The Maharashtra government on Tuesday granted autonomy to three premier arts institutions in the State: Sir JJ School of Arts, Sir JJ Institute of Applied Arts and to Sir JJ College of Architecture.
Higher and Technical Education Minister Vinod Tawde said the move would help the institutions become of world class quality. It would also help them upgrade and streamline their syllabus to make it more industry-oriented and enhance the employability of their students. The government wants the institutions that had been facing flak of late for its lack of faculty and infrastructure to be on a par with world class educational institutions.
From now on, the colleges will be governed by an independent Board of Governance, which will comprise renowned artists, architects and art educationists. The head of the board will be chosen by the State. It will be supported by separate committee’s for administration, curriculum, subjects, finance, purchase, examination and building construction. These committees will make recommendations for the board.
Mr. Tawde said autonomy would also mean that these institutions will have to generate their own revenue. Though they will continue to receive funds from the State, they will have to work towards making themselves financially independent,
He also said the decision was taken after they found that autonomy brought about remarkable educational improvements in establishments like Institute of Chemical Technology, Pune.
Santosh Kshirsagar, Dean of JJ Institute of Applied Arts, said: “We are excitedly tense; after 70 years of India’s Independence we are getting a chance to work on our own and have our own curriculum. The JJ community of students, employees and alumini is very happy about it. For long we have complained about things, but now is the chance to prove to ourselves and to the government about the trust that they placed on us. Now, we can get outside funding and have our own consultancy like the IIT’s. Though individually our people have been doing well being on jurys at Cannes, but as an institution we don’t have a voice in the market, where only work speaks.”
Mixed reaction
There was mixed reaction to the decision. Vinay Saynekar, former professor of communication design, said, “I have taught applied for 27 years and I do believe that its syllabus needs to be overhauled and streamlined with the needs of the industry. Hopefully, this will bring about administrative autonomy to hire better qualified faculty as against the current system of just hiring teachers on contract.”
Achyut Palav, renowned Calligraphy artists and former student and faculty of JJ, said: “Private art colleges charge whopping fees; as much as Rs. 5 lakh. Hopefully, autonomy should not mean that JJ should not get beyond the reach of the common man.
“There is plenty of talent in rural Maharashtra and the institution should be accessible to them. It is such a great institution despite lack of facilities like a good library, art gallery or even good lecture halls. Many teachers can’t even talk in English. The government does not offer good salary and hence it fails to attract good faculty. Those things need to be looked into.”
Kalpesh Gosavi, student and ex-faculty of JJ, said the contract teacher system had messed up the system there. “Having teachers worry about contract renewal every 11 months with no salary for Diwali holidays has really harmed the academics at JJ. The infrastructure is bad and the equipment and projectors are old. Despite all this, students continue to flock here due to the artistic atmosphere here.”
The writer is a freelance journalist
