ITBHUGlobal.org: The Chronicle: Robbing Peter To Pay Paul-Higher Education-by Devesh Kapur (Chemical 1983)

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(This Opinion article (third in a series) is published in Times of India by Devesh Kapur (Chemical 1983), who is director, Centre for the Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania, US. He can be contacted at: dkapur@sas.upenn.edu

His earlier published articles in Times of India are covered in October 2009 issue of chronicle:

http://www.itbhuglobal.org/chronicle/archives/2009/10/index-reports.php#004633)

(Prof. Devesh Kapur)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Robbing-Peter-To-Pay-Paul/articleshow/5327614.cms

Devesh Kapur 12 December 2009, 12:00am IST

Suppose a job applicant came to you and said that he was a 2nd class English graduate of Agra University. What does that convey? Can this person, for instance, write a two-page essay in English that has a structure and an argument with few grammatical errors? If not, what exactly can the person do that he could not have if he had simply stopped studying after high school? What skills has he learnt in the three additional years of education?

 The answers to these questions speak to one of the most crucial challenges facing Indian higher education: its quality. Whenever Indians think about quality in higher education they mentally jump to the IITs and IIMs, which have justifiably become international brand names. Yes, there are other names that also signal quality, be it the venerable IISc and ISI, the new National Law Schools, the dozen or so well-known medical schools and perhaps a score of what one might call liberal arts undergraduate colleges. There are some more enrolled in design, architecture and fine arts; add them all up, and it’s about 50-60,000 students out of a total of more than 12 million enrolled in higher education that we are talking about.

Let's double the number. That's still 1 per cent that attracts all the attention. Newspapers run breaking stories of who gets in and breathless stories of job placements and skyrocketing salaries. Intellectuals passionately argue the case for affirmative action in these institutions to advance social justice. And politicians of all hues lobby to get an IIT or an IIM located in their state.

Pity the remaining 99 per cent. How many newspaper stories have you read about just what jobs the graduates of the local college or agriculture university got? Or intellectuals getting as passionate for the social justice denied to the vast majority condemned to a mediocre education? Or politicians getting excited about the lack of a good agriculture university or nursing school in their state?

The 11th Plan has set ambitious goals for raising the quality of Indian higher education amongst which is the setting up of 14 "world-class" universities. It's a laudable goal, but what's puzzling is that somehow it is seen as something that needs to be done from scratch. In fact, in most of our major cities we have the nucleus of world-class universities. In Bangalore, suppose one had an umbrella that covered IIM-B along with National Law School, IISc and St John's Medical College. Right there India has a world-class university with excellent business, law, and medical schools and science and engineering. The same could be the case in Ahmedabad, if one combined, for example, IIM-A, with NID, PRL and SAC. In Delhi, if one could manage a creative merger of four-five of the best undergrad colleges with the Delhi School of Economics, ISI, IIT-Delhi, NPL, AIIMS and National Institute of Immunology, for sure the resulting institution would be on any top 500 list. In Hyderabad, there's CCMB, NMRL, IIIT, the new IIT and NALSAR Law College - again their combined strength would be formidable. Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai also offer similar possibilities. That's seven possible world-class universities.

 The essential requirements for quality higher education are basically three: concentration of talent, both students and faculty; financial resources that are substantial and stable; and governance, especially autonomy on teaching, research, admissions, hiring and pay. All great universities have these in abundant measure. India's best higher education institutions have them as well, with one major caveat: they are single-dimensional, rather than the multiple faculties that are the hallmark of a great university.

The proposal to create new "world-class" universities ignores a fundamental reality. The only way this can happen in the foreseeable future is if these institutions massively cannibalise faculty from India's existing high quality institutions. It was recently reported that a UGC study covering 14 central universities found that 42 per cent of posts at the level of professor, 29 per cent at the reader level and 34 per cent at the lecturer level are lying vacant. Further rapid expansion can only result in robbing Peter to pay Paul. And frankly any claims otherwise are simply farcical.

