Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

Removal of M. Phil., Ph.D. draws flak

Shastry V Mallady

Move will open a Pandora's Box in higher education: experts

MADURAI : The Tamil Nadu Government's proposal to stop offering M. Phil and Ph. D. programmes through distance education mode by universities in the State has attracted criticism with experts calling it `unwarranted' and would open a Pandora's Box in higher education.

At the Vice-Chancellors' conference held in Chennai a few days ago, the Higher Education Minister, K. Ponmudi, announced that these two courses would not be available through distance education "to ensure that the quality is not diluted."

"There is absolutely no link between quality and mode of education as long as quality mechanisms are put in place by universities. The genuineness of courses and aspirants cannot be questioned," Prof. P.R. Ramanujam, former Director of Staff Training and Research Institute of Distance Education (STRIDE) at the Indira Gandhi National Open University, told The Hindu here on Saturday.

Senior officials at the Directorate of Distance Education of Madurai Kamaraj University also expressed a similar view by saying that all precautions were taken to provide quality M. Phil degree on a par with regular courses.

Stating that even a regular M. Phil. course did not guarantee any quality, Prof. Ramanujam said, "No doubt quality is important but decisions cannot be taken without looking into issues involved." He said the State Government's decision had "no rationale" since it could not be generalised that distance education mode was sub-standard. According to him, several candidates choosing distance education are more mature as they are those in service.

"How can we doubt their genuineness? When we can have telemedicine to perform surgeries it is not wise to do away with M. Phil. from distance education," he said.

According to him, if this programme is sub-standard then the same logic of other degrees also being sub-standard should be applied. "Can universities stop all the courses," he posed.

Debate

Prof. Ramanujam, who is a faculty at IGNOU in New Delhi, said the Government must call for a debate involving academicians, professionals, parents and students. "The decision should not be just conveyed to Vice-Chancellors."

The role of university statutory bodies like Syndicate, Senate and Academic Council was being undermined, he said and added that certain benchmarks for quality could be suggested instead of withdrawing it in one go.

Officials at the MKU also opined that there were many in-service teachers who enrolled for M. Phil. and they could not be denied the distance education opportunity. They said every measure was taken to ensure quality and double evaluation was done for all candidates.

The decision is also set to impact the revenues of universities since M. Phil. and Ph. D. programmes are major income earners. At the MKU, nearly 3,500 candidates enrol every year for these programmes.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Royal College dentistry programme set for change
Removal of M. Phil., Ph.D. draws flak
Lok adalats to be held periodically
High Court to conduct periodical lok adalats
Commendation for catering to the needs of their community
Goods destroyed in fire accident
Fake currency case: fourth accused seeks advance bail
57 schoolteachers receive transfer orders
Around the City
In Madurai Today

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu