Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Attempt to reform education system' that was published in Newsband

Attempt to reform education system

The new Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill has been drafted by the Centre. Access to skill-building and educational opportunity are vitally important. The Centre should give sufficient time to academia, the teaching community and society at large to submit considered opinions on the draft proposals. Regulatory bodies are currently exist for engineering, medicine and law. There is a case to include other professional education streams as well, including architecture and nursing.

The Centre has taken a decision to shift grant-giving powers for higher education institutions to the Ministry of Human Resource Development or a separate body. The UGC has been doing this so far. Maintaining a balance on allocation of funds and ensuring transparency will now depend on the proposed advisory council to the HECI.

Higher education is challenged today by fast-paced technological changes. There is a need to create a workforce that has the requisite skills. Main goal of higher education is to make human beings as a good citizen of the world first and then employable for livelihood. Higher education is also to create new knowledge to transform the world as a better place for all creatures. Our education system is not producing Nobel Laureates whereas USA education system is producing 4-5 Nobel Laureates every year. Should we copy USA education system? It is difficult to copy because social structure is different. We can modify our system in light of developed education systems of the world. Give academic freedom to teacher to teach, and evaluate students.

HECI is undoubtedly a valuable step taken by BJP government. Quality of education must be ensured and its reach should be available to all the eligible sections of society without any favor or prejudices. En-devour should be universal, quality motivated, reasonably affordable making them a national asset and not a liability in the form of unemployed youth wasting their youthful energies which otherwise could have fruitfully deployed and utilized. Hope this will be kept in view whatever the kind of system be to be adopted.

Degree mills and dubious training institutes are mostly run by politicians who use them as a source and sink for their political finance, earnings and slush funds. Unless this usage is stopped ruthlessly, there is no hope for purposeful higher education without political or bureaucratic interference.

This Bill also has its negative side. It is still beyond comprehension as to what are the aspects added in this Bill which made repealing UGC inevitable. Rather, the new Council will be totally dominated politically, administered bureaucratically and so called federalism is just formal. The rush itself rouses many apprehensions even if we brush aside all the past prejudices towards the ruling regime. Why no government is taking the initiative to leave education in the hands of educationists and make it free from political and bureaucratic interference except finance? If cheating in exams, admissions and evaluation is checked, more than 50% of the students will be out of the campuses.

Reforms at the higher education level are meaningless if education at the school level is not what it should be. Higher education must grow organically from a sound school education system. No reform at the next level will succeed if the lower level is rotten. Whatever the case, politicization of grants for maintenance of higher education must be avoided. Education should not be left at the mercy of petty politics. In India everything, in fact every little thing, is politicized. There is virtually no decision that the government or the bureaucrats can take at any level that is not politicized.

Proposed establishment of Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) in place of University Grants Commission (UGC) is welcome as a reform measure. After private sector was allowed an entry in field of education, commercialisation of education was inevitable. With commercialisation many undesirable elements have entered education field. Hence, we need to know whether HECI would be in a position to curb malpractices prevailing in institutions providing under-graduate & post-graduate education in India, particularly in the private sector. Apart from the fact that huge fees are charged for courses offered, quality of education imparted in many of these institutions of higher learning is unsatisfactory and accountability of these institutions is rather poor. It is hoped that when a bill to replace UGC by HECI is discussed in Parliament, our lawmakers would ensure that HECI would make a positive change in field of higher education in our country.

Some are of the opinion that dismantling UGC and separating the funding operation is bad since the academic side is to be at the beg and call of the HR Ministry even for bonafide academic work and sidelining the HECIs recommendations.