university centres for nuclear science, atomic energy, astrophysics etc.

- One hour telecast of educational programmes, apart from setting up nine Audio Visual Research Centres and four Education Media Research Centres.

- Issue of UGC guidelines for seeking development grants, consolidation, design of courses, improvement of research and creation of State Councils of Higher Education.

- Grant of autonomous status to 83 colleges since 1986.

- Initiation of action for establishment of National Council of Higher Education.

- Obtaining report from Dr. Vasant Gowariker Committee on Accreditation and Assessment Council.

- Approval of a proposal for establishing National Testing Service.

- Operationalising the programmes of Indira Gandhi National Open University for distance education, an amount of Rs.44 crores having been provided to this university during the Seventh Plan period.

- Preparation of a proposal for establishment of a Central Council of Rural Institutes.

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Maintenance of standards in higher education

9.4.0 one of the principal problems in the maintenance of standards in higher education is that there has been a proliferation of colleges and universities established by the State Governments without prior consultations with the UGC. The Commission is in no position to control this situation. The only instrument available with the Commission is non-sanctioning of grants to such universities established without prior consultations. This is plainly inadequate. This issue had been gone into by the Estimates Committee, 1988-89 and they had recommended that the Ministry and the UGC should give serious thought to the problem in consultation with the State Governments and develop a mechanism to ensure that new universities are established only if there is actual need and if indepth spade work has been done. In regard to this matter, the position of Government would seem to be that the State Councils of Higher Education proposed under NPE, 1986 could bring about some discipline by their role in the areas of coordination and consolidation; and that ultimately unplanned proliferation of colleges and universities could be checked only if there is political will for this. The Committee would like to invite the attention of the Government in this context, to the Resolution of (University) Standards Bill, 1951 which contained provision relating to the establishment of universities and conferring powers on the Union to derecognise any degree granted by a university. However, this Bill was not enacted, apparently having been overtaken by the UGC Act.

Recommendations:

(i) Pressures for opening new colleges and universities being very intense, and the political system reacting to such pressures in different ways, in different states, it would only be appropriate for the Government to re-examine the feasibility of national level statutory mechanism for strongly discouraging non- standard/sub-standard colleges and universities being established. In the process of this examination, no doubt, the Central Government should have necessary prior consultations with the State Governments.

(ii) After NPE, 1986 was formulated and brought under implementation, and though dicouragement of proliferation of universities has been specifically mentioned in the Programme of Action, Government of India themselves have passed laws in May, 1989 and October, 1989 respectively for establishing Assam and Nagaland Universities. Steps of this nature may not help in the process of bringing about discipline in the establishment of universities at the State level and should be avoided. Therefore, Government of India should themselves set an example by not establishing more Central Universities without genuine justification for the same.

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Restructuring of UGC

9.5.0 The UGC has not been able to function effectively in the face of expansion of the higher education system in terms of increasing number of colleges and universities. Workload in terms of development programmes of the universities to be scrutinised by the Commission has been on the increase and their scrutiny and clearance by the Commission suffer in quality as well as on account of delays.

Recommendation:

Therefore, restructuring of the UGC is called for. In the opinion of the Committee, the Commission should consist of at least five full time members apart from the Chairman and Vice-Chairman, with specialisation in specific areas teaching, research, extension, management and finance. The Commission should also have regional offices for decentralised disposal of the problems relating to higher educational institutions in the respective regions. Structural decentralisation would be meaningless unless adequate decentralisation of authority and functions is effected and accordingly this should also be effected.

Selectiveness in admissions

9.6.0 University education should be primarily geared for post- graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral studies. If we are to promote and nurture quality, it is essential that at least at the post- graduate and Ph.D. levels, admission becomes somewhat more selective. (It will greatly help us in providing selective admission to higher studies if the training at the 10+2 levels is made more serious and goal-oriented. It will then siphon out a large fraction of our students to productive occupations. It is, inter-alia, keeping this in view, a new model of vocational education has been recommended by the Committee.)

