DESIGNING A NEW STRUCTURE
for Affiliating-type Universities
1.0 A Brief
History of Higher Education in India: Before the end of the thirteenth century, India
had universities like Takshshila, Nalanda and Vallabhi, which attracted
scholars both from the Indian sub-continent and from the rest of the world. In
addition, in every major city, there were Acharya-centric institutions, which
may be called residential colleges, by today’s terminology. If a student was
accepted, the education at the universities and the colleges was offered free
of cost. The expenses of the universities and the colleges were paid by the
society through allocation of revenue from certain villages for these
institutions. By the end of the 13th century, all the universities
were destroyed, when the kings in the areas of the university were defeated by
the invaders from the north-western part of India. During the period from the
14th century to the beginning of the 19th century, the
Colleges continued to provide service. Moreover a few Madarsas, associated with
certain mosques, were established for religious education in Arabic and Persian
languages.
In the beginning of the 19th century, East
India Company (EIC), which had acquired complete domination in Eastern India
and which had become an important power in the southern and the western parts
of India, started collecting the revenue from villages directly and it
discontinued the age-old practice of allocating revenue from certain villages
to the colleges. It resulted in closure of the traditional Acharya-centric
Colleges in the areas under EIC.
1.10 New
Colleges during the 19th century1: In 1892-93, the
British parliament took up the issue of renewing the royal charter to EIC for
the next decade. During the discussions, when the issue of education in the
vast territories, under the control of EIC, was discussed, one of
the Directors of EIC observed that "they had just lost America from their
folly in having allowed the establishment of schools and colleges and it would
not do for them to repeat the same act of folly in regard to India".
In
about four decades, the policies changed and on 7th March 1835, the
Council of Lord William Bentinck, the then the Governor-General of India, approved Macaulay's well-known Minute and
decided that “all the funds (for education)
at the disposal of the Government would henceforth be spent in imparting to the
Indians a knowledge of English literature and science."
Education
in Engineering began with an Institution in Bombay in 1824. In 1848 the Earl of
Dalhousie, the then Governor General, suggested the establishment of an
Engineering College in each of the three Presidencies of Bombay, Madras and
Calcutta. In 1847 it was decided to construct the Ganges Canal and large
workshops were erected at Roorkee. The Lieutenant Governor of United Province
(Mr. Thompson) opened an engineering college at Roorkee.
By
the middle of the nineteenth century, the missionaries had established a number
of Colleges in various cities under the control of EIC. However there was no
university, which could award a degree, approved by Government of India, to the
graduates from the Colleges.
1.11
The first three Universities of 1857: In the Despatch of 1854 by Sir
Charles Wood, one of the proposals was for establishment of three universities
at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay on the model of the London University. The
function of each of the universities was to confer degrees on those students,
who had completed a course of a specified duration at one of the affiliated
colleges and who was able to pass the exam, conducted by the university in
their area of study. On 24th January 1857, the Governor-General
approved the establishment of the universities in Calcutta, Madras and Bombay.
In 1858, for the first time, two students qualified for award of the first
degree by Calcutta University. One of them was Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, who
later wrote ‘Vande Matram’.
In
1882, an Education Commission, set up by Government of India, recommended the
gradual withdrawal of the State from the direct support and management of institutions
of higher education. This led to the establishment of many Self-Financed
Institutions (SFI).
By
1947, India had 20 universities, 500 Colleges and 210,00 students, enrolled in
institutions of higher education.
1.20 The three Education
Commissions: After independence, Government of
India has constituted three Education Commissions, in 1948, 1964 and in 2014,
to advise it about the steps, that it should take to improve the quality of
education in India. The Reports of the first two Commissions, chaired
by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan and Dr. D.S. Kothari respectively are available. The last two paragraphs of 1.10 and the
section 1.11 are based upon the Radhakrishnan Commission Report of 1949.
