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Kerala Educational ScenarioSTRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Kerala has several firsts to itscredit. It is the most literateState in the country .It is also

the first State to fulfil the constitutionalmandate of providing universal, free,primary education to all the children upto the age of fourteen years. In 1991Kerala has achieved the distinction ofthe first State in India to be declared as100 per cent literate. In the field of HighSchool education Kerala can feel proudof being ahead of other States. Keralagives free school education to all. Itcharges no fees to the students duringthe pre-degree stage. In the field of

Dr. M.V. Pylee,Former Vice-Chancellor, University of Kochi

The presentcollegeeducation infact doesnot preparea studentfor any taskin life.

general higher education too -Arts and Science Colleges -Kerala perhaps standsfirst in terms of the number of seats available for every 10,000 of its population.

A paradox of higher education in the State is that even though the extent ofunemployment among the educated is more among those coming out of theinstitutions of higher education of a general type, the demand for establishingmore and more of such institutions is increasing year after year.

Kerala’s performance in the field of technical education, particularly in thefield of higher technical education, is far behind several other states. The spectacleof thousands of candidates from Kerala seeking admission to medical, engineeringand other professional courses in neighbouring States every year has become aregular familiar phenomenon. In fact, they go anywhere in India where possibilitiesfor admission to professional courses are available. It is indeed a desperate andcostly hunt, hunt for higher technical and professional education.

The fact that private professional colleges in other States, especially in Karnatakacharged high capitation fee was no deterrent to the aspiring medical or engineering

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students from Kerala. The children of NRIs of Kerala origin also figure in thiscategory prominently.

In the early sixties the State took steps to start a large number of Junior Colleges.The stated objective of starting those colleges was to provide a terminal Coursefor young people to enter the field of gainful employment, two years after theschool leaving certificate examination. They were also intended to offeremployment-oriented courses. But what happened, unfortunately, was that everyone of them in a few years became regular Arts and Science Colleges of theconventional type, a development which was never intended or envisaged by thepolicy makers.

There was no attempt to modernize these conventional Courses with a view tomaking the products coming out of these institutions better suited to availableemployment opportunities. Every attempt to reform the system has met with stiffresistance. There is an organized vested interest entrenched within the institutions,especially the organized teachers’ groups and to a lesser extent non-teachingemployees to see that no reform is made Possible in the existing system.

From the point of view of industrial development, Kerala is far behind manyother States in India. Yet the State has a variety of industries in all sectors. Thereare a Score of large industries in the State. Medium size industries number overtwo hundred. And there are about 25,000 small industries. Apart from a very largenumber of branches of all the nationalized banks, Kerala has eight large scheduled

banks in the private sector.Kerala is well known as a consumer

State. Consumer services arechannellised through a large number ofoutlets and trading institutions. Amongthem are over a lakh of tradinginstitutions which may be categorizedas large and medium.

The point that is relevant here is, towhat extent our higher educationalinstitutions have established contactsand relationships which bring thestudents in touch with industry andtrade. The fact is that even the technicaleducation institutions have very littleregular interaction with them.

Lack of interface between industryand trade on the one hand and highereducational institutions on the other,make the world of study and the worldof work two worlds altogether

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unrelated. Students in the colleges anduniversities are largely ignorant of whathappens in the industrial and tradeworld. They have little contact withthem and they are not even remotelyaware of the employment opportunitiesin them.

The Colleges and other highereducational Institutions are also notconcerned with the problems ofPanchayats and Municipalities in theState. There is no effort to make themaware or interested during their courseof study, in the development challengesof the local self-governing institutions.They also do not get at any stage duringtheir educational career theopportunities that await them in adeveloping society and the manner inwhich they might take advantage ofthem through entrepreneurial ventures.In many developed countries evenstudents at school level are exposed toentrepreneurship and its vastpotentialities.

The present college education infact does not prepare a student for anytask in life. It is in this context that theintroduction of job-oriented coursesassumes great importance; to make theyounger generation aware of theimmense potentialities of preparingthemselves for new jobs as well as thecreation of new jobs.

