The Central Government should liberalise the education sector and do away with affiliation system, G. Viswanathan, president, Education promotion Society for India (EPSI), said in Coimbatore on Wednesday.
Speaking at the Regional Round Table Meeting on ‘New Education Policy Implications for School and Higher Education’ he said that the Government that did away with the license-permit-quota raj in 1991 however continued the recognition-affiliation-renewal system for education institutions.
There was total lack of transparency, which the Government could do away with by starting to dismantle the affiliation system, said Mr. Viswanathan, who is also the Founder and Chancellor of Vellore Institute of Technology. For it was in the affiliation system there were corruption and total lack of transparency. And education institutions were at every step forced to turn to the Government. The draft of the New Education Policy had some good points like the once-in-three-year training for teachers. This would bring about a world of difference because teachers in the West were well-equipped vis-a-vis teachers in the country.
C.R. Swaminathan, Member, Higher Education Council, CII, Coimbatore, suggested grouping of colleges into three categories - teaching institutions, teaching and research institutions and teaching institutions equipped to handle projects. He also suggested oral examination in choice-based credit system, facility for students transfer grades from one institution to another, and corporate support for education institutions.
Former Vice Chancellor, Bharathidasan University, C. Thangamuthu said that affiliating system had to go lock, stock and barrel because it bred corruption. The stamp of affiliation helped unfit institutions survive and attract students.
Comparing the accreditation process in India and the U.S., he said that in the latter, accreditation committees audited institutions for weeks by staying the campuses and attending classes. No such rigour existed in India. Vedprakash Mishra, vice president, EPSI, sought transparency in teacher recruitment and transfer process, a national campaign to attract talent to teaching and public display of vacancies and transparent transfer policy to stop corruption and nepotism. Nandini Rangaswamy, Chairperson, Southern Region, CII, sought parity in funding from Government for research projects. Earlier, A.K. Natesan, Secretary, Association of Managements of Coimbatore Anna University Affiliated Colleges, welcomed the gathering.
The Government that did away with the license-permit-quota raj, continued the recognition-affiliation-renewal system for education institutions.
Published - September 19, 2016 12:00 am IST