Seventeen years
after the Report of the
Radhakrishnan Commission had been received, Kothari Commission in its Report2
of 1966 said that “Indian education needs a drastic reconstruction, almost a
revolution. We need to bring about major Improvement in the effectiveness of
primary education; to introduce work-experience as an integral element of
general education; to vocationalize secondary education; to improve the quality
of teachers at all levels and to provide teachers in sufficient strength; to
liquidate illiteracy; to strengthen centres of advanced study and strive to
attain, in some of our universities at least, higher international standards;
to lay special emphasis on the
combination of teaching and research and to pay particular attention to
education and research in agriculture and allied sciences.“
Today
in 2017, even 51 years after the receipt of the Kothari Commission Report, we
are not able to offer good quality of education to the young in our Schools and
Colleges.
“There are 36,000 colleges producing
graduates but a large number of passouts are unemployable.” ---President Pranab Mukherjee on
14th December 2016 at the annual day celebration of CII's
Skill Training Centre, Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh.
1.21 The Employability of
Graduating Students: A nationwide multidimensional skill assessment
test- the Wheebox Employability Skill Test3,4 - is
now conducted every year in co-operation with Confederation of Indian
Industries, All India Council of Technical Education and others. These tests regularly
show that more than 50% of graduates from India’s universities do not have
adequate skills to be readily employable.
Much before the
problem of unemployment of graduates from technical Colleges arose, in 1956, the Ministry of Human
Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India established Indian Institute
of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur. Today under the MHRD umbrella, there are many
great institutions including 16 IITs, 13 IIMs. In 2017, MHRD has decided to establish
20 world class
research universities. However IITs, IIMs and the 20 new universities will be
able to serve less than 10% of the students. If more than 80% students were to
continue to study in Colleges, affiliated with other State universities and if
these Colleges were to offer education of mediocre quality, the input to the
master’s and research programs of the elite institutions of India will remain
at a level, which will not permit these institutions reach the group of
top-ranked 50 universities of the world.
WARNING TO INNOVATORS:`` It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to
carry out, nor more dangerous to conduct, nor more doubtful in its success,
than an attempt to introduce innovations. For the leader, who innovates
will have for his enemies all those who are well off under the existing order
of things, and only lukewarm supporters in those who might be better off under
the new. This lukewarmness arises… partly from the incredulity of mankind, who
do not truly believe in anything new until they have had the actual experience
of it. Hence it is that, whenever the opponents of the new order of things have
the opportunity to attack it, they will do it with the zeal of partisans,
whilst the others defend it but feebly, so that it is dangerous to rely upon
the latter.''--Niccolò Machiavelli, in ‘The
Prince and The Discourses’ (1513), Chapter 6
2.0
An Innovative
Model for Higher Education in India: GTU
opened its doors for affiliating colleges in 2008. It used the first two years
for finalizing the syllabi for its Bachelor’s and Master’s programs and for
developing its processes for state-wide examinations.
From
2010, it began implementing an innovative model, based on a holistic vision of
higher education. The model has three dimensions: (a) academic,
(b) intensive inter-actions with our society and industries and (c) research
& development.
The model was sought to be
implemented through three vehicles: (i) an academic system consisting of
Post-graduate Research Centers, with extensions for serving and coordinating
with the affiliated colleges. (ii) a system for bringing renowned
professors from the rest of the world to GTU and for facilitating the
inter-actions of the Faculty Members and students with the academic systems of
the rest of the world (iii) GTU Innovation Council for establishing facilities
for students and alumni to develop new products and processes and for
facilitating the use of workshops and laboratories of the Colleges as
development centers for MSMEs.
The model is designed to
be supported by a strong but flexible administrative structure at the
university. (The poorly equipped non-teaching staff at State
universities, as of now, can only support the function of a university as an
examination board, as envisaged by the Wood’s Despatch of 1854.)
2.10
CONNECTIONS WITH INDUSTRIES: At Gujarat Technological University, a framework
in the form of GTU Innovation Sankuls was created in 2011 to bring Colleges and
industries on a common platform. The inter-action started
proving highly successful wherever a principal of a College or
an industry leader were able to allocate some time and interest in implementing
the framework.
2.11 DESIGN ENGINEERING: GTU has introduced design thinking in its
entire syllabi to encourage the technological students learn not only analysis
and correlation but also application and design of products. This is required
if our start-ups are to move from IT applications towards marketable products.
