‘Higher edu is over-regulated and under-governed in India’
One of the critics of the Higher Education Commission Act, 2018, chancellor of Vellore Institute of Technology University
G Viswanathan 12.07.2018 TOI
last week opposed the draft of the act saying the act gives more power to the Centre and paves the way for political interference in the administration of institutions. In an interview with TOI , he speaks about how regulations on private institutions are restricting their growth, the need to replace the affiliation system with accreditation, and the demand for more colleges with an updated curriculum
What needs to be done to improve performance of colleges and universities?
At present, higher education, particularly private institutions, in India is over-regulated and under-governed. Higher education in India means affiliation, approval, no-objection certificates, permission and recognition. People running a college have no control over syllabus, exam or results. Only India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have this system of affiliation, because of which we can’t compete with advanced countries where only accreditation is done. Though licence raj ended for industries and businesses after the New Economic Policy in 1991, education continues to remain in the clutches of various regulatory bodies.
Can you elaborate on the roadblocks due to these regulatory bodies?
Autonomy is given to only 300 of the 40,000-odd colleges across the country and there is a huge gap between the job market and the course. Also, it is impossible to think about a corruption-free government regulatory body. Regulations are harsh in the medical field. It takes ₹100 crore to ₹130 crore to get the necessary papers to start a medical college besides spending on land, buildings and infrastructure.
Talking about medical education, what is your take on NEET and other competitive exams?
I have no objection to NEET. Nearly 25 districts including Vellore and Chennai have benefited after NEET. Every year, 13 lakh students take up NEET, but only 6.5 lakh qualify for 60,000 available seats. Some of the qualified students can’t join private institutes if the fee is too high. So, the government should focus on increasing the number of seats in existing colleges and opening new medical colleges. Not only in medicine, there is a need to increase seats in several other streams. Our gross enrolment ratio is only 24%. The government has to increase spending on education to at least 6% of the GDP from the present 4%.
What’s your take on research here? Can a body like National Knowledge Commission help?
Research requires a lot of money. Only a handful of funding agencies like department of biotechnology and department of science and technology sanction funds after a lot of convincing regarding a project. Students from private institutions are not given any government funding and so they face a fund crunch. Answering the second part of the question, any government body with the right intention should be able to help, but the ministry of human resources development should allocate funds.
How do we fare in higher education and research compared to other countries?
Every year, people spend ₹65,000 crore to send 5.5 lakh students abroad for higher studies and research. This is almost twice our annual higher education budget. India has a lot of potential to become a world leader in research. For this, we should have a vision. Internationally, we are not recognised for education. Of the 5 million international students, only 40,000 come to India. Smaller countries like Malaysia and Singapore do better in this aspect. We should learn from the US, the UK and Canada where none of the institutions is exempted from accreditation. Here, institutes like IITs are free from accreditation and go on to become an institution of national importance.
What can be improved on the school education front?
There is an earnest effort by the Tamil Nadu school education minister (K A Sengottaiyan) to improve the school curriculum after damages caused for more than 10 years. Even there, we lag when it comes to training of teachers. There are training schools in Tamil Nadu where candidates can get teacher training certificates without attending classes. This needs to change.
G Viswanathan
One of the critics of the Higher Education Commission Act, 2018, chancellor of Vellore Institute of Technology University
G Viswanathan 12.07.2018 TOI
last week opposed the draft of the act saying the act gives more power to the Centre and paves the way for political interference in the administration of institutions. In an interview with TOI , he speaks about how regulations on private institutions are restricting their growth, the need to replace the affiliation system with accreditation, and the demand for more colleges with an updated curriculum
What needs to be done to improve performance of colleges and universities?
At present, higher education, particularly private institutions, in India is over-regulated and under-governed. Higher education in India means affiliation, approval, no-objection certificates, permission and recognition. People running a college have no control over syllabus, exam or results. Only India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have this system of affiliation, because of which we can’t compete with advanced countries where only accreditation is done. Though licence raj ended for industries and businesses after the New Economic Policy in 1991, education continues to remain in the clutches of various regulatory bodies.
Can you elaborate on the roadblocks due to these regulatory bodies?
Autonomy is given to only 300 of the 40,000-odd colleges across the country and there is a huge gap between the job market and the course. Also, it is impossible to think about a corruption-free government regulatory body. Regulations are harsh in the medical field. It takes ₹100 crore to ₹130 crore to get the necessary papers to start a medical college besides spending on land, buildings and infrastructure.
Talking about medical education, what is your take on NEET and other competitive exams?
I have no objection to NEET. Nearly 25 districts including Vellore and Chennai have benefited after NEET. Every year, 13 lakh students take up NEET, but only 6.5 lakh qualify for 60,000 available seats. Some of the qualified students can’t join private institutes if the fee is too high. So, the government should focus on increasing the number of seats in existing colleges and opening new medical colleges. Not only in medicine, there is a need to increase seats in several other streams. Our gross enrolment ratio is only 24%. The government has to increase spending on education to at least 6% of the GDP from the present 4%.
What’s your take on research here? Can a body like National Knowledge Commission help?
Research requires a lot of money. Only a handful of funding agencies like department of biotechnology and department of science and technology sanction funds after a lot of convincing regarding a project. Students from private institutions are not given any government funding and so they face a fund crunch. Answering the second part of the question, any government body with the right intention should be able to help, but the ministry of human resources development should allocate funds.
How do we fare in higher education and research compared to other countries?
Every year, people spend ₹65,000 crore to send 5.5 lakh students abroad for higher studies and research. This is almost twice our annual higher education budget. India has a lot of potential to become a world leader in research. For this, we should have a vision. Internationally, we are not recognised for education. Of the 5 million international students, only 40,000 come to India. Smaller countries like Malaysia and Singapore do better in this aspect. We should learn from the US, the UK and Canada where none of the institutions is exempted from accreditation. Here, institutes like IITs are free from accreditation and go on to become an institution of national importance.
What can be improved on the school education front?
There is an earnest effort by the Tamil Nadu school education minister (K A Sengottaiyan) to improve the school curriculum after damages caused for more than 10 years. Even there, we lag when it comes to training of teachers. There are training schools in Tamil Nadu where candidates can get teacher training certificates without attending classes. This needs to change.
G Viswanathan
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