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Redefining the power of knowledge
TAMIL NADU BUREAU
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The recommendations of the Knowledge Commission on the role of universities in an emerging knowledge economy came under the scanner at a recent meeting of senior academicians.
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Expertspeak: Senior academicians M. Anandakrishnan,
With the profile of higher education institutions in the country changing to keep pace with the rapidly globalising world, the role of universities as resource providers to the emerging knowledge economy has gained added resonance.
It is against this backdrop that the Sam Pitroda-chaired Knowledge Commission Report — published earlier this year — needs to be examined. And it was this kind of scrutiny that the report was subjected to in a national meeting of vice-chancellors organised by the Association of Indian Universities at Anna University recently.
The NKC’s terms of reference are multifaceted. Constituted as per a 13 June 2005 government notification, it has the following terms of reference: build institutions of excellence to increase India’s competitive advantage in the fields of knowledge, to promote knowledge creation in science and technology laboratories, improve the management of institutions engaged in intellectual property rights, promote knowledge application in agriculture and industry and promote knowledge capabilities in effective governance.
A. Gnanam
The views of some senior academicians from Tamil Nadu that were tabled during the sessions, make for incisive analyses on the contours of the NKC’s report. Education Plus presents a sampling of these views:
C. Thangamuthu, former vice-chancellor, Bharathidasan University:
R. Sethuraman
The NKC has comprehended in its scheme five aspects of knowledge paradigm: access to knowledge, knowledge concepts, creation of knowledge, knowledge application and delivery of services. The NKC rightly feels that the present number of universities in the country, around 350, is too small to cater to the growing needs and that India should go for a massive expansion of universities, at least a five-fold increase by 2015. The suggestion, however, will not improve access or change the character/ structure of higher education in the country as the newer universities will only be replicating the job done earlier by the existing older affiliating universities. It must be said, however, that the NKC has given a new paradigm of thinking and action.
A. Gnanam, former president, Association of Indian Universities:
The NKC report has underlined that there is a knowledge domain existing beyond formal education and has suggested some drastic measures to prepare the education system for newer needs. Such a third party analysis and mid-term corrections are important for the planned development of the sector.
C. Thangamuthu.
K. Aludiapillai, former vice-chancellor, Madurai Kamaraj University:
The NKC report should serve as a starting point for taking decisions keeping in view the imbalances among regions and states. The most challenging task is that of keeping political considerations out of the picture in crucial areas such as the appointment of vice-chancellors, weeding out redundant bodies and authorities and making the academia accountable and conform to high professional standards.
M. Anandakrishnan, former vice-chancellor, Anna University, and chairman, Madras Institute of Development Studies:
The NKC has proposed establishment of an Independent Regulatory Authority for Higher Education, mainly to facilitate setting up new universities especially by private investors and through public-private partnership. These recommendations have created a high degree of controversy among well meaning academicians, policy makers and educational experts. Many question the possibility of an independent status to this body, free from political and financial constraints. Abolishing the present statutory bodies is not likely to be an easy task.
R. Sethuraman, vice-chancellor, SASTRA University, Thanjavur:
The statutory councils should shed their inhibitions and treat all universities on par without discriminating against them as government or private. Only then will the NKC’s recommendation of establishing 1,500 universities in the country with private participation become possible.
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Education Plus
Karnataka
Chennai
Coimbatore
Hyderabad
Madurai
Tiruchirapalli
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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