WHERE 'HIGHER' EDUCATION IS NOT

- Nimal C Namboodiripad There are certain jarring notes in life that stay in your mind forever. This could be from any sphere of activity that you are involved in. One that keeps popping up every now and then into my mind is the quality of higher education in our state, nay country. Being thorough on basics I will cite a small example. There was this poem written by Christina Rosetti that I had studied in the 1st standard. Since I was in a school that was run by Christian missionaries that had a state syllabus, I got to study the same in the 5th standard which is when English makes an appearance as per the syllabus. Mercifully they decided that my understanding of The Swing became complete when I learned it once more in my Pre Degree class. But I can guarantee you that the only thing that went higher in the whole process was the swing! Same was the case of Integration in the Mathematics class. I learned it for my Pre Degree, Graduation and Post Graduation. And in all cases it was just the basics! The sad part of it is that I still don't know what all that creepy crawly symbols stand for. College Education For All Now when you go to the higher classes the quality of the learning is supposed to go up. Only problem is that it never happens. People from foreign countries say that India is far ahead in terms of educational level up until graduation. Then it takes a nose dive. While standard of education goes up drastically and the terms and conditions of getting into university is very tough abroad our standard remains stagnant and every body can get a college education. In fact our education policy makes a mockery of education. Why should we give all a college education? Only those who are good enough should attend colleges. Let the others do some job. That way the list of educated unemployed will go down and that of uneducated employed will go up. What the others should get is education aimed at getting jobs. To become a clerk in a bank which is better - a PhD in Arabic or a Diploma in Banking Services? Professional Schools But then the case is worse in the case of professional education. The syllabus is framed, subject taught, exams conducted and appraisals done by people who

doesn't have a professional background. Most of them have completed their qualifying exam and gone into teaching straight away. This happens because even eminent educationists see higher education as an extension of the secondary school. This is probably compounded by the fact that Management Institutions are called B-Schools. It cannot be so. One of the aims of professional education is to make participants good enough to take up a job wherein you are not like a fish out of water. You are made aware of the different situations that are likely to crop up during the course of the career and how to handle them. Which means that the faculty is more a facilitator of learning than a teacher of subjects. This is the gist of the case study method where the participants discuss threadbare a case. This orientation also means that many a time you have professors set up their own courses based on their area of core competence. Unfortunately we don't have provisions for such flexibility unless you have achieved a deemed university status. The Corporate Sector Another fact of professional education is the involvement of the corporate sector in one way or the other. Universities abroad have tie ups with well known corporate houses and they are the people who sponsor the college education of many a budding executive. When you already have a job and the confirmation of it lies in the grades that you are making at College you are likely to be more involved in the studies. Besides you also know which all subjects should be given more importance for your route is already clear. Here very rarely do you see professional educational institutions having tie ups with corporate giants. Facilities Regarding facilities for study the hostel facilities and landscaping of the colleges usually get more importance over the content of the library or the quality of the computer lab. Even if there is a library orientation it is the quantity and not the quality of the books that are given importance. By the end of the course the participants are supposed to have enough knowledge of the basics of management so that nobody can fool him all of the time in his job. Which means he should also know where to go for information in times of need. Conclusion There is no reason to wonder about such a sorry state of affairs. For it is only a logical sequence. The colleges are governed by the University The University rules are framed by the syndicate. The syndicate is composed of party men. And

many of these party men entered the hallowed portals of the university campus for the very first time only when they became members of the syndicate! The Chief Minister of Kerala recently said that Kerala is going to be the next educational destination. There is no reason why we can't be. But…if somebody who has passed with second class in BSc Chemistry can go on to get a second rank in the university in MA Economics it means that there is something seriously wrong with the educational system. And it is not going to reach anywhere let alone become a destination. If the fact that the highest authority in the land - the Chief Minister - is taking an interest in it makes education higher then this is. Long live 'higher' education. (Published in TKM Souvenir)