Assault on academic autonomy: JNU to review special centres, teachers up in arms

There are eight special centres — like the Centre for Molecular Sciences and Centre for Sanskrit Studies — which are independent and do not fall under any school in the varsity. Established over the past 24 years to promote interdisciplinary research and education, the centres operate under a set of rules enshrined in the JNU Act, statutes, and ordinances. They have their own statutory bodies to oversee academic matters, including course design and syllabi.

JNUTA said the decision, announced in a notification issued on September 11, undermines JNU’s democratic and decentralised model of governance. “All academic matters, including courses and syllabi, are approved by these statutory bodies and subsequently approved by the Academic Council. Neither the Academic Branch nor V-C has any statutory power to appoint a random committee to ‘review’ courses, syllabi and functioning of any special centre, or for that matter any school or centre,” the statement added.

Speaking to The Indian Express, a JNU official however, said, “(The UGC’s) NAAC has recently given us strong comments over the specialised centres, stating that there is a duplication of work of several departments happening here. This exercise is only to understand who started these centres, when they started, do they have UGC-sanctioned posts or not. We are making a status report to understand the vision and mission of these centres so that we can strengthen them further.”

JNUTA maintained that the administration’s decision could lead to the erosion of academic freedom. “The illegal imposition of a random committee… is nothing short of an attempt to replace the autonomy of Centres with a system of authoritarian control, which can only do severe damage to an educational institution such as JNU,” its statement further said.

The teachers’ association said it would intensify protests if the decision is not withdrawn.