Universities are losing their freedom and academic purpose

Source: The post Universities are losing their freedom and academic purpose has been created, based on the article “The educational landscape, its disconcerting shift” published in “The Hindu” on 13 May 2025. Universities are losing their freedom and academic purpose.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper2-Governance – Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Education.

Context: Universities have traditionally upheld critical thinking and academic freedom. However, recent shifts driven by centralisation, political interference, market pressures, and weakened academic governance threaten their democratic and intellectual role. This article explores how these changes are eroding the foundational purpose of higher education institutions.

For detailed information on Limiting Academic Freedom in Universities read this article here

Erosion of Academic Autonomy

1. From Self-Governance to Centralised Control: Earlier, universities designed their curricula based on faculty expertise and evolving intellectual needs. Now, agencies like the University Grants Commission (UGC) and frameworks such as the National Education Policy (NEP) dictate academic content, often driven by political or economic agendas.
2. UGC as a Controlling Authority: The UGC, once a coordinator of academic standards, has become an instrument of bureaucratic control. It interferes in appointments and curricula, undermining institutional autonomy and critical thought.
3. Consequences of Uniform Curricula: Standardised syllabi across institutions restrict diverse ideas and innovation. This creates an intellectually flat environment, discouraging challenges to dominant narratives and suppressing creative exploration.

Suppression of Critical Inquiry

1. Silencing Dissent in Campuses: Historically active in social change, campuses are now regulated to avoid confrontation. Scholars referencing thinkers like Noam Chomsky or discussing nationalism risk state reprimand, leading to censorship of dissenting voices.
2. Marginalisation of Critical Disciplines: Academics challenging injustice or nationalist rhetoric face penalties. Disciplines in humanities and social sciences are defunded or dismissed as politically problematic, further narrowing academic exploration.
3. Climate of Self-Censorship: Fear of professional and academic backlash has led to a culture of silence. Teachers avoid controversial subjects, and students refrain from critical engagement, mistaking conformity for wisdom.

Corporatisation and Market Alignment

1. Education as a Commodity: Universities are now seen as profit-generating brands. Their goals align more with market success than public knowledge, changing the very purpose of higher education.
2. Unequal Support Across Disciplines: Fields with financial appeal — like business and technology — receive funding and visibility. Humanities and critical disciplines are sidelined for lacking market value.
3. Metrics Over Meaning: Faculty performance is judged by publication counts and rankings, promoting conformity to global norms. This undermines context-based inquiry and indigenous knowledge traditions.

Challenges in Academic Governance

1. Managerial Takeover of Leadership: Corporate professionals are being appointed as university administrators, valuing efficiency and branding over scholarly depth. This detaches governance from academic realities.
2. Ideological Biases in Leadership: Vice Chancellors often lack meaningful academic engagement, reflecting ideological filtering in selections. Leadership must be rooted in liberal intellectual traditions, with objective and rigorous appointments.
3. Collapse of Collegial Ethos: The collegial nature of academia is fading as decision-making shifts from scholars to managers. This diminishes collaborative scholarship and erodes pedagogical richness.

Reclaiming the Purpose of Education

1. Need for Imaginative Reform: The deeper crisis is one of imagination. Education must be restored as a pursuit of knowledge, not reduced to transactional value or ideological conformity.
2. Safeguarding Democratic Values: Protecting universities as spaces of free thought is essential for preserving democracy. Reclaiming their intellectual essence will revive their transformative potential in society.

Question for practice:

Examine how recent institutional and policy changes have impacted the democratic and intellectual role of universities in India.