Page 59 - EducationWorld May 2021

are obliged to write examinations com- accreditation — are to be established
mon to all affiliated colleges. This de- under HECI. Public and private higher
spite St. Stephen’s higher total score education institutions will be governed
(632) than St. Xavier’s, Mumbai (612) by the same set of norms for regula-
in the latest EW league tables. tion, accreditation and academic stan-
More important, St. Stephen’s fees dards.
structure is controlled by the Central Moreover the most beneficial rec-
government-funded Delhi University. ommendation for top-ranked but non-
Therefore this top-ranked college is autonomous colleges such as St. Ste-
constrained from charging its majority phen’s is the proposal to “phase out”
upper middle class students market- the compulsory college affiliation with
priced fees, or to independently run universities system within 15 years,
self-financing courses to generate re- and devising a mechanism for grant-
sources to provide meaningful schol- ing graded autonomy to all colleges.
arships to students from low-income “Over a period of time, every college
households. Moreover it’s hardly a will either develop into an autonomous
secret that the board of governors and degree-granting college or a constitu-
administration of St. Stephen’s yearns Varghese: bothered & bewildered ent college of a university,” says NEP
for full autonomy, but left-liberal el- 2020.
ements within the faculty have been versity of India, which would affiliate The National Education Policy and
consistently sabotaging the college all undergrad Xavier and Jesuit pro- in particular its common-sense recom-
administration’s full autonomy sup- moted colleges nationwide, was moot- mendation that the compulsory affili-
plications to the Union HRD (now ed and generated great excitement — ation system will be abolished and the
education) ministry. at least within EducationWorld. We road will be smoothed to confer auton-
Why St. Stephen’s of over a cen- featured a detailed ten-page cover omy on well-managed, top-ranked un-
tury’s vintage, with proven academic story (EW March 2009) endorsing dergrad colleges, is undoubtedly sweet
and administrative capabilities, and this promising proposal. But it was music to the ears of Prof. John Var-
routinely topping all media rankings, promptly shot down by the neta-babu ghese, principal of St. Stephen’s Col-
hasn’t been granted full autonomy is brotherhood because nothing has been lege. It’s hardly a secret in the academy
one of the mysteries of post-indepen- heard of it since. that Varghese is outraged that despite
dence India’s complex higher educa- Against this backdrop, the National its vintage and consistently top rank in
tion system, which has progressively Education Policy (NEP) 2020 present- almost all media surveys, the govern-
deteriorated under the whimsical mal- ed to the nation on July 29, but now in ment has not awarded St. Stephen’s
administration of quasi-literate politi- cold storage because of gross official academic autonomy and it is still an
cians and IAS bureaucrats exercising mismanagement of the Covid-19 pan- affiliate of Delhi University.
power without responsibility. Given demic, offers some hope of autonomy Although despite several remind-
full licence to evolve into an autono- for all top-ranked undergrad colleges. ers, Varghese failed and neglected to
mous institution, there is every like- The new policy document approved reply to an emailed questionnaire, in
lihood this prestigious college would by Parliament, proposes the estab- a brief telephonic conversation with
attract massive donations from its lishment of a novel Higher Education your correspondent, he expressed dis-
well-placed alumni, and accumulate Council of India (HECI) as the apex appointment and bewilderment that
a huge endowment corpus to provide body to supersede UGC and AICTE St. Stephen’s formal application to
generous scholarships to meritorious and regulate all higher education in- UGC for autonomy has been pending
students from low-income households stitutions countrywide. with the commission for “over three
in the manner of Harvard, Stanford, Henceforth HECI will be an over- years” without any explanation for
Yale and other private American uni- arching umbrella body for all higher the delay. “You have to ask the Union
versities. education — excluding medical and education ministry why our applica-
In this connection it’s pertinent to legal education — institutions. Four tion has remained unanswered for so
note that in new millennium private independent verticals — the National long,” he said.
universities such as Jindal Global, Higher Education Regulatory Coun- When informed that Left academ-
Ashoka, and Krea, over 50 percent cil (NHERC) for regulation; General ics in St. Stephen’s are lobbying within
of students are recipients of means- Education Council (GEC) for setting UGC to deny the college autonomy,
tested scholarships and bursaries. It’s standards; Higher Education Grants Varghese said this vocal minority
also noteworthy that over a decade ago Council (HEGC) for funding; and Na- within the college faculty “confuses au-
a proposal to establish a Xavier’s Uni- tional Accreditation Council (NAC) for tonomy with privatisation”. Moreover

MAY 2021 EDUCATIONWORLD 59