Autonomy oils the wheels of higher education excellence

Source– The post is based on the article “Autonomy oils the wheels of higher education excellence” published in The Hindu on 12th November 2022.

Syllabus: GS2- Issues related to development and management of education

Relevance: Higher education

News- The article explains the autonomy related issues with Indian universities.

What are some facts associated with ranking of Indian universities?

The 2023 edition of the QS world university ranking includes only three of India’s higher educational institutions amongst the top 200 of the world. Another three are counted among the top 300 whereas two more in the top 400.

The Times Higher Education Ranking places only one Indian institution among the top 400 of the world. Barring one of the most eminent public-funded deemed universities of the country, all the rest are Institutions of National Importance.

What are issues related to autonomy of universities in India?

Best universities in the world enjoy a great degree of academic, administrative and financial autonomy. Autonomy is regarded as a necessary and sufficient condition to attain excellence.

Institutes of national importance in India are not only better funded but also generally enjoy a greater degree of autonomy than universities. They fall outside the regulatory purview of the UGC and the AICTE.

Universities are funded through the University Grants Commission. They are all subject to a very strict regulatory regime. They Abide by UGC regulations and AICTE guidelines in almost all aspects of their functioning be it faculty recruitment, student admission and the award of degrees. In many cases, they are micro-managed by the regulatory authorities.

Central universities in the country are also ranked on the basis of their obedience to regulatory compliances. Even in the academic domain, many of them are comfortable in publicly stating that they have adopted the model curricula, pedagogy and syllabi prescribed by the regulatory bodies.

What shows the importance of autonomy?

The best universities in the world are continuously sensitised about the importance of their autonomy and are trained and enabled to make their own decisions.The European University Association prescribes a ‘university autonomy tool’ that lets each member university compare its level of autonomy with the other European higher education systems across all member countries. A large number of commissions and committees, including the national policies on education have highlighted the need for higher education autonomy.

Higher learning centres in ancient India enjoyed no less academic, administrative and financial autonomy than the most autonomous universities in the world today.

What National Education Policy, 2020 says about autonomy?

The new education policy seeks to completely overhaul the higher education system. To attain this objective, it repeatedly emphasises the need for institutional autonomy.

The policy considers a lack of autonomy as one of the major problems of higher education. It promises to ensure faculty and institutional autonomy through a highly independent and empowered board of management which would be vested with academic and administrative autonomy.

It argues for a ‘light but tight’ regulatory framework and insists that the new regulatory regime would foster a culture of empowerment. It says that by relying on a robust system of accreditation, all higher education institutions would gradually gain full academic and administrative autonomy.

But it depends on implementation of policy.