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Need for revamping deemed universities
GEORGE PAUL
R. Sethuraman’s article (Open Page, February 17) was indeed an eye-opener. He has addressed the issue of how deemed university status has been used as a licence for unregulated functioning. Deemed universities have systematically used their status to sell medical and dental seats at exorbitant rates.
In the last five years, at least five private medical institutions applied for and became deemed universities in Tamil Nadu. On the face of it, this may appear a positive change signalling increased private participation in higher education.
However, the deemed university status seems to be a means for these medical institutions to fill up the much coveted seats without having to share them with the merit pool of the State entrance examination/test. The seats in these institutions are now decided by an internally conducted entrance test which is often not advertised prominently. The tests themselves are not monitored or subject to any scrutiny by the UGC or any other statutory organisation.
Section 8.1 of the UGC regulations for deemed universities clearly states that “Admissions of students shall be made strictly on merit on an all India basis in all the deemed universities through a common entrance test conducted either by the Commission (UGC) or by an institution/agency identified and approved by it.”
Can be manipulated
Individual institutions have obviously found salvation in the clause ‘by an institution’ as a licence to conduct the examination internally. The outcomes can be manipulated, as the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor and other administrators are very often family members or close friends of the management.
Seats for graduate and postgraduate programmes in medicine and dentistry are booked in advance and the tests in many instances are a farce only to meet the statutory requirement of conducting an exam.
MBBS seats in these institutions are booked months or years in advance for prices ranging from Rs. 15 to 30 lakh. Medical and dental seats in the premium specialities may go for as high as Rs. 1 crore.
This is contrary to the declaration made by these universities under section 8(1) of Annexure A that “no capitation fee shall be charged in any form in consideration of admission” and 8(2) that “the fee structure for various programmes of study shall be fixed in accordance with the regulations framed by the commission (UGC).”
It would be incorrect to paint all deemed universities with the same brush. Deemed institutes such as BITS, Pilani, IISc Bangalore, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, NIMHANS, Bangalore, and many others are examples of how private and public participation in niche areas has enriched higher education. These universities mobilise their funds through external donations rather than tax the students.
Social obligation
Deemed universities were after all conceived to be philanthropic organisations fulfilling a social obligation to the meritorious students by providing higher education at nominal costs. It was never intended to be financed by the capitation fee collected from rich students with poor marks.
Section 3.6 of the UGC regulations clearly states that one of the primary objectives is to “enhance equitable access to quality higher education to all segments of society.” All these universities in compliance with Section 4.2 are expected “to have quality research being pursued, as evidenced from publications of high standard for the advancement of knowledge.”
While many of these institutions fulfil this requirement, there are many more which do not have any meaningful research or publication in standard peer reviewed and indexed journals.
If deemed universities are to play a pivotal role in higher education and nation building, the governing body of the UGC and the HRD Ministry must take steps to salvage them from being used as a commercial means to promote the business of education. They must evolve a system to track, monitor and regulate the examinations conducted by these institutions.
The first step would be to have a common entrance examination for all medical, dental and engineering courses. The fee structure for each of these courses must be pre-fixed, based on one of the numerous criteria developed by the various States. Deemed universities must be redefined as accessible institutions of higher education rather than as profit making businesses catering to the rich.
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