 COLLEGES, STUDENTS' WELFARE, ETC.

While the organisational pattern of universities is important, it should not be forgotten that the standard of university education in our country is still determined largely by the standard which the affiliated colleges arc able to attain. It is well known that the bulk of our students are in affiliated colleges.

These colleges vary considerably in quality. Some are good, some are indifferent; but there arc a large number of colleges, particularly those started in recent years, which cannot be said to be working satisfactorily and securing even the minimum standards expected of university institutions.

The growing demand for new colleges arises because of the large increase in the number of students passing out of high schools qualified and eager to join colleges. In the past colleges were established mainly by Government backed by the financial resources of the Government, or by missionary societies with adequate finances and staffed by teachers working with missionary zeal. Some excellent teaching institutions were established in this manner. Indigenous efforts of public-spirited persons desirous of serving the country also resulted in the past in the establishment of some very good colleges. Even these good colleges have suffered a setback in recent years because of the great increase in the number of students admitted, and because of the growing cost of education.

The sudden increase in the number of students has created a problem not easy to solve. The question was whether we should deny opportunities to the tens of thousands demanding collegiate education, except to the extent to which we arc able to provide adequate facilities not only according to the past standards but also so as to satisfy the rapidly rising standards of higher education in the world, or whether in the alternative we should let them into some hastily improvised institution without minimum physical amenities, qualified teachers and adequate finance.

This problem was met in different ways by different universities. The line adopted by some was a reasonably good compromise, but the practices adopted by others have been ineffective and largely detrimental to the main educational purpose. In some instances adequate foresight on the part of universities and Governments in planning for the increasing numbers and the cooperation of the public in sharing the burden of founding new colleges resulted in the establishment of new colleges in a fairly orderly way.

Where good universities were allowed to act with freedom, they were able to impose certain minimum conditions even for giving temporary

permission to start a college and prescribe other conditions that should be fulfilled within a reasonable period. These included the number and dimensions of classrooms, laboratories, expenditure to be incurred on the library, the number of members of the staff to be appointed and the number of students that may be admitted by the college. In addition to this there had to be an endowment fund, and a properly constituted governing body.

In those States, therefore, where the universities with the support of the Government were able to exercise this power given to them by their statutes, the increase in the number of colleges did not, by and large, lead to the establishment of indifferent or poor quality colleges.

In other places, most unfortunately, colleges have been allowed to come into existence in any kind of building-an elementary school building or a go down, with inadequate staff, and practically no library or laboratories. There was no expectation of the management finding adequate funds to improve conditions and this necessarily led to mal-practices. Even if by law the power of affiliation is vested in the university, it becomes extremely difficult to deny affiliation, if the local authorities express a strong desire that affiliation should be given to a particular institution. In a matter like this it is not possible to safeguard standards unless the universities and the Government work in close cooperation and mutual understanding.

The committee cannot stress too strongly the need for devoting attention to affiliated colleges. The change in the organisational pattern of universities cannot by itself improve matters. The following are some of the matters to be kept in mind in relation to affiliated colleges:

(1) The power of granting affiliation to all colleges, including Government colleges, should vest in the university.

(2) Application for affiliation should be made well in advance of the time of the opening of a college. It is not excessive to demand that the application should be made at least one year in advance as this will enable the university to consider the application, stipulate the conditions and give the management 6 to 9 months for the preparatory work needed to start the college in a temporary building. Standards will be seriously imperilled if at least this minimum condition is not enforced. Some Government agencies are sometimes no better than private managements in wanting to start a college on the spur of the moment.

(3) The university should, after examination of the proposals, determine what course could be started and how many students should be admitted to each course, taking into account the facilities available. It should be regarded as a very serious injury to standards if at the last minute pressure is brought on the university to permit a larger number to be admitted. Any

request for increasing the number should be made well in advance of the beginning of an academic year, say, about six months, in order to enable the university to indicate the conditions under which it can be given and to enable the management to fulfil these conditions.

(4) The university should lay down the number of teachers of different categories to be appointed for each subject. Their qualifications and scales of pay should be in accordance with the laws already laid down by the university. If any exemption is to be given at all from the possession of these qualifications, it should not be for more than a year or two. Even, circumstances demand that the exemption should last for a longer period, such exemption given for a temporary period should not lapse into permanent exemption. It is unfair to admit students to a course unless there are qualified teachers.

(5) The 'gap' between the conditions of service (including salary scales) of teachers in the affiliated colleges and the university departments should be reduced. In fact we would like to see that teachers with similar qualifications, whether in colleges or university departments, have nearly similar conditions of service. The conditions of service of teachers should be laid down by the university. While the right to make appointments should vest in the colleges, it should be open to the university to withhold "recognition" of teachers, if persons with high qualifications are rejected without adequate reasons and others with lower qualifications, even though satisfying the minimum requirements, are appointed. In some of these cases this happens because the institution is either openly or without avowing it, a narrowly denominational institution. In other cases it may just be a case of improper exercise of patronage by the managing body or it may be due to extraneous pressures.

(6) A college should be required to have a properly constituted managing or governing body. This should be a compact one consisting of about 10 members. The composition of this body should be prescribed by the university. The Principal of the college should be a member of this body and in addition there should be provision for one or more teachers to be on it preferably by some method of rotation rather than election. The university should nominate to the governing body two, representatives who should normally be teachers of experience. This governing body should not ordinarily interfere in the

day-to-day administration of the college which should be left to the Principal. It is open to it to lay down rules for admission of students but leave the application of these rules to the Principal or a committee of teachers. Having to find a patron to secure admission to a college is sometimes the first step in shaking a student's faith in justice and honesty. In the case of institutions which have collected donations from the public it may be necessary to have a large general body consisting of a certain number of individual donors and others elected by the organisations giving donations. This body, however, should not have any executive functions. It may meet once or twice a year and receive a report from the managing committee and offer suggestions with regard to new courses to be started.

