Events & Issues

New Delhi, 24 February 2016

Universities In Crisis

ACADEMIC AUTONOMY VITAL

By Dhurjati Mukherjee

There is much talk about events happening in universities across the country. Though politics had entered higher education institutions a long time ago, recent developments ‘engineered by the NDA Government’ are a pointer that there is a growing vindictive approach towards the administrative system in universities. The events at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and subsequent sedition charges have sparked off controversies in other institutions of higher learning, wherein outside forces are trying to curb the freedom of students and free flow of ideas. Earlier, the death of Rohith Vemula at Hyderabad Central University sparked a huge uproar, with the Opposition grabbing the opportunity to hit out and accuse the Government of being anti-Dalit.

It is indeed shameful that the turmoil in JNU has drawn international criticism from renowned personalities such as Noam Chomksy, the well-known social commentator, Judith Butler, gender theorist, Orhan Pamuk, Nobel laureate author, all of whom, in a statement, condemned ‘the culture of authoritarian menace that the present government in India has generated’ and that those in power are replicating the dark times of the oppressive colonial period and the Emergency. In fact, Chomksy is reported to have asked the JNU VC ‘why the police was allowed to enter the University when it wasn’t legally required.”

Sadly, at a recent meet of Vice Chancellors vital issues such as politicisation of universities and its students’ bodies were not discussed for reasons best known to the educationists. However, during a lecture former UGC chairperson Sukhdeo Thorat stressed on policies that would enhance equity, non-discrimination and inclusiveness in higher education. What goes unanswered is how to tackle the party in power, whether at the Centre or in the States, which frantically try to thrust their politics on student bodies in Universities. In recent times, many an academician feels that caste and religion along with force, engineered by the powers-that-be, is vitiating the academic bodies.

A resolution seeking appointing an anti-discrimination officer to ensure a transparent, proactive mechanism for grievance redressal of the university community, including students, staff and faculty, may not be very much successful an idea if the parties in power don’t refrain from meddling in institutions of higher learning. The university should not be treated as a centre to exert influence, for the students unlike rural voters will not be swayed away by political pressure. Moreover, students by and large, have modern minds which tend to find acceptance in leftist ideas and not those propagated by BJP’s student and youth fronts.

One may mention here an appropriate observation of Jawaharlal Nehru: “A university stands for humanism, for tolerance, for reason, for the adventure of ideas and for the search of truth. It stands for the onward march of the human race towards ever-higher objectives. If the universities discharge their duties adequately, then it is well with the nation and the people”.

But this quote doesn’t hold good today. The quality of university education cannot improve if such politics as being witnessed at JNU, Hyderabad University, FTII etc enters the system. The lofty ideals enunciated by India’s first prime minister, himself a statesman in his own right, is indeed very difficult to make this a reality unless the political system changes and is geared for the same.

Moreover, the recent trend of appointing teachers, not to speak of VCs who follow and trumpet government policies, even though their academic standards may not be of a high standard, has indeed been a very disappointing trend. Whether in Central or State universities, all if not most VCs are selected on the basis primarily if they find favour with the party in power. Academic considerations are rarely and not the main criterion.

Reports indicate that many VCs have been forced to resign because they did not toe the government’s line in matters of admission, giving importance to the demands of the students’ wing of the party in power, putting obstacles to those teachers who may not be toeing the government’s line etc.

Coming to the academic status of universities there is some good news that the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati and Savitribai Phule Pune University are among the global top 20 as per Times Higher Education World’s Best Small Universities Ranking 2016. While IIT has acquired the 14th place, the Pune University is placed for spots lower at 18th. Universities having fewer than 5000 students, offering teaching and research across four disciplines fall in the category of small. Only 20 small universities in the world have been considered world-class, as included in the Top 800 World University Rankings.

This need not instil much satisfaction in us, specially educational planners and analysts, considering the large number of higher educational institutes in the country catering to such a huge population. Many of the Third World countries, which are much smaller in size, have fared much better, the primary reason being there is virtually no – or very little – interference in the administration of institutes of higher learning.

While total non-interference of the State hierarchy may be a utopian idea, heads of academic bodies should be given a free hand in running these institutes. A strict administration with faculty of high standards would go a long way in restoring the universities to their pride of place. Only those demands of students that are rational and judicious should be entertained. The VC should be one who is a model leader and an academician cum administrator having the capability and enterprise to lead an institution.

Another point that needs to be stressed is the recent question raised by Prof. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, Chairman of Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), that for how long should the degradation of educational institutions be tolerated? The administration has to be strict in governing the universities but the opinion and wish of students have to be kept in mind as, according to him, “the idea of university is in danger”.

However, to conclude one cannot deny that as most academicians agree the basic factor needed to improve performance and quality is to give more autonomy to these institutions and less interference, specially by political leaders.  Reiterating this in a recent article Prof. Suranjan Das, VC of Jadavpur University (also mired in controversy), stated that a university’s autonomy is sacrosanct though he observed that students have a moral responsibility to promote and preserve academic excellence”.

Thus, there is need to synthesize both to make the institutions of higher education vibrant while at the same time maintaining discipline. In a country like ours with diverse cultures, a good university or institution should look like the society in which it exists. If academic standards have to be relaxed to some extent in the interest of social diversity, that in itself should not jeopardize its contribution to civil society. ---INFA   

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)