Combining existing institutions of excellence under a common umbrella may seem ludicrous - who ever thought of mergers and acquisitions in higher education? But the idea is less radical than it sounds. Great universities have strong federal structures that give their constituent colleges autonomy on most issues that matter. Yet the whole is more than the sum of its parts. If India spends Rs 500 crore to build common systems and infrastructure for each of the seven possibilities outlined above, there's a reasonable possibility that it could build seven world-class universities in a couple of decades. If, however, it persists with its existing blueprint, it has almost no chance and that too will come at the cost of existing institutions. And it still leaves the daunting challenge of how to improve the quality of the remaining 99 per cent

The writer is director, Centre for the Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania, US.

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Additional Link:

* Biography of Devesh Kapur on UPenn website

http://www.polisci.upenn.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=26

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ITBHUGlobal.org: The Chronicle: IIT Conversion news update

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a) Planning Commission approves the IT-BHU conversion file

Dated Nov 20, 2009

On Nov 17, Planning Commission dispatched the IT-BHU conversion file with its approval and recommendation to HRD Ministry.

Earlier, the group of students (*) met the Secretary of Planning Commission and requested him to expedite the matter. The Secretary gave the assurance.  Later, the same students could meet Hon'ble Minister Kapil Sibal in his residence (14th Nov). The Minister received them well and discussed the matter. He reassured them that this will be done but could not commit whether it could be done in this session. However he mentioned that he would look into it.

(*) Gaurav Garg (Metallurgy IV year), Harmanpreet Singh (Electronics II year), Vidhya (Engineering Physics II year) and Alok Kumar, M. Tech. (5-year Integrated Part IV)

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b) The agenda for Winter Session of Parliament includes introduction of The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2009.

This information is provided by PRS Legislative Research on its website, www.prsindia.org. It is listed under “Bills Listed for Introduction”.

http://www.prsindia.org/index.php?name=Sections&action=bill_details&id=5&bill_id=939&category=1&parent_category=0

It can also be viewed in the attached PDF file (the Bill is highlighted on page 3)

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About PRS legislative Research (from its website):

http://www.prsindia.org/index.php

PRS Legislative Research seeks to strengthen the legislative process by making it better informed, more transparent and participatory.

PRS Legislative Research (PRS) was founded in 2005 as an independent research initiative. PRS works with Members of Parliament (MPs) across party lines to provide research support on legislative and policy issues. Our aim is to complement the base of knowledge and expertise that already exists in government, citizens groups, businesses, and other research institutions.

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c) Following news was posted in Amar Ujala (Hindi) newspaper on Nov 26:

Website: http://www.amarujala.com/today/default.asp

The English translation is as follows:

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“BHUIT will soon get IIT status

New Delhi: The road for BHUIT to get IIT status is clear now. It is hoped that in next 2-3 months, our country will get 16th IIT and UP will get 2nd IIT. Minister of State for HRD Ministry, D. Purandeswari informed Parliament on Wednesday. In March 2008, the then HRD Minister, Mr. Arjun Singh announced conversion of Institute of Technology, BHU to IIT.

Prof. S. N. Upadhyaya, Director of BHUIT offered mixed reaction to the promise by Minister of State for quickly resolving this issue, which was hanging for one and half years. Although he expressed satisfaction that govt. finally recognized BHUIT, he also expressed doubt that the issue may go to cold storage again. He suggested that govt. should take this on priority basis, by announcing it after getting approval from cabinet. If this happens before Joint Entrance exam (IIT-JEE), then name of BHUIT will be also published in IIT-JEE brochure. This will enable bright students to join the institute and the institute will get all facilities. It is well-known that ITBHU stands 8th among older technical institutes. After opening of new IITs, there was doubt about the institute falling behind; for that faculty, alumni and students have started a campaign.”

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d) Minster affirms conversion of IT-BHU to IIT

http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/psearch/QResult15.aspx?qref=76562

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