The Curious Case of Rotten Deemed Varsities.

HEADLINES:

18 Jan., 1996 - Lisa Marie Presley files for divorce from Michael Jackson.

18 Jan., 2010 - Indian Govt. files for divorce from erring Deemed Varsities.

18^th of January marked a disastrous turn-around in MJ's life after which nothing was pretty much the same. The King of Pop, subsequently, was left running from one controversy to another till he was finally laid to rest at the Forest Lawn Mausoleum in 2009. Came 18^th of January once again 14 years later and the honeymoon tryst between the UGC and Deemed Varsities in India came to an end.

Both events are similar yet different in their own ways. While both events are controversial and represent a turnaround, the latter (hopefully) will be for the better. My reactions:

Many colleges (erstwhile Deemed Universities) in Chennai itself are still reeling under the impact of the whip cracked by the Central Government (recently supported by the State Government too). Comments from academicians, teachers, students, parents etc. are floating in through various streams of advanced mass media. But possibly, on deeper analysis, you might realize that the only common point is SURPRISE ;). The move has quite caught everyone off guard. But that only increases its efficiency.

Though the option of Deemed Universities remained open for almost 54 years, the strict standards followed by the UGC in awarding this status has made it coveted. During this time slot educational institutions had to remain affiliated to mostly Government controlled Universities and follows their diktat to the letter. Though this ensured reasonable standards in higher education, it would not be right to say that the system was entirely faultless. In fact Government interference can be largely blamed for the prevalence of narrow minded and unruly student unions and the introduction of student politics, strikes and also in many situations forays into criminal violence. Fewer Universities meant that the seats were limited and so "donation" was high. In certain cases, letters of recommendation were required from local MLAs or men in power for even meritorious candidates.

One fine day the UGC suddenly decided to change its attitude from being a tough task master to that of a kind and benevolent facilitator. Whether the change was induced by controversial aids is a million dollar question. The fact remains that once the UGC gave away the DU status like sprinkling oregano seasoning over pepperoni pizza, college authorities capitalized on the opportunity without loss of time. And obviously issues like capitation fees, disproportionate student intake and family patronage surfaced.

Men who generally owned these Universities, the Tandon Committee Report says, were businessmen than academicians. I beg to differ. Let us not confuse between mercenaries and businessmen. For all these years these so-called Heads of these institutions were selling everyday, the very mother Saraswati they worship, for the sake of a few coins. And I am sure that not even one of them will hesitate to sell his wife and mother, provided you quote the right price. I am surprised that such mellow words have been used in the press against these hypocrites masquerading as teachers, professors or even Chancellors. Year after year, these pimps have been worshiped, honored with bouquets, awards and even titles. Many of them have taken advantage of the social perception and image to rise to the levels of national leaders including a Union Minister and many local MLAs. 

Family patronage and blatant unprofessional-ism has crippled the scene of higher education today. I have had the opportunity earlier to visit some of the colleges named in the blacklist. Let me share with you some of the experiences. I remember visiting Vel's (University) Engineering College, Chennai a short while ago. While the yellow buildings with numbers written on them struck me as a system appropriate for the Tihar jail, I could not help notice the utter lack of basic facilities like a playground, gymnasium, etc. I am not going into the curriculum sequence and teaching quality. The less said about Saveetha University, the better. While Vel's was at least painted, Saveetha lacked even that. During my kinder garden days, I was taught by Mrs. Shantha Parameshwaram who was a strict disciplinarian. And one of the things she ingrained in us was the basic courtesy to cover our books with brown paper. Had Mrs. Parameshwaram seen that building without paint, I dread to imagine what her reaction would have been. Knowing the stern taskmaster she was, she would have personally got the Chancellor and his entire family to paint the walls.

Let me congratulate Mr. Sibal and his associates for finally sorting the apples in the basket and trying to throw the bad ones out. Some people are mistaken that the exercise has some economic benefits for the Government.  Let me bring to their notice that the Government could have made more by allowing them to function by way of taxes and other “payments”. There are others who say that Government is doing this to attract FDI's. For their information FDI flow into India is 100% open through the automated route (i.e. the government's permission needn't be sought) since 2005. {India already gets enough FDIs in the field of education, accounting for 0.36% of total FDI inflow that makes it the 31st in the order of importance. The only institution I see saving is the UGC. The UGC had given assistance in tune of more than 30 crores to a few institutions in the blacklist among others}. I think that honest approaches should be praised and Kapil Sibalji's leadership and initiative in trying to phase out stress enhancing board exams and in introducing reforms to the education sector is indeed worthy of appreciation.

However let me also suggest that all Deemed Universities are not plagued with the vices mentioned above. Having studied in the prestigious Sri Sathya Sai University, I am obliged to say that the teaching practices and education standards in numerous such institutes is at par with the IITs and the IIMs and is worthy of emulation. In this light, I do not agree that the entire system of Deemed Universities be done away with. If gangrene affects the finder, the hand is not chopped away! 

The Tandon committee ensures students that they will be absorbed into parent universities etc. But the fact is that some of the Universities have offered courses with complicated nomenclature and off-beat programs that are not even heard of in other Universities. For now the fate of such students hangs as collateral damage.

This again exposes various links in parent ignorance and improper information search. Let me not open the Pandora's box on the way advertisements are drafted to canvass gullible students, the truth about 100% campus placements etc. 

The Indian education industry is the strangest of all. And being strange, it is interesting as well. Here the service providers (educational institutes) dictate the terms. There are no customer rights and the ambit of customer delight fades away in the distant horizon. While other sectors offer value added services, this is the only sector that is essentially meant for value addition but does not do it at all. Price wars and pricing based competition is not even heard of! There is no modernization and no technology up-gradation!!

I remember a teacher saying: “I can not teach him because he doesn’t even respond.” Now, in education if the institution is the service provider and the student's parents are the consumers, the student is the machine and the teacher is nothing but an employee of the service provider who is given the charge of installing advanced software into the machine. In an IT company or a BPO, if the machine (say the computer) is not responding, is the employee allowed to say "The machine is not responding, so I am not working"? Isn’t it part of his responsibility to get the technical guy to look into the matter and get the problem resolved? In education, which teacher have you seen putting that extra effort to resolve a student’s problem? More often than not, the teacher puts the blame on the student and walks away at the first such given instance. Baat khatam, dukaan bandh.

The current system of education is highly biased in favor of the teaching fraternity and the management. These people are vested with unnecessary and enormous power which is blatantly mis-utilized (cases of student death and suicides being the extreme results). There is no chain of responsibility or authority. No customer friendly practices and though uniform fixed price (MRP) is an archaic concept in all consumable, as far as education is concerned NO MRP either. 

There is an urgent need for reform - for tough steps to overhaul the entire process and introduce a sense of accountability. 

But the Big Question is: WHO WILL BELL THE CAT? Guess on 18th January, 2010 there has been a beginning...