Muddling with education

Educating and skilling the upcoming generation is an onerous responsibility. It goes without saying that such a task requires vision to be backed by meticulous planning and proper groundwork. After all, livelihoods and careers are at stake; there are also many for whom pursuit of meaningful education is an end in itself. When seekers of education are thwarted for no fault of theirs, if not betrayed outright, then the authorities who should know better are failing big time. Gauhati University, the oldest varsity in the Northeast, is presently facing tough questions over such failure.

It has been struggling with its ranking, perched at 22nd rank with score 68.58 in 2018 but slipping to 42nd with score 45.57 in 2019 as per National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). Several parameters figure in the rank and score calculated for a varsity, but for learners who enter its portals, it is their general experience of getting an education which really matters, as well as perception of it by the larger society. Like other varsities across the country, Gauhati University has adopted the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) from this academic year, but is making heavy weather of it.

In keeping with the headwinds of globalization and liberalization of education worldwide, CBCS aims to give students up-to-date, worthwhile, enabling education through a bouquet of core, elective and foundation courses; the central idea is to give students flexibility to choose subjects of his or her interest, learn at own pace, and be assessed through a grading system based on credits earned; there is also the component of helping students acquire working skills and develop entrepreneurial ability. CBCS thus signifies a paradigmatic shift in teaching and learning, which is why Delhi University had a hard time drawing up an appropriate curriculum and devising assessment procedures after adopting CBCS in 2015-16.

But since it was clear that the University Grant Commission (UGC) was irrevocably moving away from the traditional marks and percentage system, varsities and colleges knew what to expect. The difficulties of switching over to CBCS are well known — the necessary infrastructure has to be in place, the faculty must be built up and the grading system properly worked out. Yet Gauhati University has so far failed in making the necessary planning and preparations for CBCS, whether in terms of pedagogy, infrastructure or manpower. Appointment to college teaching positions in Assam has been a fraught, even compromised, process for years now; the row over provincialization of colleges and teaching posts continues to smolder. Yet without the necessary faculty in place, many colleges under GU are offering courses literally on paper. Lack of teachers with necessary specialization means that several courses cannot actually be offered; meanwhile, existing teachers have to shoulder additional workload, but it is a moot question whether they are doing justice to the courses or their students. Students cannot choose courses across streams (arts, science or commerce) anyway, but even within their chosen stream, they are said to be pressurized to opt for only those courses for which teachers are available.

Why is there no system to appoint teachers with expertise in new-age fields, and equally important, pay them decent salaries so that they are not lost to the civil services or the corporates? GU students have been voicing protests, among other things, about results being delayed for months despite the semester system in place, difficult-to-understand grading, cumbrous re-evaluation of answer scripts, and awarding marks on the basis of attendance. All these can be said to be teething troubles in adopting a new system like CBCS, but what about textbooks? Bemused students are descending upon Guwahati or hunting online for ‘Delhi University syllabus’ books that have been prescribed for CBCS, but those seeking textbooks in Assamese medium are up against the wall. The problem of accessing textbooks in the semester system was bad enough, but in the CBCS system, one does not even know where to start! This opens the door to purveyors of shoddy, error-ridden textbooks and notes to corner the market. Why were these obvious problems not anticipated beforehand by GU authority? The suspicion grows that this is yet another instance of diving at the deep end of the pool and hoping to learn how to swim — sadly, it is the hapless students who are being made to take this risky plunge and make the best of it.

This tendency of ‘muddling through and letting things take care of themselves’ was again on display when a CAG report tabled in Assam Assembly recently flagged as many as 21 ‘unapproved’ courses (by UGC, AICTE and DEC) offered by the distance education centre of Gauhati University (GU-IDOL). This was done for seven years from 2010-11 to 2016-17, Rs 93 crore was collected as fees, while the futures of nearly 74,000 students were put at risk because their degrees were not valid for central government jobs. Damningly, the GU-IDOL authority is alleged to have submitted false affidavits to UGC that ‘no courses will be offered without prior approval’, but were doing just the opposite! Reportedly, GU-IDOL did this because the Distance Education Council (DEC) ‘changed its policy’ of giving recognition to institutions ‘with authority to offer any number of courses’ — DEC later began to give approval ‘subject-wise’, and after it was taken over by UGC, gazette notifications were issued from 2015 onwards about approved courses. So why were ‘technically unapproved’ courses continued with? Because it was reportedly decided that students ‘not only aspired for central government jobs but also for state government ones, private sector and PSUs’, and because ‘providing access to higher education is empowerment’! Surely such explanations do not wash in the age of tight job market on one hand and flexible learning and skilling on the other. The panel constituted by GU authority should sincerely go into these grave charges and fix responsibility, so that the varsity’s reputation does not take such serious hits in future.