“One nation one exam” sounds so sweet to every ear; particularly to all those who have seen lakhs of young aspirants over-stressing themselves from one competitive exam to another for couple of weeks every year. When the HRD Minister made the proclamation on this count after its ‘unanimous approval’ by the IIT Council; the first reaction was similar to that of ‘no pass no fail’; no class X examination; no detention etc. While the minister left for; where else but US; the IIT-K announced its total disagreement and readiness to conduct its own entrance test. Other IITs could join if they so desire. According to them the IIT-K Act empowers them and obligates upon them to conduct this test in a manner that they decide and find best in the interest of their products and the Institute. HRD officials, expectedly, contest the stand of the IIT-K Senate and maintain that it is IIT Council which has the authority. Ministry officials are quoted to have said: “It is the IIT Council, rather than the Senate, who is empowered to set the admission standards and other related academic matters”. This Council; according to some interpretations; is only an advisory body. Whatever finally happens; a very significant situation has emerged: what is the nature of the relationship between MHRD and an autonomous institute? Was the minister really correct in ignoring the decisions of the several IIT Senates? Why could the Directors of IIT’s that were not in agreement with the ministry’s mandate record their dissent? Did they faithfully communicate to IIT Council the views of their Senate?
All that is going on after the emphatic announcement of the minister is creating unnecessary uncertainty and consequential stress on the children and parents is nothing new in the tenure of the incumbent minister. Remember the haste with which he steamrolled his fatwa on deemed universities some three years ago! Nothing worthwhile has happened so far. His RTE Act implementation has not yet to take of effectively in schools and the provision of 25 per cent seats for weaker sections in public schools has made no headway. He blames it all on state governments. Similarly several of his Bills are pending before the Parliament and he has a ready-made excuse; opposition is not cooperating! He wanted a National Register of Experts to be maintained by the MHRD from amongst whom only Vice-Chancellors could be appointed. Thankfully it stands dropped. The MHRD falters on every senior appointment in its own universities and institutions which are invariably delayed for years together. The establishment of a National Text Book Council was also announced but had to be shelved. If the minister had received the right advice and factual inputs from his experts and bureaucrats, this embarrassing situation could have been avoided.
The most comic interlude of the 2-G spectrum scandal was the zero-loss declaration that was presented to the nation by the then newly appointed Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal. He had his papers, data and Babus with him. His conscious effort to look personally convinced of his proposition was also evident! People did try to ascertain whether he was just taking a chance and see the reaction! That was the day when the image of the GoI and the cabinet suffered further. One wonders why till this date he has not changed is premise. In textbook cartoon episode, it was different Kapil Sibal. He must have found the enormity of the damage being done to the nation really unbearable. He was too prompt to apologise and withdraw not only the cartoon but all the books of that particular subject. Not only this, he appointed a high level committee to go in to the cartoons in all the textbooks. Some may find this contrasting behavior of the learned minister amazing but to me one common thread between the instances appears most prominent: the minister for human resources development is in a tearing hurry. He believes in extremes; and only in himself. He has no concern for the consequences of his actions. He believes in bulldogging and what he thinks is always approved unanimously by all! The latest to know this are the faculty and the Directors of the IITs. Future aspirants for the IITs who are already making preparations for the next year now stand informed that they have to appear in a new pattern of examination. They have been thrown in a state of utter uncertainty. He would like the new pattern to be in place in 2013! The minister intends to take no chances; who knows what happens if he gives more time for implementation in 2014!
It is indeed surprising that the Directors of IIT’s succumbed coyly to the dictates of the minister. The requirement of appearing in two examinations; one general and another advanced; could be highly stressful to every young person, this change would be fully exploited by the coaching institutions who are already preparing for the extra opportunity offered so quietly by the minister. Not only this, the provision of adding Board Exam marks creates third extra burden. It is claimed that new pattern would make schools more functional and students will pay more attention to board examinations; competitive exam stress would be reduced and coaching would be reduced if not totally eliminated! None of these expectations are accepted by either the parents or the teachers. Coaching institutions are already expressing their glee over these developments.
Reaction that comes from the IIT faculty is a clear indication that the considered opinion of the academics was just ignored. The views expressed by the Senate were also not cared for. Senate is supposed to take final decisions in all academic matters. It is on such occasions that the real picture of ‘autonomy’ emerges very clearly before the people. How can the appointees of the minister dare not to endorse the master’s indications? Some may like to contest the assertion that they are there because of the minister but everyone knows what happens in top-level appointments. In the times of transparency every Director could have taken his faculty into confidence and after the so-announced ‘unanimous decision, could have told them what really happened. If this could happen to institutes of national importance that have brought prestige to India internationally, one could very well imagine how autonomy remains just a written word on paper and the entire control and power is subsumed in the Shastri Bhawan!
There is nothing new that such a hasty decision has been taken. When the MHRD announced no class X examination and only grades instead of marks which were to be awarded on the basis of continuous and comprehensive evaluation; no one cared for the consequences. CCE requires an appropriate teacher-taught ratio and cannot be implemented in a school that has teachers who are neither convinced of the utility nor are trained to carry out CCE. For the minster; a positive report from the CBSE is more than sufficient to claim that the entire country is implementing the CCE! In the IIT’s case the confusion shall continue for some time; eventually some way out shall be found out and the new pattern shall get postponed, as it should indeed be. Academics and professionals must realize their responsibility not to become subservient to the whims and fancies of the political masters who may have only a transient sojourn in a system but may inflict lasting damage if not cheeked with determination. Every teacher knows the damage that may accrue in determining merit if 50 per cent of the Board Examination marks are added. The statistical renormalization would not convince most of the aspirants and their parents, Statistics has its limitations and the levels of teaching and evaluation in various Boards are drastically different.
The lobby of coaching institutions is as usual very happy. I dread the day when students have to appear in two papers of widely different levels on the same day; one of general level and another of advanced level! It means extra stress and mental strain; more dependence on caching; higher fees; far lesser chances for students from weaker sections, rural and remote areas as they would be further removed from any chance of success in competing with those who undergo coaching for three to four years. This US-ward policy seems to care only for the upper-middle-class and above. It totally ignores the requirements of rural and non-urban India and then students studying their under conditions of severe deficiencies and deprivation.
It is very clear that the happenings in the MHRD are part of a wider plan to subvert the spirit of federalism and establish the hegemony of the centre even in areas where states have their autonomy. Even in issues that apparently are between the centre and the institutions established by it, the approach becomes very clear. Take the case of Bihar where the central government insists on establishment in a particular city, ignoring the state government which deserves to have a final say. It is now well established that policy formulations are fully monitored and influenced by multinationals, corporate and even global agencies like IMF and World Bank. For all of them, the conditions in India at present are very congenial and they are taking full advantage of it. Education is no exception. To the present government that appears that the only possible solution to all the problems of education in India is World Bank assistance in schools and foreign university campuses on Indian soil. The government even claims that those who set up campuses on Indian soil shall not be allowed to plough back their profits to their native soils! Zero loss to India!
By JS Rajput
(The writer is former Director, NCERT)
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