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Resources » Articles/Knowledge Sharing » Education »
Yash Pal Committee's Recommendations
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The ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), Govt of India had constituted a committee in February 2008, to look into the functioning of the UGC and the AICTE and assess their role in implementing higher education in India. The scope of the committee, chaired by eminent scientist Professor Yash Pal, was subsequently expanded to ‘advise renovation and rejuvenation of higher Education in India’ . The committee has since then submitted its recommendations to the new government and Kapil Sibbal, the present HRD minister has promised early implementation of the recommendations. Following is the gist of committee recommendations:
The Ideal Role Of a University
A University is a place to encourage the new ideas and transforming the ideas into concrete knowledge bases. It is a place for the creative minds to converge. In order to fulfill the objectives of its existence, the university must be given adequate autonomy. Principle of intellectual autonomy from political authority and economic power is ingrained in the idea of university. Teaching and research are integral part of university, as it should help the students to create knowledge base.
However, during the course of time, the university is now not just a knowledge centre but has been reduced to a stepping stone for better job opportunities. The founders of Indian Republic realized that the universities should play important role in development and enrichment of cultural, scientific and technical resources. But over the years, the importance of universities has been undermined. Erosion of autonomy, undermining under graduate education and blatant commercialization of higher education are some of the problems of higher education system in India today.
There is a common perception that today’s higher education is too theoretical than practical. The committee has recommended curricular approach to treat knowledge in holistic manner by creating interfaces between various disciplines. The higher education should not be isolated from real world. This is especially true in case of engineering, medicine and teacher training. Today, different statutory apex bodies have been set up which are doing merely a regulation exercise. There’s hardly any coordination between universities and the bodies like AICTE, MCI etc. Hence, universities have no academic influence on the content and quality of higher education.
The universities used to be centers of teaching as well as research activities. These two activities should be linked together because both are equally important aspects of academic work. The close relationship between these two aspects helps the under graduate students benefit from research activities.
The Diminishing Academic Influence Of Univerities
Over the years, however, there is a growing tendency to separate research activities from teaching. The most of the universities have been reduced to centers of teaching and conducting examinations, and more and more research institutes has been established where researchers have no contact with the impressionable young students.
The committee strongly recommends reunion of research activates and graduate and under graduate teaching process. According to the committee, the undergraduate education should exist on university campuses along with the affiliated colleges. The students should be given chance to interact with the researchers.
Isolation of IITs and IIMs
In the otherwise dismal scenario of higher education in India, the Indian Institutes of Technology and Management (IITs and IIMs) have maintained high standard of education in Engineering and management respectively, and are justified in claiming high level of excellence and quality. The committee advocates extending the scope of these institutes to include the disciplines like humanities and literature too in their curriculum so that IITs and IIMs can function as full-fledged universities.
The Yash pal committee has strongly advocated curricular reforms to complement theoretical course content with on field practical exposure in the form of summer jobs or internships. It also says that the courses should be designed so that there is integration across disciplines so that the student is stimulated in various subjects like humanities, social sciences, literature along with engineering or management. The committee emphasizes on improving teacher education as according to it, the responsibility of training teachers at all levels belongs to higher education institutes.
Opposing Privation of Higher Education
The committee is of the view that the grants received by universities from central and state governments are inadequate. It says that no differentiation be made in central and state universities. It has also recommended limiting the area of operation of universities. The committee has expressed displeasure at the government’s intention to with draw itself from higher education by privatizing the higher education in India. It has raised strong objections against private universities formed solely with the objective of earning profits and running them like a family business.
Profileration of Deemed Universities
The committee has observed that during last few years, more and more Deemed universities are being formed. According to UGC ACT, only those institutes which are engaged in highest level of post graduate teaching and education, can be given Deemed University status. During last five years, as many as 36 institutes have been given this status. Marinating that a large scale misuse has been done of the provisions in the UGC Act, the committee has recommended that no institute be given deemed status until fresh guidelines have been formulated.
On the issue of foreign universities, the committee hold the view that, if any university, among top 200 in the world, want to come to India, it should be welcome, but those coming only with an objective to help earn profit to foreign stake holders, proper precaution should be taken.
The committee has observed that there is a large scale delay in yearly sanction of grants and posts in the universities. In order to avoid this delay, it has recommended disbursing grants for the period of plan period only.
Need for Unified Authority for Higher Education
There are multiple organizations in India, formed to regulate higher education institutes. We have AICTE, Bar Council of INDIA (BCI), UGC, Medical Council India (MCI) and many such regulating bodies. Because of regulation at various levels, lot of money and time is being wasted. It also leads to repetition of work, inefficiency and breeds corruption. In order to avoid these lacunae, the committee has strongly recommended a unified high level regulation authority. The Education Policy of 1986 as well as 1992 had also recommended a unified authority. It will help in achieving integrated development without differentiating in general and professional education. The committee has recommended formation of National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER). This commission will perform its regulatory function without interfering in institute’s freedom and autonomy. Rather than working on the present inspection – approval method, it will adopt verification – authentication methodology. Some of the objectives of the proposed NCHER are outlined below:
1. To be responsible for holistic evolution of higher education.
2. To protect autonomy of universities.
3. To act as catalyst between universities and other institutes of excellence
4. To establish global connectivity and establish our own world class standards.
5. To ensure transparency, good quality and good governance in higher education.
6. To coordinate with industries and financial institutions.
7. To develop a national database about higher education in India
8. To submit periodic reports to parliament
9. To form Inter University centers on the lines of IUCAA
10. To establish National Educational Tribunal
11. To review and rethink the working of CBSE
12. To establish National Research Foundation
The committee has recommended formation of NCHER by enacting legislation in parliament. The Commission should be accountable only to parliament. It would have a Chairperson and seven member board. The chairperson and members of the board should be identified by a committee consisting of Prime Minister, leader of Opposition and Chief Justice of India in consultation with eminent academic in the country.
The Yash Pal Committee Report on Higher Education can be downloaded here
For more details, visit http://www.hindu.com/nic/yashpalcommitteereport.pdf
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Responses to the resource: "Yash Pal Committee's Recommendations "
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| Author: Dhirendra 30 Dec 2009 | Member Level: Silver Points : 1 | Hi friends,
These are just a recommendation or Government will try their best to implement it.
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