How to make them competitive?
The private colleges, affiliated to various universities in the State, hold a vital position in higher education. Tamil Nadu has 477 colleges (65 government colleges, 249 unaided colleges and the others are aided). Are the private colleges competent enough to face the competition emerging in higher education? Are the unaided and aided institutions prepared to face the challenges? And what holds them back from development?
To find out the answers, a meeting of the Association of Managements of Private Colleges was held in Madurai on November 6.
The meeting, which had a 13-point agenda, reckoned that accreditation from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and autonomy were essential for the colleges to face the competition. The participants were explained how to get the accreditation.
The principals were unanimous in the view that the colleges would find the goings tough, if they failed to bring about changes.
The association president, M. Aruchami, said the zone-level meetings were held across the State to ascertain the hurdles faced by the private colleges and the grants they received and to work out plans for development.
The problems the colleges were facing while dealing with the universities, the funding agencies, the University Grants Commission and the Government were discussed.
"This forum will take care of the needs of private colleges," Dr. Aruchami said, initiating the discussion.
Experts called upon the managements to strive for autonomy. "The present system is rigid. If you want to compete, autonomy is the only solution; it gives you both liberty and responsibility," said Dr. Aruchami, who is also secretary of the Kongunadu Arts and Science College, Coimbatore.
The meeting also referred to the reports of various committees that suggested that the affiliation system be `packed off'.
To get autonomy, the meeting said, the colleges should prepare themselves for accreditation from the NAAC.
To help the colleges get ready for the NAAC visits, the association has chalked out a series of awareness seminars for the managements to prepare self-assessment reports, to be submitted to the NAAC.
The training is meant for principals and secretaries of colleges, and experts will handle the sessions.
Dr. Aruchami also suggested that the colleges form associations at the regional level to fight for their rights. "Our aim is to see that all eligible colleges get accreditation and autonomy because we face competition. Earlier, the teachers used to decide what they had to teach, but now it is students who decide what they want to learn. So, the colleges have to be vigilant for survival." The emphasis was on how to make the colleges marketable.
Another worrying aspect, the principals said, was 3,500 vacancies in colleges. "With the trend of ad hoc appointments, there will be days when even the principal and the Heads of Departments will be appointed on an ad hoc basis. So, the college managements should press for regular appointments to save higher education," said G. Thiruvasagam, Principal, Yadava College.
S.V.S. Shivnath, secretary, Sourashtra College, and Nirmala Jeyaraj, Principal, Lady Doak College, said the association should not adopt a confrontationist attitude with the Government; "but it should get things done through discussions." The meeting ended with a call to the colleges to benefit from the liberal UGC policies on funds, courses and recognition.
Shastry V. Mallady
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Karnataka
Chennai
Coimbatore
Hyderabad
Madurai
Tiruchirapalli
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
