Recently, people came to know about an important observation made by the Honorable Supreme Court of India regarding the deteriorating standards in education. The Apex court passed these comments when a Post– Graduate student is unable to draft a single letter without mistakes. It is found that even Doctorates, irrespective of the discipline, are poor spellers. Imagine a Doctorate with such standards when they teach students at any level. Where are the standards gone? Is it that we deviated from the spirit of educational standards? This shows how lethargic we have been towards quality education? We mock our own standards and fall down in the delivery of quality education. One can’t blame the institutions or teachers. Equally, there is a responsibility on them to improve their basic skills in spelling and punctuation. Where are the lacunae in the system? There is well defined rule book. But all these have been violated over a period of time. Ph.D. degrees have now become a thing of commodity. If you look at the West, the research scholar spends most of the time in reading and writing. A few of them received Nobel Prizes for their quality research. Doctoral theses have been meticulously examined. With the exception of Tagore, CV Raman, Har Gobind Khurana who received Nobel Prizes in the British Raj, India could not produce a single Nobel Laureate in the last 75 years of freedom. We proudly boast of having celebrated Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav in the country in 2023. There was never any introspection by stakeholders. Issues were addressed when the so-called institutions fell short of facilities. India invests on education, and sets up national institutes of excellence. Still we are short of set standards. Research is underscored. When Internet had entered the world, research took a backseat. Mediocre scholars have received the degrees as against the concept of quality. HEIs have faced problems. The mad rush of scholars for Scopus indexed publications speaks of the low levels of research. Any quality journal publishes not more than four papers in each issue. The dearth of competent faculty has been a question in argument for the last three decades. About 75% teaching vacancies in universities are vacant. The readers are reminded that Harvard University is a private university where one can find a good number of Nobel Laureates. Despite the fact that India has funded the educational institutions, the standards have gone down. We are at climax stage now and discuss the measures after considerable damage has been done. Indian Universities are plagued by other burning issues like plagiarism in research publications, and scams in university recruitment. They have been highlighted in the media quite often and several cases have been filed in the courts. It is an accepted truth. When Courts decide everything for the illegal selection of candidates in university recruitment, what is bureaucracy doing now? All university recruitments have become subjects of legal litigation now. Law makers become law breakers in the end. Public money is misused. The Policy makers and the stake holders have to answer to these falling standards in education.
When Late APJ Abdul Kalam was selected as a Scientist in DRDO, the interview panel consisted of the luminaries like Late Vikram Sarabhai. That was how late Kalam was selected by a great visionary like Sarabhai whose mentorship drove him towards space research.. The selection was most transparent and meritorious. The country had produced a Missile man in Late Abdul Kalam. India needs visionaries in the selection of the right candidate for the right position. Proudly, India instituted a Space centre in the name of Vikram Sarabhai. We had Late Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar andothers who made India really proud at international level.They were known for profound honesty and integrity Kalam’s contribution is indeed inspirational for younger generations. In his early childhood, Kalam was inspired by a Physics teacher. India needs teachers of that stature now. That steered him to be what India is capable of today. Former Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was successfully coached by Ramakanth Achrekar in Mumbai. Late Professor Shiv K Kumar was successfully guided by his Supervisor David Daichess in Canterbury University, UK. Engineering genius Mokshagundam Vishweshvarayya is an inspiration for budding engineers across the country. He singlehandedly constructed dams, projects when Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister. Teachers and students decide the destiny of the nation. All this is shaped in the Indian Classrooms. India produces mediocre teachers and research scholars by way of illegal and influential recommendations. It is deplored now at every level. The entire admission procedure into PhD programs was marred by politics and strength of influence. Here one must refer to the recent UGC’s direction that those already working as regular faculty in Indian Universities can be promoted to the next level of Professor without a Ph.D. How bizarre it is? Similarly, NET was exempted according to whims and fancies of certain sections over a period of time. The early years of NET exam consisted of descriptive mode. Later they were replaced by multiple choice questions. What about their writing skills? The implications of such circulars would put the HEIs in jeopardy. UGC periodically breaks its rule book. Of course, one can find that UGC is known for exemptions, modifications and relaxations. UGC owns these vocabularies in its dictionary. It enjoys unlimited freedom because of its autonomy. The relevance of UGC in such scenario is questioned. Further, the benchmarks of NAAC accreditation have seen a huge change from the year of its inception. Merit is undervalued now. What was once thought to be of national accreditation now becomes a regional one. The circular game of quality over quantity has been much discussed in the academic circles. Even controversies were reported when the NAAC teams finished the accreditation part. Scarcity of faculty and poor infrastructure hamper the institutions a lot. Yet these institutions were given A and A plus grades. It is all about justification of such grades in the ultimate analysis. Are the institutions properly accredited? Then why couldn’t these problems be reported to the Government from time to time? Is NAAC assessment merely for assessments or for corrective measures? The NAAC reports must be made public because people have every right to learn about the style and functioning of institutions in the region Still we listen to unheard melodies. Corrective measures have been largely ignored. The proper solution is slowly losing our hands when India adopts the global policies following heavy debt burden.
What as teachers and research scholars are we really doing now? Have we really lacked in vision for the next 50 years? In the midst of new challenges since the Covid-19 outbreak, the policy makers and stakeholders maintain pin drop silence except mere talks and addresses with no concrete action plans. The selections of candidates, either for faculty appointments or admission to research courses, have been partial, biased, and deliberately violated. Poor basic skills in spelling and drafting of letters call for the immediate restoration of wrong track on the right path. The core issues of Indian Higher Education are left with no long term solutions. National Education Commission is the need of immediate establishment. All university recruitments shall be taken up by a centralized recruitment Commission at all India level on par with those taken up by UPSC in the selection of Civil Servants and this commission shall be headed by men of profound honesty and integrity. A duly planned written test of descriptive mode and followed by an interview could at least curb the illegal practices in the university appointments of professors. It is only the academicians but not the bureaucrats who should frame the policies in order to take decisions without political pressures. Temporary relief measures have brought no tangible results in the end. What then is the point in producing more PhDs without basic skills? The bulk in PhD production has considerably grown in quantity and the quality of learning suffers at proportionate levels. Students of next generation would be immediate victims. Do we call them “genuine”? It would be highly appreciated if this article generates a heated discussion across the country.