Recommendations:

(i) The universities have come under severe strain on account of the load of administering examinations at the bachelor's level. They should be relieved of the responsibility of holding these examinations so that they can concentrate on post-graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral studies, apart from research. (This matter has also been separately dealt with under the subject of Examination Reforms).

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(ii) If in a college M.A. and M.Sc. teaching is to be continued, it must be made mandatory that there are adequate facilities for research in those subjects.

Autonomous colleges

9.7.1 The POA envisages establishment of 500 autonomous colleges during the Seventh Plan. The basic objectives in the establishment of autonomous colleges have been reducing the load of autonomous colleges on the university system, decentralisation of academic administration, promotion of creativity innovations and higher standards. An autonomous college is expected to have the freedom to prescribe rules of admission, determine the courses of study and methods of teaching and evaluation, conduct of examinations etc. The concept of autonomous colleges and the programme for establishment of the same have come under criticism mainly on account of apprehensions on the part of the teachers regarding increased workloads, arbitrariness on the part of the management, likely lack of recognition to products of these colleges etc.

9.7.2 Grant of autonomy to colleges is a process of decentralisation. However, this process will not materialise into tangible results unless there is unreserved participation on the part of the entire academic community. In response to the Perspective Paper on Education and in certain seminars/workshops conducted with reference to this paper, reservations have been expressed regarding the programme of establishment of autonomous colleges. The Chairman of the UGC, during his interactions with the Committee, observed that autonomy is a matter of unobjectionable necessity but that, however, it should not be construed in terms of. physical targets. According to him, a programme for establishing 500 autonomous colleges is somebody's assessment; that autonomy cannot be brought out by such assessment but also by being an accepted way of academic management.

Recommendation:

The UGC has already appointed a Committee to review the programme for establishing autonomous colleges. This review should be expedited and modalities should be evolved in this review for introducing a regime of autonomy by securing the participation of all.

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New management for universities

9.7.3 The Education Commission, 1964-66 construed autonomy at three levels:

i) Internally within the universities;

ii) As between the universities and collateral agencies; and

iii) As between the universities and Central & State Governments.

Pursuant to the POA stipulation to review the management patterns of the universities, the UGC appointed the Gnanam Committee which has already furnished a comprehensive report in January, 1990. This report covers all aspects of management including internal and external autonomy, decentralisation, university-government relationship;, status and role of the statutory bodies and authorities, problems of teachers and students etc. Reportedly, the UGC has already considered the recommendations of this Committee and formulated its views and the matter is scheduled for consideration in the CABE.

Recommendation:

In this background, this Committee does not propose to go into the various aspects of management of universities. Government, however, should facilitate early decisions on the report of the Gnanam Committee, the same having been received as early as January, 1990.

Curriculum development

9.8.0 For the redesigning of courses the UGC has set up 27 Curriculum Development Centres in different disciplines. The emphasis is on modernising and restructuring courses in modular form. Reportedly, 22 Curriculum Development Centres have given the reports and they have been circulated to universities and colleges for consideration and implementation. One important question that arises for consideration, in this context, is whether this centralised arrangement does not militate against the autonomy of the universities and colleges on which much emphasis has been laid under NPE, 1986. one view that has been expressed is that these courses are only recommended to universities and colleges which are free to adapt themselves with such modification as they deem fit. The Chair-man of the UGC, in the course of interactions with the Committee, had occasion to observe that though UGC may be only issuing guidelines on various subjects from time to time, the higher education system as a whole has come to look upon such guidelines as iron-bound

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mandates and this by itself has introduced a certain rigidity in the system.

Recommendation:

Viewed in the light of this observation, the Government and UGC should examine whether the whole process of Curriculum Development and designing of courses cannot be decentralised the respective universities and colleges seeking the assistance of UGC and panels of experts suggested by them for the purpose of designing courses according to the locally felt needs.