(7) The statutory control of the university over the affiliated colleges should not be interfered with by rules made by Government for grant-in-aid to affiliated colleges.

The conditions that have been indicated above for the efficiency of administration, security of the teachers, equal opportunity to students, and good education should however preserve a fair amount of autonomy for the colleges. The reasons urged in favour of universities having autonomy apply equally to private colleges. Even in countries where there is a considerable amount of regimentation, teachers and institutions have a great deal of freedom to organize their work in their own way. In democratic countries therefore the freedom for offering education of different types with different values within the frame-work of the constitution should not be needlessly circumscribed. This is intimately connected with the freedom of thought. The control over colleges suggested above should be such as to secure ultimately observance of these high principles by colleges of their own accord and not through fear of action by the university.

The committee feels that the most important element in education is personal contact between a teacher and his students. This is not possible if the enrolment in a college exceeds a certain optimum figure. We believe that ordinarily the maximum strength of a college should not be beyond a thousand or so. The committee recommends strongly that instead of expanding the number of students in colleges beyond reasonable limits and destroying all possibility of personal contact between teachers and students, the demand for more places in colleges should be met by providing Correspondence and Evening Courses and other facilities for part-time education. A provision to this effect should be included in the University Act. Useful guidance about correspondence courses and evening classes can be had from "Report of the Expert Committee on Correspondence Courses and Evening Colleges", published by the Ministry of Education. It is not necessary for the committee specially to add that the provision

of courses alternative to collegiate ones should be deemed to be a matter of great urgency.

Freedom for Experimentation

What we have said above applies to colleges generally. It is important for the efficient working of colleges that there is a close and healthy relationship between the colleges and teaching departments of the university. In determining the nature and scope of this relationship it would be desirable to make a distinction between colleges doing undergraduate work only and colleges which also do postgraduate teaching either by themselves or in association with the university departments. It may be an advantage to have some arrangement for exchange of selected members of the staff, for long or short periods, between the colleges and university departments. Besides colleges, a university may also have institutions concerned almost entirely with postgraduate work and research. There should be some provision in the University Act to give "recognition" to such institutions so that they could participate in the work of the university. We feel that for the progress of university education and research it is important that carefully selected colleges or institutions doing postgraduate work are given some autonomy and freedom in the matter of determining the content and grouping of courses and conducting of examinations. Without some such arrangement, an affiliating type of university with a large number of affiliated colleges would find it almost impossible to carry out any experimentation or innovation in the field of education; and no worthwhile development in the field of education is possible without some measure of experimentation and flexibility in the Organisation of courses and related matters. It would be difficult to lay down any general rules in this regard, as much would depend on local circumstances and the status and reputation of the institutions concerned; but we suggest that there should be provision in the Act to enable carefully selected institutions or colleges to be given some measure of autonomy on the lines indicated above.

Another important matter which we would like to refer to is the grant-in-aid code. The grant-in-aid codes operating in most of the States need to be made much more liberal than they are at present. A majority of colleges under existing circumstances find it extermely difficult to finance their development schemes, whether these relate to improvement of salaries or strengthening of laboratories and libraries. We would strongly recommend that the question of grant-in- aid code be examined by the University Grants Commission or other appropriate agency so that these may not only be liberalised, but also brought into some uniform pattern for the whole country. A liberal system of grant-in-aid will make it easier to check questionable methods of raising funds that are sometimes adopted by some institutions.

The constitution of universities. and colleges must provide for far greater attention. than at present to extra-class-room activities. A

considerable increase in expenditure, staff facilities and equipment is necessary in the matter of looking after the residence of the students, their activity, their contacts, their recreation, the development of their talents and above all in the training for self- government.

Every university may provide for the appointment of a Dean of Students with proctorial functions, whose responsibility will be to take steps to provide and supervise facilities for the well-being of students. Senior students in hostels may assist the Dean/Warden; and all of them will work in cooperation with the Dean of Students. We also recommend the institution of some form of student-government in the universities so as to associate students with the management of the social and other aspects of life in the universities. Matters connected with student bodies should be brought under the care of such student-government organisations and should be the ultimate responsibility of the Dean of Students and the Vice-Chancellor. In the affiliated colleges, functions similar to those of Dean of Students should be assigned to one of the senior teachers of the college.

All students should be encouraged to join the university union by payment of an annual fee, the objective of the union being to promote the social, intellectual, cultural and sporting activities of its members, to enhance the prestige of the university, and to cherish its highest traditions. In affiliating universities it may not be practicable to have a university union. Each college may have its own union.

State University Grants Committee

In some of the States where there are a number of universities a local University Grants Commission/Committee has been established. It distributes to the universities in the State the funds placed at its disposal by the State Government. It also exercises some supervisory control. In some cases the control of the State Grants Committee tends to undermine the autonomy and initiative of the universities. Some of the, decisions of the universities are subject to ratification by the State Grants Committee. Further, in some State universities the recruitment of the academic staff is done by the State Public Service Commission (e.g. in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh),. Disciplinary authority over the university teachers recruited through States' Public Service Commission is vested in the Commission. Apart from interfering with the autonomy of a university, such a method of selection is in our view not satisfactory. If a university is to discharge its academic functions adequately, it is essential that the university should be responsible for the recruitment of its own staff.

The committee feels that if the State Grants Commission/Committee is to make a useful and effective contribution to the development and progress of higher education, the whole question of the State Grants Commissions/Committees should be given careful consideration by the competent authority, perhaps in consultation with the University Grants Commission.