‘Bureaucratic interference affecting work of varsities’
Alwar
Dausa Bandikui, Lalsot Jaisalmer Ramgarh Karauli Nagaur Udaipur
Sapotra Degana, Jayal Kotra AJMER: The vice chancellors from 47 universities of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra discussed challenges faced by higher education and their corrective measures in a two-day conference that ended on Saturday.
The west zone vice chancellors’ conference - held by Ajmer’s Maharishi Dayanand University under the aegis of Association of Indian University (AIU) - deliberatedonhighereducation,issuesfaced its development and on ways to generate viable and practical solutions for improving the situation.
“We need to evolve a mechanism so that private institutions/ universities which have come up in the country raise their standards while remaining accessible to poor students. 50 per cent students stud in these private institutions,” AIU secretary general Furqan Qamar said.
Ajmer university vice chancellor Kailash Sodani raised concern over the interference by bureaucracy in day-to-day functioning of universities. “The undue interference by bureaucracy, be it for teachers recruitment or any other amenities, have brought a cascading effect leading to degrading of institutions of higher learning,” he said, adding that things would not change if undue interference is not stopped.
Bureaucrats like politicians should have a fixed term of five years, he suggested.
Chandra Kala Padia, vice chancellor of Bikaner’s MGS University, called for an overhaul in social sciences curriculum. “This leads to loss of self-esteem in students along with detachment from roots, disinterest in our own cultural and historical heritage and identity,” she said,.
In the last session, Shashikala Wanjari, vice-chancellor of SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai, said evaluation based on the cramming capacity of a student should give way to analytical ability, problem solving, critical thinking and judgment of topic.