Wrote this long back for for a newspaper,but thanks to The Hindu,that it never saw the light..But here i am ,publishing it in my blog..
The writeup by the former IIM-B Director,Mr.N.S.Ramaswamy supporting and giving shape to the Government's proposed ,premeditated and unconventional step of increasing the seats in institutes of higher education stunned me.It ran a chill through my spine as i belong to a deemed university which already has an annual intake of more than 1000 students.Going by the quality of faculty position,i wonder what a further increased intake would lead to.
I am currently pursuing my B.Tech. from a deemed university in Tamil Nadu which offers a Bachelor's In Engg. degree to more than 1000 students every year.The intake is mixed(70% through the normalized merit system while the rest through the AIEEE exams).A deemed university is supposed to maintain a certain teacher is to student ratio.Thus for maintaining this proposed student to teacher ratio and thereby retaining the deemed university status, these private self aided colleges go for degraded quality of teachers who could be paid less.It leads to a severe decline of the quality of education given to the students.Even the 3rd year students(pre-final year) are handled by lectures with no experience at all.Fresh M.Tech students are recruited at low salaries for filling the post of lecturers.And frankly speaking this student to teacher ratio clause implemented By the UGC for Pvt. colleges do not help any cause.
According to Mr.Ramaswamy the institutes work for 180-200 days a year.Quite true sir.But the scenario in private colleges is such that even after a rigorous schedule for the students , the syllabus is rarely completed on times or sometimes is forcibly made to complete.The private colleges acquire a heavy infrastructure ( courtesy the money they shell out from the students) and this full fledged and ultra modern and advanced infrastructure serves as a compelling factor for new students.If the syllabus of these colleges are looked into ,one would be surprised to see that each and every aspect is duly covered and infact directly taken from that of IIT's.But the implementation of these syllabus is a totally different matter and there seems to be a lack of concern by the governing bodies for better and effective implementation of these rules.
Recently the chaos which swept the SIST and SRM deemed varsities was the outcome of over intake of students every year.Their increased intake violated the AICTE norms and this led to the ruling of AICTE against these universities.The result were catastrophic with widespread violence and rioting by the students.
Its quite true that certain corporates and philanthropists are interested in Higher Educational System(HES) but this may only lead to these institutes becoming a mere business houses.
I agree with the fact that Liberalization of the economy has benefited the middle class who now has enough money to be paid to the pvt. institutions.But it should be kept in mind that this is a hard earned money of the parents who sometimes mortgage their property for fulfilling their childrens dreams.But their dreams and pains suffered by the parents are hardly paid any heed by the concerned authorities.Its this liberalization and increased capacity of people which has been encouraging the management quotas and other back door seats( read it as seats only for the rich ).These pvt.institutes are no more temples of education("vidya ka mandir" as we used to refer them earlier) but have become mere business houses which knows only how to lure students in their trap and earn huge profits.They are totally devoid of the sense of imparting education as the prime necessity.
Its a hardcore fact that every penny spent on the student is extracted by the student's pocket itself.It would be surprising to to know that almost Rs. 80/- lecture is spent on an average by a B.tech. student.What you get in return is a poor and degraded quality of education.In addition to these fees extra fees such as development,student welfare fees makes the matters worse.
The concluding paragraph by Mr.Ramaswamy made be bite my nails where he said that freeing HES from govt. control and pvt. sector with concessions and incentives may one of the hopes.What we saw in SIST and SRM deemed varsities was the only result of such unwarranted freedom by AICTE.Further autonomy may lead to its misuse and gross violation of norms.
Hence the norms should be made more stringent and implemented more strictly.And it should be the duty of both the Central ans the State government to see that the rules are seriously followed.
Finally its my plea to the Govt. that increasing the seats is not a solution of helping the BCs.It would further lead to deterioration of the quality of education and bring in more candidates in the race for employment thereby increase the problem of joblessness which is quite prevalent in india.With a overall population of 1200 engg. colleges in India , increased intake would mean a two fold rise in engineers.And its a well known fact that its that quality not the quantity which matter.
So its my question to the Govt.,Mr.Ramaswamy and all the philanthropists who have been coming with their own solutions for this reservation menace is----
"Where lies your stand in the sand.......????"
Gaurav
at that time in 2nd year,B.Tech.
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