The Hindu : Karnataka / Mysore News : Autonomy for six colleges under Mysore varsity

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Mysore

Autonomy for six colleges under Mysore varsity

Staff Correspondent

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MYSORE: Six colleges affiliated to the University of Mysore have been granted autonomy by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Sources in the College Development Council (CDC) told The Hindu that Yuvaraja's College, All-India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH), Government Boys College, Mandya, JSS College for Arts, Commerce and Science, Ooty Road, JSS Women's College, Saraswathipuram, and JSS Law College have been granted autonomy. Three of the six colleges belong to the JSS group of institutions run by the JSS Mahavidyapeetha.

However, while the UGC has cleared the autonomy status for the above colleges, it is still pending clearance by the Government. The University of Mysore has written to the Government to clear the same. It has been clarified that once the UGC grants autonomy and it is endorsed by the university, it was only a matter of time before the Government clears the proposal.

Sambashivaiah, Principal, JSS College for Arts, Commerce and Science, Ooty Road, told The Hindu that the autonomy will help the college offer new courses for which there is a demand. "We visited eight to 10 autonomous colleges in Tamil Nadu and found them performing very well without much financial burden. So we are confident of evolving new standards," he added.

New curriculum

The autonomous colleges will now be able evolve their own course and curriculum and will also be free to conduct and evaluate examinations. We will introduce a system of constant internal evaluation and monitoring and conduct our own examinations even though the degree will be issued by the University of Mysore," Mr. Sambashivaiah said. The autonomy, however, pertains only to academic exercises and is not a total bifurcation from the university.

The JSS College is planning to continue with the existing courses and introduce new courses from the 2006-07 academic year, Mr. Sambashivaiah said.

Resistance

The concept of autonomy was opposed by a large section of teachers when it was first mooted a few years ago. A series of seminars were held at the city colleges to create the right mindset to allay fears of exploitation by private educational institutions.

There were also fears that the pay scales of teachers will be affected. A few others resisted change on the grounds that the teachers would be burdened with administrative tasks as well.

But educational experts pointed out that autonomous colleges were setting new standards and proved that autonomy is indispensable to improving the quality of higher education.

It was pointed out that the affiliation system is creaking under pressure as most universities have more than 300 colleges affiliated to them.

As a result educational institutions with a record of excellence are feeling stunted and unable to evolve within the ambit of university regulations.

Concept popularised

The concept of autonomy was first introduced at the national level in 1969 to facilitate institutions with a record for academic excellence to free themselves from the administrative and academic red tape under the affiliation system.

In 1984, there were only 21 such colleges with a majority of them in Tamil Nadu. However, by 2000, their number increased to 123 of which 45 autonomous colleges were in Tamil Nadu, 41 in Madhya Pradesh, 19 in Andhra Pradesh. By 2004, there were nearly 200 such colleges, but none were in Karnataka.

The benefits of autonomy, as expounded by educational experts, include a greater degree of flexibility to revise syllabus and strive for better standards.

This was proved during the NAAC ratings and a majority of the autonomous colleges were in the top league with either an A or A+ rating.

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