Issues related with Higher Education in Gujarat – My experience with General Streams College.
By
Prin. S.P. Sharma
VAMCC, Bhavnagar Gujarat . India.
I am associated with higher education from last 32 years. During the period I did worked as a junior lecturer, Senior lecturer, in-charge of BBA, liaison officer of a business management course and now as a Principal of an Arts and Commerce College. I did associated ,at different capacity, in different cities, in various colleges and institutions. Mostly I worked in Grant-in-aid colleges. Such colleges have traditional working style and seldom take initiative to innovate educational system. What I found through my experience I shared with you all.
Issues of higher educations are related to various stake holders. Some of them are related with teachers, some of students, while some are associated with management and Government and finally some are related with affiliated University.
Issues with teachers.
Lecturers, working in granted colleges are very subjective in nature. Very few of them are interested in research in their own area. When it became compulsion to do Orientation and refresher courses, they will join the courses. But after the formality of completion of courses, they will seldom indulge in research activities
Teachers are habituated to attended conferences, seminars, workshops etc. only when college will pay the fee and TADA from UGC account or from college. This has become old habit with most of the regular faculties and they will hardly pay any fee from their pocket to join such conferences. They never think that it will add to their subjects’ knowledge and valued them better than all other fellow teachers .This attitude, of regular faculties, has squeeze them as teachers who are sailing within the boundaries of syllabus.
Secondly as govt. recruitment process is of snail pace, retired faculties are not substituted immediately and hence, if any regular faculty of the college, who is intended to join such courses of short term or long terms associated with research and development , from either UGC funds or of their own are not allowed by the principal as that may disturb the college schedule.
Problems of surplus are also messed totally. How to count workload has many confusion. Sometime 18 lectures of 55 minutes are considered valid and sometime 16 lectures are valid with different conditions. It was informed that a teacher will not be declared as surplus if he has 12 or more lecture or a post will be sanctioned if 12 lectures are taught in a subject. But then again new rule has come along with this, of at least 15 students for each class is must. Thus frequently changes in the conditions, also create confusion for Principal and Management. Entire responsibility remain with the principal if any mistake found in the recruitment process.
There are courses like FDP and likes that cost huge and of 6 to 9 months duration, but faculties are not allowed to join, as the courses period are too long to allow them to join. This is because of acute shortage of staff.
Issues related with Principal.
Principal bears most of the burns related to HE. With limited staff – teaching and non-teaching, he bears pressure to run college efficiently and effectively. All stake holders are expecting principal to function meticulously, even though, they are also part and partial in contribution of the efficiency of principals. It appears to all, as Principal has a magic stick and he would play the magic to mend every weakness of college. Unfortunately here Principal comes under tremendous mental pressure and seldom perform better. This is because he has to take work from all other parties who have their own conflicting issues and that indulgence in politics, of which most damaged party will be Principal. Teachers, students, admin. Staff, trust. Government, university, UGC all strongly believe that Principal is there to serve them. In humors one principal had quoted Principal as DROPDI (Five Pandvas’ wife) who had to satisfy five husbands at a time.(State Government, affiliated University, Students, teaching and non-teaching staff and parents) !!!!!!!
Many Trusts behave authoritatively and would order Principals to work as per Trust’s wishes, which may not be professionally ideal for Principal. Teachers have their own union and every union has its own wasted interest. Students’ union and groups are most threating to Principal as they want pressurize Principal to take most popular decision that is not in interest of education. All of them site instances where Principal failed to perform and start to black mail Principal and thus make him numb and kill initiatives skills of Principals.
There are Trusts, who force Principals to sign on the projects and papers that are either not morally liked by Principals or may indulge in corruption to appoint any person in the colleges. I have seen many colleges, where Principal has to take orders from non- teaching staff, sometime even clerks to run the college, as the clerk is appointed by trust and trust has no trust on the working style of the Principal. Trust will run college via clerk and Principal has no authority to spend even a single rupee. Though he has to sing on all cheques but with consent of the clerk, who is representative of the trust.
