A committee headed by the Chief Secretary is likely to be formed soon to discuss a report submitted by the Kerala State Higher Education Council on issues related to the setting up of private universities in Kerala. The government will also take into account the recommendations on privatisation made by the Commission for Reforms in Higher Education.
Four higher educational institutions, including aided-autonomous colleges, had sought the government’s nod in order to submit their application before the University Grants Commission (UGC) for deemed-to-be university status, according to the Department of Higher Education.
Institutions funded by the State/central government require a letter of commitment from the respective government stating that it will continue financial support to the institution even after the declaration as a deemed-to-be university. The State currently has two government-funded institutions enjoying this status, including the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram (under the Department of Space); and Kerala Kalamandalam, Thrissur.
What institutions can be deemed-to-be universities?
As per the UGC (Institutions Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2019, an institution has to be in existence for not less than 20 years and secure valid accreditation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with at least 3.26 CGPA for three consecutive cycles at the time of application for being a deemed-to-be university. For technical institutions, two-thirds of their eligible technical programmes have to be accredited by the National Board of Accreditation. The institution should also figure among the top 50 ranks in any specific category or among the top 100 in the overall ranking of the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF).
The decision to evolve a legal and policy framework for deemed-to-be universities has the support of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who had proposed private investments in higher education and health sectors in the ‘Nava Keralam’ vision document approved by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) recently. In a marked shift from its earlier policy that opposed privatisation in higher education, the party is now looking forward to setting up centres of excellence in both public and private sectors while trying to “enable the State's knowledge society to leapfrog into the knowledge economy”.
‘A revolutionary change’
T. P. Sreenivasan, former vice-chairman of the Kerala State Higher Education Council who invited the wrath of the Students Federation of India for organising a Global Education Meet in January 2016, called the Left government’s move to liberalise higher education a revolutionary change.
“The ruling Left Democratic Front had long held that private investment would not be allowed in higher education, even though the mainstay of education in the State has always been public-private participation. More recently, self-financing institutions had changed the face of medical and engineering education in the State,” he said.
Mr. Sreenivasan said that Left-leaning intellectuals and educationists had opposed the Global Education Meet alleging that it would result in commercialisation and commoditisation of education. "The participants from many countries of the world were shocked by the developments and went back, swearing not to come again. The sudden change of heart by the left intellectuals is hard to explain, but it is obvious that wisdom has dawned on them. My only regret is that precious years were lost in the process,” he said.
Amruth G Kumar, Professor, School of Education at Central University of Kerala, said that the government move would actuate many existing autonomous colleges to upgrade themselves as deemed-to-be universities. “In addition, many De-novo category institutions (those focusing on emerging areas of knowledge) also may come up with proposals to open new institutions. There are many benefits of converting an autonomous college into a deemed-to-be university. The Category 1 & 2 deemed-to-be universities can start any number of new programmes, with just an intimation to the UGC,” he said.
Concerns over fair access to education
Prof. Amruth said that this liberty would open up opportunities for the institutions to start demand-based programmes, which can attract a large number of students and of course reasonably good surplus to its balance sheet. “The government and aided institutions would be constrained to follow this path, as it has financial implications for the exchequer. Naturally, self-financing inside the aided and government system may emerge as an alternative. Deemed Universities can open off-campus centres (within the country) and offshore campuses (outside the country). As distance education is strictly under regulatory measures, deemed university managements could augment themselves through this way,” he said.
The educationist pointed out that there is no reason to believe that this move can improve access to education in a fair manner. “As the whole move will create a wave of privatisation in higher education, the increase in the enrolment would largely be confined within those who have purchasing power. The government financial aid to students for pursuing studies in these institutions would cause the public money to flow into private groups. With parents and students getting more professionally designed educational packages, the competitiveness of the existing institutions would face a hard test, he said.
“In India, many faculty members in IIT’s and prestigious universities are now wooed by the high class deemed universities. The same trend would happen in Kerala as well. Naturally, the national ranking would reflect these changes in favour of private deemed universities. Needless to say, privatisation would stretch its arm in the higher education sector, definitely, at the cost of public funded higher education,” he added.
State Education Council must look into the quality of education, say experts
Pointing out that 'knowledge economy' would not come into effect through a government order or mere rhetoric, academician R. V. G Menon, expressed doubts over the move to convert aided institutions into deemed-to-be universities under the claim that it would usher in excellence in the higher education sector.
“The Left, which had earlier opposed privatisation, has now embraced self-financing institutions, with even the government agencies running such institutions. Most of them are profit-oriented and work on the self-financing principle by accepting contributions from the students and more or less universally from the job seekers. The government has no control over teacher appointment in aided institutions. It has become a general consensus in political circles that it is no evil. This is an outcome of privatisation,” he said.
Prof. Menon said that the Kerala State Higher Education Council must probe whether the existing autonomous colleges have been able to attain excellence and improve the quality of education. “No concrete measure has been made to the best of my knowledge to scale up the quality of curriculum and evaluation process in these autonomous colleges. Such a scenario is not limited to Kerala alone, but applicable to other States too. Excellence has to be created and it should not be at the cost of ignoring the State-run higher educational institutions. There seems to be a lack of determination in elevating the quality of government-funded higher educational institutions," he said.
Dr. Kuncheria P. Isaac, former Vice Chancellor of A. P. J Abdul Kalam Technological University, suggested that the government could have necessary controls over the deemed-to-be universities in the aided sector while extending academic freedom to the institutions. “Academic freedom will ultimately help higher educational institutions to grow and achieve its desired goals. They need to have academic independence as too much of government interference may turn detrimental,” he said.
On the issue of bringing in all the institutions (aided and unaided) under an educational agency into a single deemed-to-be university, Dr. Kuncheria said that the administrative mechanism of the aided institution under this umbrella could continue in the existing pattern. “The remaining institutions can be permitted to be part of the deemed-to-be university. The legal framework adopted by the government could have provisions that would ensure participation of government representatives in the governance of the institution,” he said.
