NEW DELHI, June 18: A “lax or corrupt” regulatory environment has led to a “disturbing proliferation” of ill- equipped private colleges under the patronage of influential people with money and little interest in education, an HRD Ministry panel has said and sought urgent steps to check such “teaching shops”.
The panel in its recommendations on creating a New Education Policy (NEP) was also critical of a “non-transparent” financial management of these private higher education institutions, saying this encourages “parallel economy operations”.
The committee headed by former Cabinet Secretary T S R Subramanian said that the reality needs to be confronted that many private universities and colleges “flourish under the patronage of influential people backed by money power with little interest in education, taking advantage of a lax or corrupt regulatory environment.”
The panel has said it needs to be seen that higher education institutions are proliferating but there is “neither a structured system nor adequate commitment” to provide quality teachers commensurate with the increasing demand for higher education.
It sought urgent measures to handle the “disturbing” proliferation of such privately-run “teaching shops” and “so-called non-profit institutions” which are ill-equipped and operate with unqualified staff.
“The present system encourages non-transparent financial management of private higher education institutions, indirectly supporting parallel economy operations. The system does not have any built-in levers to upgrade quality, keep a check on sub-standard institutions and curb exploitation of hapless students,” the committee said in its report.
The HRD ministry had only this week announced new guidelines for Deemed Universities, many of which are private. The aim of the ministry was to reduce the red tapism, usher transparency and also make rules student-friendly.
In its report, the Subramanian panel also took note of the issue of faculty posts remaining vacant and observed that there is reluctance on the part of some states to fill posts on a regular basis with the aim of saving the outgo on salaries of full-time faculty.
It said that overdependence on ad-hoc and guest teachers militates against the quality of teaching and suggested that absence of regular faculty should become a negative indicator at the time of accreditation.
The panel recommended that a “manpower-needs study” must be undertaken every 5 years at the central and state levels to determine requirement for faculty positions for higher education.
“The scope for making appointments based upon subjectivity has to give way to rigorous merit-based selection, preferably through the Public Service Commission or an independent body set up for the purpose,” the panel said.
According to the panel, another reason of faculty posts remaining vacant is that the recruitment process, through the Public Service Commissions is often time-consuming. The process of recruitment also gets delayed due to litigation, it noted.
“However the alternative of recruiting ad-hoc and part- time faculty impacts adversely on the quality of teaching and research. It has been found that wherever the states have invested in permanent, qualified faculty, the outcomes are far superior and a lesson has to be taken from the benefits of proper recruitment of faculty,” the panel said.
Apart from Subramanian, the other members of the panel include Shailaja Chandra, former Chief Secretary, NCT of Delhi, Sewaram Sharma, former Home Secretary, NCT of Delhi, Sudhir Mankad, former Chief Secretary, Gujarat and Prof J S Rajput, former Director, NCERT.
Addressing the issue of research, the panel has suggested that budgetary allocations in this regard should be increased and facilities for carrying out research should be improved.
“Policy-makers need access to good research – however, this element is not usually factored into most research projects; equally policy-makers in general seldom reach out to universities to suggest appropriate research themes on issues of significance, that calls for a nuanced understanding,” the panel has said.
It also said that to the extent possible, teachers should be recruited and attached to particular institutions, rather than be part of an organised service where they are subject to frequent transfers.
In another significant observation, the panel said accreditation should be made mandatory for all institutions of higher education.
The panel observed that at present, accreditation is mandatory only for general stream higher education institutions receiving grants-in-aid from the UGC.
“Technical and medical institutions are not required to go through the accreditation process. Accreditation should be made mandatory for all institutions of higher education, including technical education, medicine and agriculture, both in public and private sectors,” it said.
The committee has also said that innovative options have to be offered to talented students at the class 12 stage from amongst, say the top performers (depending upon projected manpower requirements of specific subjects at college and university level).
“They could be offered admission in a 5-year integrated course in those disciplines, which would include an emphasis on nurturing teaching skills, research methodology along with subject specialisation. This total period should be fully sponsored from public funds so that the best people are motivated to join the teaching profession in higher education,” the panel said.
A team of senior bureaucrats in the HRD ministry is presently studying the report as a National Education Policy (NEP) is being created by also including inputs from the states. (PTI)
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