What was the strategy needed forthe State in the technical professionalfield was never subjected to anauthoritative study by any expert group.Even though the number of job seekersfrom Kerala who went to the GulfStates in the seventies and eighties wasvery large and it was increasingly knownthat technically qualified, and skill-oriented persons were more and morewelcome in these States, no consciouseffort was made within the State to traintechnicians and other professionals tomeet the increasing demand. Eventoday, State has no concrete plan to havea comprehensive scheme of introducingjob-oriented courses in large numbersto meet the situation.

In this context what the State has todo is a thorough revamping of its

educational system, both in quality andquantity. Some specific suggestionstowards this direction are detailedbelow:

Unified University SystemThe Government’s proposal to have

a single integrated legislation to dealwith all the affiliating universities in theState is a welcome move. This will helpthe restructuring and reforming of theuniversity bodies with a view toremoving party politics from universitybodies. The U.G.C has given specificguidelines in this respect and theproposed legislation should conform tothose guidelines. Tamil Nadu,Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh havealready passed such legislation years ago.We are far behind them in this respect.

being rearranged to facilitate this. Thiswill reduce costs; the students will getguidance from the best teachers andenhance the quality of research.

There should be uniformity of thesyllabi, admissions, conduct ofexaminations and publication of resultsof different universities so that mutualtransfer of students is made possible.Distance education and privateregistration should be under a differentBoard or set up.

Vision and MissionStatement

Each university should prepare itsown Vision and Mission statementinvolving both the academic andadministrative sections and detailedplans should be proposed keeping in

The Unified Universities Bill mustbe circulated among the public foreliciting public opinion. It should ensurethe protection of the rights of theminorities and the managements.

The new Act should provide waysto coordinate the working of all theuniversities in the State so that thedifferent courses offered by theuniversities should complement eachother rather than merely duplicatingthem resulting in wastage of resources.Inter-university and inter-institutionalnetworking has to be promoted.

It is suggested that jointappointments may be made of Facultyfor common disciplines, the cost beingshared by the universities and courses

view of the Mission of the University.

Upward Revision of FeesThe fee structure in Colleges and

University departments needs upwardrevision. This should be done on thebasis of unit cost of each discipline.Tuition fee should be charged not lessthan 25-30 percent of the unit cost.

No more Arts andScience Colleges

The State has already an adequatenumber of Arts and Science Colleges.Hence no new Arts and ScienceColleges be established for at least nextone decade unless they are self-financedand required in remote areas such as thehigh ranges.

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New Professional CollegesThe State should encourage the

starting of as many new professionalcolleges as possible. Medicine, Dentistry,Nursing, Pharmacy, Engineering, IT,Management etc. are the subjects to begiven priority. Simultaneously, para-medical courses also should beencouraged. All these should beestablished on self-financing basis.

Autonomous CollegesThe affiliating system has become

irrelevant and counter productive. Itsevil effects can be minimized only byestablishing autonomous colleges. Suchcolleges are functioning very effectivelyin Tamil Nadu. Karnataka has proposed

to launch them in a big way. Keralashould have started autonomouscolleges at least two decades back. Withmany colleges accredited by theNational Assessment and AccreditationCouncil, it is appropriate thatautonomous status conferred on them.The UGC gives special grants to themand encourages and supports them in aspecial manner.

Party Politics in CampusesOne of the most undesirable

developments in our university systemin recent years, irrespective of theCentral or the State Universities, is thewidespread party politicisation of theuniversity bodies and the cancerousinfection of party politics in the

campuses. The question is often asked,whether a university is organised tofacilitate the pursuit of learning or thatof power.

Private college staff - both teachingand non-teaching - should not beallowed to contest in general elections.Selection of the members of theUniversity bodies like AcademicCouncil, Syndicate etc should not bemade on political basis. They mustconsist only of academically competentand politically non-biased persons.Active political work of the teaching andsupporting staff must be prohibited.

