Opinion UGC has failed the test,let students down
When the apex higher education regulator attempts to make right the wrongs its own wings and laid procedures had earlier exposed,you know things are far from well in the education sector.
When the apex higher education regulator attempts to make right the wrongs its own wings and laid procedures had earlier exposed,you know things are far from well in the education sector.
Instead of making an example of the Manipal Institute of Higher Education (MAHE) for illegally running unapproved institutes and misusing its status as a deemed to be university,the University Grants Commission has in effect rewarded the varsity,offering it approval for these institutes by a simple change in nomenclature. UGC taking serious note of the lapse is all that has been done in the name of action against or admonishing of MAHE.
What is even more shameful is that the regulator has cited larger student interest in failing to act against the Manipal institute. Which leads to the critical question where exactly does student interest lie? Is it truly in the interest of students who may have unfortunately enrolled in these unapproved institutes that the wrongdoing committed by their institutes be covered up and these be granted approval? Or does larger student interest lie in publicly exposing institutes that are misleading thousands year after year.
The contention that the courses being offered by these unapproved institutes were approved by UGC and that hence it is alright to rename and merge them with approved units confounds just as much,and in fact sets a dangerous precedent which many deemed varsities running similar illegal institutes will be happy to exploit.
Incidentally,the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has introduced a Bill in Parliament to check similar malpractices by institutes and proposes stiff penalties against offenders. Ironically,UGC itself has been asked to bring in regulations meanwhile to check unfair practices in the higher education sector.
This disappointing episode at UGC not only smacks of arbitrary decision making and flawed rationale but is also a sad reminder of how the regulator functioned between 2004 and 2009 doling out deemed varsity status to sundry institutes,many of whom were later found deficient on several counts.
The HRD Ministry cant escape the blame either. The HRD higher education secretary is a part of the UGC commission and was very much in attendance as MAHE was bailed out with honour.
Anubhuti is a special correspondent based in Delhi
anubhuti.vishnoi@expressindia.com
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