The Hindu : Autonomy for Colleges: Panel to suggest steps to speed up process

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 28, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Autonomy for Colleges: Panel to suggest steps to speed up process

By K. Ramachandran

CHENNAI Dec. 27. The Union Human Resource Development Ministry, concerned at the slow growth in the number of colleges granted autonomy, has constituted a committee to find out the reasons.

The committee, headed by V.C. Kulandaiswamy, a former Vice-Chancellor of Anna University, Chennai, and Indira Gandhi National Open University, will also suggest measures to hasten the process of grant of autonomy to more colleges.

Although, the scheme was mooted way back in 1966 to get over the problems that arose in the affiliating system, it picked up speed only in the 1980s and 1990s. However, the pace suffered a sudden setback. Only about 135 colleges in about 10 States, now enjoyed autonomy. Of these 49 are in Tamil Nadu.

Even here, there has been a complete standstill in the last three years. More than two dozen proposals for grant of autonomy are pending with the State Government. A section in the establishment has repeatedly said the institutions which have secured autonomy are not fully utilising the scheme.

The affiliating system began way back in 1857. Each college is affiliated to a university, which alone determines almost all academic matters. It prescribes the courses of study, rules for admission, class strength, reservation policies, and rules for assessing/examining students, recognising teachers employed by colleges and approving admission of each student.

`Unwieldy, ineffective'

Union Ministers and academic heads, including the present Chairman of the University Grants Commission (since renamed the University Higher Education Development Commission), Arun Nigavekar, have debunked the affiliating system as unwieldy and ineffective in over-seeing the functioning of dozens of colleges spread across several districts. Academicians have contended that the weaknesses of the system is impeding the growth of academic excellence and competitiveness of the individual colleges.

On the other hand, a college granted autonomy could design and conduct diploma, certificate, undergraduate and postgraduate examinations, rename or restructure courses, as per UGC norms. They are also free to have their own examination and design assessment methods. The parent university will award degrees to the students, in its common format.

Procedure for UGC approval

The grant of autonomous status will be approved in two stages - first by a UGC-nominated screening committee, whose recommendations will be sent to the State Government concerned, wherever required.

Importantly, the latest guidelines say that ``If no response is received from the State Government within six weeks, it will be assumed that it has no objection to the proposal. Thereafter, the UGC will send another expert committee to the shortlisted colleges. This panel will submit its report to the UGC which, in turn, will send the recommendations to the university concerned for conferment of autonomy. The university will then notify the colleges. Autonomy will be initially for a six-year period.''

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