The problem has to be solved on anational basis by working out aconsensus among all political parties ormost of them. Once such a consensusis evolved, a code of conduct beformulated and implemented. As a partof this code, students’ unions of thepresent type should be abolished,present type of elections discontinuedand students’ participation in thecurricular, co-curricular and otheractivities should be constructivelychannelised.

TeachersThe appointment should be on

merit and merit alone. If we compareour selection method of teachers in ourcolleges and even universitydepartments to that in well knownuniversities abroad, it would becomeclear that our system is very poor.Teachers selected on parochialconsiderations, caste and communalconsiderations can never build up afaculty of quality. And a poor qualityfaculty can never raise the standards ofhigher education whatever else we maydo; our system is secretive and closedas opposed to the generally open systemof selection that prevails in advancedcountries. We have the system ofoutside experts who interviewcandidates for ten or fifteen minutes andtake decisions, either for or against.Often it is a farce or a ritual.

Our system of one-year probationperiod is too inadequate to determinewhether a teacher is fit or not to get apermanent appointment. He must be

The appointment should be on merit and meritalone. If we compare our selection method ofteachers in our colleges and even universitydepartments to that in well known universitiesabroad, it would become clear that our system isvery poor.

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Harvard dictum.), participation inprofessional conferences etc. areimportant indicators of a teacher’sstanding as a competent member of thefaculty.

The performance of teachers mustbe subjected to evaluation by studentsand annual self-appraisal by teachersshould be made compulsory.

Minimum number ofWorking Days

The University Grants Commissionhas prescribed as a national norm 180days of actual teaching excluding thedays of examination. But because of theclosures and stoppages of work, manyof our colleges and universities do nothave effective teaching for more thanhundred or few more days. On accountof inadequate teaching time eventeachers with a high sense ofresponsibility and commitment are not

able to “finish the course” giving thebare information which the students canmemorise and reproduce in theexaminations. There is no written workand discussions and hardly anyintellectual interaction with the studentssuch as can draw them out and developtheir capacities for intellectual enquiryand investigation. In many cases thestudents have to depend upon tutorialor parallel colleges even for gettingenough meagre, narrowly examinations-oriented teaching.

What is more, because of the totaluncertainty of things due to the fact thatstrikes and disruptions of work mayhappen at any moment, it has alsobecome impossible to plan meaningfullyand to execute effectively co-curricular,extracurricular and extensionprogrammes

Guidance and Counselling centresshould be started in all highereducational institutions.

Self-financing CollegesThe affil iated colleges in all

universities should be given the freedomto start self- financing courses. Theyshould be allowed to introduce newcourses or use their infrastructuralfacilities to offer diversified courses oftheir choice.

Planning andMonitoring Board

Every university should have aPlanning and Monitoring Board toensure proper planning andimplementation.

The Semester System has to beintroduced at all levels. Internalevaluation must be implemented atdegree and post-graduate levels. Theprovision for improvementexaminations may be abandoned.

University FinancesThe financial system of the

universities has to be totally revamped.The Government once in five years mayfix block grants. The University shouldhave freedom to raise finances on itsown by using all the modern methodsof fund raising.

The financial systemof the universitieshas to be totallyrevamped. TheGovernment once infive years may fixblock grants. TheUniversity shouldhave freedom toraise finances on itsown by using all themodern methods offund raising.

University of Kerala : A view

judged not by the head of hisdepartment alone, but also by his peersand even his students. Student-reactionsurvey is a method employed by somewell-known universities in the West.Opinions of senior faculty membersand publications, both research andpopular, are given due weight. Often,initial appointments are on a contractbasis, for three to five years, andconfirmation at the end of the periodor earlier is on proved merit. HarvardUniversity has a system of giving theinitial appointment for three to five yearsand no extension is given at the end ofthe period. The candidate gets a higherposition or he is obliged to leave theUniversity at the end o the period.

A promotion should be earned onthe basis of one’s quality of work overa reasonably long period of time.Student-reaction surveys, researchpublications (Publish or perish is a l