Biju Dharmapalan
As we aspire to become a developed nation by 2047, there is an urgent need to strengthen our state universities nationwide. Even though we have hundreds of private universities and institutions of national importance, they are not accessible to every ordinary person. State universities often provide affordable and accessible higher education opportunities to many students. They contribute to the democratization of education by catering to a diverse range of socio-economic backgrounds. They contribute to breaking the cycle of poverty by offering avenues for upward social and economic mobility. State universities are distributed across different regions of the country, contributing to the balanced development of various states. They serve as educational hubs that foster intellectual and economic growth in their respective areas. State universities often reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity of the regions in which they are located. They contribute to preserving and promoting regional languages, cultures, and traditions.
State universities often engage with local communities through outreach programs, social service initiatives, and collaborative projects. This fosters a sense of community responsibility and encourages students to contribute to societal development. People who study in IITs and private institutions always aspire for overseas positions. Service mentality is rare or absent in these groups of people. If we analyze the leading scientists and academicians of the country, most of them had their early education in state universities. Even the scientists involved in our recent space missions, like the Chandrayan-3 and Aditya L missions, were trained at state universities and colleges. Unfortunately, the quality of education at state universities has been declining over the years. The main reason is the undue importance given to campus politics by teachers and students. Because of this, many students from affluent and even middle-class communities are leaving the country searching for new pastures overseas. The trend is so alarming that even after schooling, students leave the mother country, and many foresee a generation of old-age couples living in posh houses alone. With the latest UGC notification regarding the regulations for foreign universities to be set up in India, getting a degree from a reputed foreign university may not be difficult for the privileged class. But will it benefit our students, and will it prevent the exodus?
Why are people moving to alien countries? Is it due to the lack of quality education in our country? Is it a lack of poor infrastructure in our educational institutions? Or Is it the colonial mindset that made us look at foreign countries as better than our homeland? If we analyze the issues behind this exodus, we find that there are multiple issues, and it is challenging to pinpoint one problem.
Quality of education is one major concern. In many state universities, the syllabus is prepared for the convenience of the teachers and not to satisfy the challenging needs of students in the new world. Another main issue is the unnecessary administrative procedures followed in our state public sector universities and colleges. It’s more challenging to tackle the administrative people of these institutions than to learn complicated subjects. Even for minute things done, the students have to knock on the university’s doors several times during their study period. It seems our state universities have not understood the fundamentals of digitalization.
Most public sector institutions still follow the old style of paper-based filing procedures. Half of the productive time of students doing doctoral degrees in these institutions is wasted on tackling the people in the administration. From registration for the PhD course to awarding the degree, every stage involves meeting different people to move the files. In many state universities, submission of the thesis is more laborious than doing the actual research work. Students must get no-objection certificates from different sections, even sections unrelated to their course. Even after awarding the PhD degree, if the student wants a NET exemption certificate, they have to repeat the complete cycle of paperwork they did for their thesis submission. What is the need for these complicated administrative procedures?. Is it to protect the jobs of jobless staff members? Few new-generation national-level public sector universities like the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) have streamlined these complicated procedures, reducing the paperwork and completing the work within the stipulated timeline on their website. However, the majority still follow the old culture. Students of the present day don’t have the patience to do things that take time; they want everything to be done within a nick of time through the internet. Many students move to foreign countries to complete their degree within the specified time without hassles.
The second reason for the mass exodus is their lucrative salary in foreign countries. With the privatization of education, the concept of service mentality has evaded society. Gone are the days when students worked jobs as service. Nowadays, for even minor assistance, a student expects remuneration. When we were students, we used to help our teachers to maintain departmental libraries and gardens. Assisting the teachers was considered a great opportunity and prestige. The situation has changed, and nowadays, even if a teacher asks for some assistance, a student’s first question is what they will get in return. They are trained in entrepreneurial culture and are taught to build relations through money. One good quality of this emerging culture is that irrespective of their educational qualification; they are willing to undertake any job if they get a good salary. Our students are eager to undertake menial jobs in foreign countries rather than trying for a government job in India, as their only focus in life is money.
There is a third genre of students who want to enjoy life and explore new places with their family income. They are not all concerned with the quality of education. Instead, these individuals aspire to enroll in a foreign university more for its prestige. Except in very few universities where our students join through reputed scholarships, the quality of higher education is mediocre or poor, even in foreign universities.
Even if foreign universities establish their campuses in India, it won’t bring any observable change in our society or the education sector, apart from generating more employment. Only people from the affluent class could get admission to these universities because of the higher tuition fees. More than that, even if a student receives a degree from a foreign university having a campus in India, it won’t have the same weightage as studying in their main campus in the respective countries. The culture of a university is directly related to the culture followed in society. So, even if a foreign university tries to follow an alien culture, the native societal culture is bound to reflect on their campuses.
Setting up foreign university campuses won’t bring long-term benefits for our country. Instead, we must improve the quality of education and research in our public sector universities and attract international students to India. The presence of international students on our campuses will enhance our academic quality and bring money to the public exchequer. Since the Indus Valley civilization, education and learning have been deeply ingrained in the Indian subcontinent. Our ancient universities, like Takshashila and Nalanda, have attracted students from around the globe. We have to envision the day when students from foreign countries visit our public sector state universities, and we start our state university campuses in other countries. These will bring a knowledge exchange from different countries and ultimately bring prosperity and development to our country.
(The author is a science communicator and an adjunct faculty at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
