By Namita Kala
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education – Albert Einstein
One Human Resource Development Minister giveth. Another taketh away. As each fresh chapter of the ongoing brouhaha gets written down in the annals of the august chambers of the apex court in the country, the fate of more than two lakh students stuck in the crumbling fortresses of 44 deemed universities, continues to hang by a thread, the repeated assurances of Kapil Sibal, the current HRD Minister, notwithstanding. The lead up to the current scenario which can easily be divided into a five act play in the best Shakespearean tradition with Sibal playing Prospero, in the avatar of the magician, can be traced back to 1948 when the curtains first opened
on the entire issue of deemed universities, courtesy the Dr Radhakrishnan Committee report. On the basis of the said report, the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, declared that higher institutes of learning imparting quality education would be deemed universities.
However, at the outset such universities were a rarity because it was not easy for institutions to get the status of deemed universities. Even in the 1980s when rules were relaxed, only 18 deemed universities were born. Act 2 came into play only after the 1990s, after the Mandal era, that a host of deemed universities mushroomed across 13 states. Till their number rose to the current number that has been placed at “more than 109 (according to records available with the department of higher education), undoubtedly attracted by the huge grants that they were entitled to by both the state and Central departments and the growing number of students willing to pay through their noses for a professional degree.
Most deemed universities were earlier colleges affiliated to other universities but opted to scurry for the deemed status because it not only gave them a chance to enhance their fee structure but also took them out of the purview of the state legislature.
In the affidavit filed by the HRD Ministry in the Supreme Court in the Viplav Sharma vs Union of India case, the ministry said the review committee found only 38 institutes fit to have the deemed university status. Another 44 were found “deficient” in some aspects which need to be rectified over the next three years.
According to available information, the 44 deemed universities facing the axe are catering to 1,19,363 students at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. They have 2,124 MPhil and PhD students and around another 74,808 students pursuing distance education programmes. As many as 41 of the 44 deemed universities have several constituent institutions under them, which could expand the number of affected students, further.
Tamil Nadu leads the number of derecognized deemed universities at 16, of which 15 are private and one government-sponsored. Prominent among the institutions facing the axe in Tamil Nadu is the Bharath Institute
of Higher Education & Research that has six constituent institutions which is run by S Jagatharakshakan, who is currently Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting.
Karnataka has six derecognized deemed universities, Uttar Pradesh four, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Maharashtra three each, while Gujarat, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, have one each. The three government-run institutions to be de-recognized are Nava Nalanda Mahavira in Bihar, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Tamil Nadu, and National Museum Institute of the History of Art, Conservation and Museology, New Delhi.
An interesting feature of the raging drama is that Sibal’s zeal as a reformer has firmly put his own government and former minister Arjun Singh in the dock. Singh, according to highly placed sources in the corridors of power, distributed deemed status to various institutions like candies. Sibal however, reportedly has the blessings of both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Supremo Sonia Gandhi to pursue his course to reform the academic structure in the country.
So what is the central issue? Do the 44 deemed universities on the dock deserve to get the heave ho? What happens to students whose collective fates hang fire? Both secretary, HRD Vibha Puri Das and joint secretary, HRD, Sunil Kumar, side stepped the issue with the plea that the matter was sub judice.
Former vice chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Prof YK Alagh, tried to put things into perspective. He said that while he thought that Kapil Sibal was absolutely right in taking action against some of the deemed universities that were useless, he needed to keep an eye on the finer nuances because education was an extremely sensitive issue
especially in a federal system.
According to Prof Alagh not all deemed universities are bad, and felt that in fact some of them were among the very best. He also thought that the decision to inspect all the deemed universities by the UGC was extremely ham handed and only those universities that were not up to par should have been inspected as the blanket inspection was sending wrong signals.
However the central issue is not jettisoning the non-performing deemed universities off the academic horizon, the moot point that needs to be considered is the future of students. Despite loud assurances from Kapil Sibal that “no student would suffer,’’ the HRD Ministry has not yet honed out the final details regarding their future. Some of the apprehensions that have been expressed by students across the country are not unjustified.
The ministry has recommended that institutions found unfit for the status of deemed university “revert to status quo ante as an affiliated college of the state university of jurisdiction so that students would be able to complete their ongoing courses and obtain degree from the affiliating university.” Similarly, medical and dental colleges found unsuitable could affiliate to a state university or a state medical university.
In case, an institution was unable to obtain affiliation, efforts would be made to facilitate the migration/re-enrolment of the affected students in other institutions. Doctoral students could re-register in affiliating universities and those in distance education could either go to IGNOU or state open universities. However these are hardly likely to reassure affected students. As if ministry officials are to be believed that “finer details can be worked out,’’ which if translated into plain English appears to suggest that the ministry has not yet worked out the final details and whilst they are doing so and efforts are being made to cajole state governments into stepping into the “gap’’ students are likely to go through a phase of uncertainty as well as possible loss of time, as they move from one university to another.
