Opinion Our musty ivory tower

At the national level,the biggest factor contributing to the decline of Indian universities was the low growth rate of the economy which meant that investment in higher education was reduced to a trickle. The ’70s were times of great unrest and even central universities could not remain immune. With the universities lurching from one unrest to another,somewhere it was felt that while the universities would remain centres of mass teaching,good research in the sciences and even social sciences would be possible only in small institutes which would be easier to manage.

DU received very poor funding for development during the five-year plans prior to the eleventh. That it still survived and maintained some academic standards is indeed a remarkable achievement for both the teachers and the taught. This was mainly due to the intellectual capital available at the university. In a recent survey,it was found to be the top university in the country in terms of research papers in science subjects. DU is the top Indian university in a recent survey of Asian universities.

Thanks to the UPA government’s realisation of the importance of education in nation-building,higher education has been allocated much larger funding in the Eleventh Plan. To now have almost Rs 1,300 crore worth of grants to build infrastructure is a remarkable turnaround. While increased funding in terms of new buildings,laboratories,hostels,and libraries will matter a lot,enhancement of intellectual capital of an organisation is the most essential aspect. This can be achieved by inducting young,bright scholars in faculty positions and by allowing the faculty to continuously grow by allowing freedom of inquiry,facilitating research work and training. This has been achieved in considerable measure at the postgraduate level in DU over the past four years. However,there are major difficulties with the undergraduate education in our universities,including in DU.

If we take the top 100 universities of Asia,in which the University of Delhi stands at 67,the universities teach in semester mode and use the credit system,are highly multidisciplinary and comprehensive in the sense that both undergraduate and graduate degrees are taught at the same campus,in the same departments. In DU and many other Indian universities,due to the sheer number of students and the colleges structure,undergraduate education has been decoupled from graduate education.

Should we then hold our peace on the belief that renewal and reform are not possible and undergraduate education will languish in Indian universities except at the IITs because proper structures are not available? Is it possible in the existing framework of DU and many of the other large universities to aim at excellence? Can we use the separation of undergraduate education from graduate education as an opportunity,or are we doomed to perpetual mediocrity?

What is holding the University of Delhi and many other Indian universities back? The most debilitating and stunting factor is our inability to revise courses and curricula at regular intervals. What is a routine affair in the best global universities and even in India in the IITs,becomes an epic battle in DU.

The main reason for this institutional lethargy comes from the competitive politics of teacher groups rather than from individual teachers. Orchestrating the moves of nay-sayers to reforms in DU is the University Teachers’ Association which remains cocooned in the old mindset of perpetual opposition to anything that is suggested by committees and commissions,UGC and the university. Every change is seen as an opportunity to play the game of competitive politics and to establish hegemony over the university processes.

To give some examples of institutional lethargy,since Independence we persisted with a very anaemic BA (Pass) degree till 2004,when through a very tortuous process the course was made much more pertinent and academically sound and renamed BA (Programme). The reform process of 2004 in which internal assessment was also brought in all the undergraduate courses was littered with contention,mud-slinging and accusation of insensitivity on the part of the administration. So much time was wasted in scoring points that some lapses occurred in properly implementing the revised courses and structures. However,the reforms brought in some much needed changes — mid-term exams,assignments and internal assessment.

The new reforms initiated in 2008,to bring a uniform semester system in all the undergraduate courses,system of credits and revision of syllabi,would catapult DU to much higher levels of effectiveness. There will be more engagement between students and teachers,efficient utilisation of the academic calendar,modularity,ability to move to other subjects at the postgraduate level and possibility of more timely changes in syllabi. Students will be able to monitor their progress at regular intervals. All the postgraduate courses have been moved to the semester mode over the last two years without any difficulties. The revised semester-based syllabi implemented for undergraduate science courses will benefit students tremendously and are very much in the spirit of changes being sought by various committees constituted by the government and UGC.

In the reform process of 2008,which is still continuing,some very old-fashioned techniques of intimidation,slogan-shouting,name-calling,effigy-burning,wildcat strikes are being deployed to scuttle the process. It is clear that many self-anointed “activists” and their gurus who honed their skills of perpetual opposition (to anything and everything) in the ’70s are failing to see the new reality and are willing to wreck the careers of students and the cause of education for their petty gains of power without accountability.

We need to grow out from the mindsets created in the ’70s. If well established universities like DU,with lakhs of students,fail to walk with the times and carry out well-thought-out reforms,we will condemn ourselves to perpetual mediocrity. To develop zeal for constructive change is the challenge for all the stake-holders and for all those who take pride in the University of Delhi as the premier university of India.

The writer is vice-chancellor of the University of Delhi,views are personal express@expressindia.com