university reforms

The main points that have been highlighted in the media by the Task Force are:

1) There will be a National Council for Higher Education and Research as mooted by the Yash Pal committee

2) It will be governed by a NCHER Bill (Act).

3) It will give norms to govts and states on appointment of University VCs.

4) TN and Kerala are some govts which have opposed it.

5) TN wants Hr Edn back in the State List and not in the Concurrent List.

6) But this is not in the ambit of the Task Force to roll out the NCHER.

My thoughts:

1) It is a good and positive move to reform University administration.

2) It is also good that some basic guidelines and norms are given for university top level appointments.

3) But it will be better if govt moves away from university administration.

4) When all other systems in society are moving towards further reforms, we cannot use a 19^th century idea of government imposing its whims on learning centres.

5) A 21^st century Education 2.0 idea would be to allow universities to with their own solutions and reform accelarators.

6) Let the government gives a reform framework giving a list of guidelines and norms and move away. Chiefly, such a framework should involve academics, civil society and industry stakeholders.

For ex: A panel of three or five ppl from these sections should form the VC /Registrar or Dean appointments panel. And globally visible advertisements to attract the best of talent. The panel will vet the responses and go through a clearly defined process to select

7) Also the selection norms should clearly state the objectives of the appointment and spell out what are the expected deliverables /expected outcomes of the tenure. After each year, the VC appointee should undergo a clear appraisal process where he/she should show quantifiable outcomes of the year long work. It need not be research papers, Ph Ds or funds secured for/through projects or consultancy. Let the selection committee define the outcomes, processes.

8) Secondly, we cannot have the present governance structure in universities.

9) When deemed universities are pulled up for packing governing boards with their family members, the same accusal can be made at government. Look at existing State universities. The government packs the Syndicate or governing boards with its own people, however incompetent they are. After all they are only IAS officers who have little academic exposure or an outcome based perspective.

10) Whether govt or private or corporate universities, the best reform would be to clearly give competencies and qualifications for governing board members. It is no one’s concern whether they come from within the family or outside. Whether individuals sitting in the Board are competent and qualified is the only question to be answered.

11) In a country where more than 70 per cent of corporates, media houses, newspapers or political organizations are run by families, let’s understand that this is a country that believes in family first. There is nothing wrong. To repeat, whether the person is competent to hold the post is the most important aspect to be decided.

jpgandhi