A case in point is the fate of the students who were studying in the ill fated Chaudhary Multan Singh Dental College at Tundla. The college had been granted annual permission and it was derecognized by the Dental Council of India in the year 2000. Dr Pranav Mathur, a dentist who was a student there recalls that period with a shudder and says that he lost two and a half years, because the college was derecognized. He says that he had been allotted the said college after clearing the CPMT exam and after the dental college was derecognized the students moved the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court. The case was in court for eight months and in the end the students were told that they had a choice of returning to the college under the aegis of a government observer or getting transferred to other colleges. According to Dr Mathur the entire batch opted for transfers to other colleges because the facilities at their college were so bad.
Dr Mathur said the government needed to ensure that students did not lose any years because of the reform process. He thought that the deemed status should be given to only those universities that are prepared for the entire courses that they offer and not on an annual basis.
According to Prof Alagh, there is a need to look at the broader picture. If concrete educational reforms are to take place, top academics and scholars should be consulted. The emphasis should be to bring about changes in the existing approach to education where students study 20 questions, are happy when they find the six they need and go through university without actually acquiring any knowledge.
What is Deemed
? A deemed University gets its tag under the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act, but the guidelines to acquire this coveted status is vague.
? Section 3 of the Act states that the Central government may on the advice of the commission, declare by official notification in the official gazette that any institution for higher education, other than a university shall be deemed a university for the purpose of this Act, and on such a declaration, all provisions of this act shall apply to such institution as if it were a university within the meaning of the clause.
? Section 2, clause (f) states that `university’ means a university established or incorporated under a Central , a provincial or a state Act and includes any such institutions that may in consultation with the university concerned be recognized by the UGC in accordance with the regulations made in this behalf under the Act.
?The deemed status confers autonomy in deciding courses syllabi and teaching methods, along with administrative autonomy and degrees can be granted without affiliation to any other university. Deemed universities cannot merely be engaged in teaching, they must also engage in research. They are entitled to funds through the UGC.
Under the axe
? Shri Devraj Urs Academy of Higher Education and Research
? Kolar Yenepoya University, University Road, Mangalore
? BLDE University, Solapur Road, Bijapur
? Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Satara
? DY Patil Medical College, Kolhapur, Maharashtra
? Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education & Research, Chennai
? Chettinad Academy of Research & Education (CARE), Kancheepuram
? Sri Siddharth Academy of Higher Education, Tumkur, Karnataka
? Jain University | Bangalore Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth | Pune
? Siksha “O’’ Anusandhan, Khandagiri Square, Bhubaneswar
? Institute of Advanced Studies in Education (IASE) of Gandhi Vidya Mandir, Sardarshahr
? Mody Institute of Technology and Science, district Sikar, Rajasthan
? Dr MGR Educational & Research Institute, Chennai
? Saveetha Insitute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai
? Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education, Virudhunaga, Tamil Nadu
? Periyar Maniammai Institute of Science and Technology (PMIST), Thanjavur
? Academy of Maritime Education and Training (AMET), Chennai
? Vel’s Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies, Chennai
? Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore
? Vel Tech Rangarajan Dr Sagunthala R&D Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai
? Nehru Gram Bharati Vishwavidyalaya, Allahabad
? Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Puducherry
? Vinayaka Mission’s Research Foundation, Salem, Tamil Nadu
? Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai
? Ponnaiyah Ramajayam Institute of Science and Technology, Thanjavur
? Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD), Sriperumbudur
? Shobhit Institute of Information Tech, Meerut
? Jaypee Institute of Information Tech, Noida
? Manav Rachna International University, Faridabad
? Santosh University, Ghaziabad
? Lingaya’s University, Faridabad
? Maharishi Marandeshwar University, Maulana, Ambala
? Janardan Rai Nagar, Udaipur, Rajasthan
? Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar
? Graphic Era University, Dehradun
? Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, Nalanda, Bihar.
? National Museum Insitute of the History of Art, Conservation and Museology, New Delhi
Outlaws
Most institutes now becoming deemed universities are colleges earlier affiliated to universities. They are keen to become deemed universities because it takes matters like fee structure and other academic issues outside the purview of the state legislatures. This has affected the quality of education, while fees have continued to rise.
There is no authentic document providing a concrete definition of the concept of deemed universities. The decisions to declare these institutions deemed has been made purely on an ad hoc basis. Some time back,the UGC formulated certain norms to identify the appropriate institutions for conferring the status of‘deemed to be a university’. But, several aspects of this most innovative section of the UGC Act remain undefined and unclear.
Family enterprise
The PN Tandon Committee recommended the de-recognition of the 44 deemed universities on the following grounds:
l Undesirable management structure where families rather than professional academics controlled the functioning of the institute.
l Several institutions violated the principles and guidelines
prescribing excellence in teaching and research and were engaged in the introduction of thoughtless courses.
l Little evidence of noticeable effort in emerging areas of
knowledge.
l Little evidence of commitment towards research.
l Institutions increased their intake capacity
disproportionately
l Undergraduate and post-graduate courses were
fragmented with concocted nomenclatures.
l Higher fee structure than prescribed.