Seeking rejuvenation

Updated on: Monday, April 20, 2009

Higher education is likely to be overhauled and what began as an exercise to review the way the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) functioned has now become an endeavour to ‘rejuvenate and renovate higher education in the country.’

Well known scientist and educationist, Professor Yashpal who headed the review committee now seeks to put a definitive higher education framework into place — one that is in keeping with today’s changing times.According to the Yash Pal Committee, that met Vice Chancellors, Pro-Vice Chancellors and heads of academic institutions across the country and will submit a report to the government this month, funding and overall policy making could be made more efficient under an apex body. Taking off from this point the Committee recommended that multiple regulatory bodies in the higher education sector be replaced by a Higher Education Commission (HEC). It must be mentioned here that this point was also made by the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) but no action was taken then.

The Yash Pal Committee has also suggested that universities be self-regulatory bodies that are assisted by hassle-free and transparent regulatory processes; that they be made responsible for the academic content of their professional courses and that all bodies like the AICTE, Medical Council of India (MCI), Dental Council of India (DCI) etc, be divested of their academic functions, which would be restored to the universities. The Committee stressed that curricular reform must take topmost priority with the HEC. Undergraduate programmes should be restructured to enable students to have opportunities to access all curricular areas with mobility; institutions of excellence like the IITs and IIMs be converted into full-fledged universities and deemed varsities be done away with. The committee recommended the regulating of international universities that are eager to set up base in India. “We don’t have anything against foreign universities, but we have to make sure whether they are looking merely at the commercial aspect. Any university wanting to set up base here must be regulated by the HEC and get an accreditation here,” Professor Yash Pal said.

Amongst other suggestions and recommendations is compulsory exposure and engagement with work in the form of summer jobs or internships for all disciplines in each university and an evaluation of students on that basis. According to Professor Yash Pal, one crucial area where change needs to be made is in the ‘cubicle’ approach to education. “A university should be a universe of knowledge. It cannot be divided into cubicles called departments. Departments should have porous boundaries,” he said.

The Yash Pal Committee has also proposed that amongst its other functions, the HEC should be an advisory body to the government on policy issues and serve as a think tank for higher education. Now the ball is firmly in the government’s court.

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Seeking rejuvenation

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