2.12 RESEARCH AT COLLEGES: GTU set
up Post-graduate Centers of Research, which support the Faculty Members and
Post-grad students in performing good research. (The earlier models of
University Colleges at affiliating-type universities has proved to be
unsuccessful since these have become centers of power-mongering since
university colleges assume authority for conducting exams,
recruitment etc at the Colleges.)
For Faculty Members and post-grad
students, the Research Centers were supposed to provide the following: (i) Research
Groups, Research & Development Boards and world-class
libraries and laboratories for providing first-class facilities for
research, (ii) top-quality conferences, seminars and
workshops and (iii) opportunities for inter-action with
world-class Faculty Members and researchers from the top-most universities of
the world.
This can encourage the lakhs of Faculty Members in Colleges to develop themselves and to start contributing to
the knowledge economy of the world.
2.13 CONSULTATION WORK & INNOVATION COUNCIL:
To support the Faculty Members and students, GTU set up Research
& Development Cell, Intellectual Property Rights Cell and GTU Innovation
Council (GIC). GIC established facilities for students and alumni to
develop new products and processes -- leading to development of
start-ups. (The then Vice-Chancellor of GTU, chaired the Committee,
which prepared the AICTE Policy on Start-ups.) GTU organized three Hackathons during 2015-16 jointly with the District
panchayats of Ahmedabad and Sabarkantha. AICTE organized, on a national scale,
the Smart India Hackathon, which was addressed by Shri
Narendrabhai Modi on April 1, 2017.
2.14 COMMUNICATION & SOFT SKILLS: Even after spending many years in
obtaining technological education, if the communication skills of graduates remain
weak, the Colleges and GTU have to take responsibility. For this purpose, GTU
has implemented a compulsory course called ‘Contributor Personality Development
Program’ and GTU has been providing financial support to its associated
Colleges for its ATELIER (Activity-based
TEam Learning Innovative EngineeRs) program for developing communication skills of the
students. GTU also requires that
before graduation, every student has to earn 100 points through active
participation in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.
3.0
The Conclusion: This is
the only model, which can produce results within five years all over the
country and propel India to become an equal partner in the great system of
higher education of the developed world. The model will use the advantage of
our large numbers, churn out the best and create an environment of learning, which
can help India become an equal partner with the universities in the developed world
in developing new ideas and new products, while using national resources very
economically.
Akshai Aggarwal
REFERENCES:
1http://www.educationforallinindia.com/1949%20Report%20of%20the%20University%20Education%20Commission.pdf
3https://books.google.ca/books?id=YTkgDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1929&lpg=PA1929&dq=CII+on+employability+of+graduates+in+India&source=bl&ots=pqbPY_3nAk&sig=v1m1A1dd2zTNIyR0zeovWdi9QHQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZrtes_uvVAhVr2IMKHdc_Byk4ChDoAQg9MAQ#v=onepage&q=CII%20on%20employability%20of%20graduates%20in%20India&f=false
– Page 1929
In view of the discussions, the Indian Education System needs a drastic reconstruction, almost a revolution to provide Quality Education in our schools and colleges and our biggest concern being the Employability of Graduating students. I would appreciate the Innovative Model for Higher Education in India offered by GTU based on Holistic Vision of HE having the 3 dimensions- academic, intensive interactions with industries and society, research & development implemented through 3 vehicles of an academic system consisting of PG Research Centers, a system for bringing renowned Professors from the rest of the world to GTU and GTU Innovation Council. The model is designed to be supported by a strong but flexible administrative structure at the University. The model has been able to produce results within 5 years all over the country and propel India to become an equal partner in the great system of HE of the developed world. The model uses the advantage of our large numbers and churn out the best using national resources very economically - Kudos to Dr. Akshai Aggarwal, the Architect of this model at GTU as its Vice chancellor for his great work, commitment to Quality Education, his thought processes, his vision, his nationalist views and above all the Enthusiasm he seeds in every individual for doing the BEST and go on raising the BARS of PERFORMANCE - in our Education System making it more HUMANE and outcome based. Sir! With All Respect, We look forward to several of such initiatives from YOU to make our Educational System relevant to the coming times.
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