Education, Careers & Professional News
Set up council for higher education in State
Source
The Hindu
Date
2005-01-20
Information
M.R. Srinivasan, Chairman of the Task Force on Higher Education and former Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, has called for setting up a council for higher education in Karnataka as recommended by the University Grants Commission.
He was speaking at the 55th convocation of Karnatak University here today. T.N. Chaturvedi, Governor and Chancellor of the university, presided over the function.
According to Dr. Srinivasan, the council should be headed by an eminent academic or educationist and should address the task of long-term planning, monitoring the performance of universities, and achieving quality standards.
Board members
Dr. Srinivasan said that the Karnataka State Inter-University Board, under the chairmanship of the Minister for Higher Education, had too large a participation of civil servants. There is no educationist or representatives of other stakeholders on the body, he said.
For these reasons, it can only function as a government committee and not as an independent policy-making body, he said.
The quality and objectivity of university administration will improve significantly if the Syndicate, the Academic Council and other bodies do not have politicians or members of the legislature on their board.
Dr. Srinivasan noted that there are other areas of reforms that have remained unimplemented, despite the unanimous views of educationists of their need. One of the areas where reform is pending is the examination system.
Examination system
The present system, with its disproportionate emphasis on memorising, must be replaced by one based on periodic internal assessment and reduction in the number of public examinations, he said.
Only then it will it be possible to nurture problem-solving skills and developing initiative and leadership qualities, Dr. Srinivasan said.
As India prepares to become a developed country, it must be able to integrate think tanks, as has been done in Europe and North America, to render comprehensive advice and leadership on emerging problems, Dr. Srinivasan said.
Our universities should position themselves for discharging this function in the future, he said.
Dr. Srinivasan noted that the education sector in the country has remained under the control of the State Government and its administrative machinery.
Educationists have deplored this bureaucratisation and called for greater autonomy for vice-chancellors, heads of institutions, and academic bodies.
Academic functions
Academic work such as formulating curricula, introduction of new courses and new combinations, selection of academic staff and taking up of research projects for external agencies must be left to the university administration, Dr. Srinivasan said.
The changing needs of the employment sector required that curricula be developed in a decentralised manner, involving teachers, students, parents, the local community of employers, entrepreneurs and professionals.
Dr. Srinivasan said that despite progress in the field of education, Karnataka has done little to encourage autonomy in higher education.
In Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, a large number of autonomous institutions have been able to establish a name for themselves, and are able to attract students from other States and from abroad, he said.
Outdated infrastructure
Many of the university departments in the State suffered from outdated laboratory infrastructure, he said.
For the success of the university and its students, universities should be proactive in taking up and pursuing research projects. Good researchers should be encouraged to take up academic work and inspire students to take to research as a career, Dr. Srinivasan said.
An area that calls for urgent attention is improving the quality of education, he said. As is happening in the manufacturing industry, where quality control groups report directly to the chief executive, the Vice-Chancellor of a university should identify an academic to head the quality improvement cell on a full-time basis.