Last year Principals’ recruitment camp was arranged in Gandhinagar. The camp has many serious lacunas. There were many candidates selected as Principals, who had given computer programmers’ experiences as teaching experience. Secondly, it is set rule of HE Office of Gujarat Govt. , Principal should be selected only from the subjects that are taught in the colleges. Instead to follow the rule strictly, the department has cleared many Principals’ recruitment who’s Post Graduate Degree, is not of subject taught in the college. Commerce Colleges having Principals from sports subjects and Arts and Commerce colleges have Principals from Agriculture subjects. Thus confusion and ambiguity prevail everywhere. Those who had political edge, or can generate pressure or weightage in Higher Education office got clearance, others have to suffer a lot.
Students’ Issues: Principal and staff are two banks of a river. They seldom have uniform objectives. Both parties have right not to agree with each other and to oppose each other’s objectives. In some colleges Principal is stronger party (conditions applied...!) and in other colleges Staff is mighty. But fact is both are afraid of their students. Hence the Party who has strong influence over students, will prevail over the other party. Student Leaders are mostly interested to see that their mean objectives are served. Issues like exams, facilities in classes, admission, fees and results are prone to make Principals weak and numb. .
Issues of Quality Education:
Majority students of common streams colleges, in Gujarat, take education in regional language. Secondly till seventh standard they are mostly not allowed to fail. Thus till seventh standard, students are literally force to get pass. After they remain fundamentally poor in many subjects. To pass English paper, is always daunting task for them.
At college, they lack confidence and thus unable to understand English. Thus when any topic or subject, which needs further deliberation or study from different dimensions where reference books are available in English, create hurdles for students. In some cases, Principal and teaching staff, have the same limitation. HE is not meant to secure percentage, but to develop and generate, critical ability and to cultivate, test of research activities, among students. That purpose is not served here. Thus instead of generating scholars and Researchers, colleges are producing high school type graduates.
Issues related with College Management:
It is found that Principal recruited by management of colleges, were mostly from the same colleges and were yes man/women for the management. There are many Principal in the colleges who are either in blood relation with the any of the trustees or were working as lecturer under the same management from more than 10 years. Such recruitment, side track many aspirant who are qualified and deserve the post. This recruitment create frustration among desirable lecturers whose dejection affect on the ability as an ideal teacher.
Another mockery made by the HE Office was –Principals Recruitment Camp- In eligibility to apply one condition was that, the candidate must have 400 API at least. Those who were already working as Principal were also asked to apply with this conditions. It was found that hardly few candidates were able to reach 400 API. Those who applied in tentativeness , were not sure which articles and books will qualify for counting API points and which articles and books will disqualify for the API.
Issues of Recruitment.
From last some years, grant-in aids colleges’ recruitments are done through Department of Higher Education in Gujarat. There is vast disparity in recruitment process in govt. Colleges and in grant-in aid colleges. While in govt. colleges full scale payment is given from day one, while in grant-in-aid colleges fixed payment is given for five years and after Principal’s positive report, such teachers treated as confirme regular assistant professor. The difference in payment is almost double. Due to this assistant professors selected in grant-in Aid Colleges, leave granted colleges as and when they get job in govt. Colleges, leaving the former college in ditch. In my collage almost all (nearly 5 to 7) such assistant professors have left college after serving one to three years. Still we are waiting for second recruitment camp to fill the deficit.
Non-teaching recruitment has eluded all colleges from last more than 14 years. Ironically Principals and teachers recruited in govt. colleges, have to perform duties of administration too. Thus that affect teaching ability of teachers. Among grant-in aids colleges, there are many colleges that has not even one non-teaching staff. In my college, there is only, two non-teaching staff- one clerk (promoted peon) and one Accountant (promoted from Clerk and he will retire within 10 months). Thus the college will remain with only one junior clerk as non-teaching staff.
These issues are tip of ice berg. There are many such issues, such as, at time of Election, teaching staff is forced to join election duties leaving teaching and examination work behind. Registration of new voters duties are also entrusted to college teachers. Thus a teacher associated with higher education is forced to think as Admin staff. Even Principals are asked to reach Higher Education offices for paltry matters. From HE office administrative work goes at snail pace and that annoyed all concerned.
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