Higher education lacks pragmatic focus: V-C

PUNE, June 11: The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Pune, Dr Arun Nigavekar, on Wednesday lamented the inability to relate knowledge to ...

PUNE, June 11: The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Pune, Dr Arun Nigavekar, on Wednesday lamented the inability to relate knowledge to pragmatic reality and improve the quality of life. This lack of utility had eroded the entire concept of higher education, he rued, while pointing out that over the years, we had been engaged in only cramming our curricula instead of confining our programmes to micro-level development.

The V-C was delivering a talk on Problems of Indian Universities, with special reference to the University of Pune8217; at a function organised by The Express Citizens8217; Forum ECF at the Young Men8217;s Christian Association YMCA hall. Nigavekar emphasised the need to realise the ground realities and accept challenges by providing an open and transparent administrative system.

Due to inter-connectivity, higher education is no longer confined to the four walls of the classroom and was also faced with a plethora of alternatives fast challenging the conventional system of education, Nigavekar said. With 6.5 million students seeking higher education today, the system faces unavoidable constraints, he pointed out in his hour-long address.

Nigavekar who grimaced that we had neither the social will nor the political wisdom to throw away the affiliating structure thrust onto us by the Britishers, also highlighted that the university system had to cope with the paucity of good teachers. 8220;Institutions of correspondence courses, especially down South, have become factories of producing graduates,8221; he quipped.

As alternatives to the conventional system, higher education is now faced with eight open universities, 65 institutions of correspondence courses, private institutions, deemed universities and even private universities, if the bill the proposed Private Universities Bill is passed in Parliament. 8220;We have to learn to live with this mixed basket of institutions and accept the constraints,8221; the V-C urged.

The unimaginable growth of higher education in the 708217;s and 808217;s due to the government pumping money into that sector has also led to the problem of trained manpower. With the elevation in the social status of the teacher which was at par with that of the IAS officer then, there was a sizeable rush towards the profession.

However, today, coupled with limited resources the government spends 3.8 percent of the GDP on education and 0.9 percent on higher education Nigavekar also expressed concern over the bankruptcy of thought, quality, credibility and the presence of mediocre and non-committed teachers. He however expressed doubts over the organisational and functional ability of the system and wondered if the system was mature enough if the government had to double its budgetary outlay on higher education.

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Earlier Dr S B Mujumdar made the introductory remarks while Lt Gen Y D Sahasrabuddhe retd proposed a vote of thanks.