LDF government may not grant autonomy to more colleges

Thiruvananthapuram: The LDF government may not grant autonomy to more colleges in the state unlike the previous UDF government  which had decided to give autonomy to selected colleges on the basis of a UGC stipulation. Autonomous colleges can develop courses in accordance with global employability, conduct their own tests and publish results in time. The concept of autonomous colleges was not new. It was first formulated in the National Education Policy of 1992 and later developed by the Jnanam committee, appointed by the UGC.

However, the Left parties have been opposing the move right from the beginning as they allege that it was part of an agenda to privatise the higher education sector. The new Education Minister  Mr C. Raveendranath  has made it clear that the government has to take a policy decision on granting autonomous status to colleges.  He was not averse to  the idea of academic autonomy. However, he said  the concept of administrative autonomy was not  welcome.

His stand is crucial as many aided colleges had been granted autonomy by the UDF government ignoring the opposition from the Left parties. However, autonomy could not be granted to the two government colleges-- Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, and University College, Thiruvananthapuram.

The Left students’ union feared that  college managements would set their own standards for training and examination, which would adversely affect the quality of education. They also raised an apprehension that students who cannot afford the higher fees would have to move out of colleges if autonomy was  granted.
Various committees and the UGC have recommended academic autonomy to educational institutions, Mr Raveendranath said.

However, giving administrative autonomy is another matter. It would lead to privatisation of educational institutions and eventually these institutions would go outside the purview of the public education system, Mr Raveendranath said. The government would have to look into the various aspects of the issue before taking a decision on the fate of institutions which have been already  given autonomous status,  he  said.

Mr Raveendranath, a retired chemistry professor of St Thomas College,Thrissur, said that his priorities were on programmes for quality improvement. The present system lays more emphasises on infrastructure. “My emphasis would be  on academic inputs. This has been one of the main areas of focus in educational programmes I took up in my constituency. The concept of hi-tech classrooms introduced in my constituency had been focused on academic inputs. Efforts have been taken to link these classrooms with libraries across the globe to ensure that students have access to various knowledge sources,”  he  said.

It may be recalled that e-learning is one of the main components of the Kodakara Sustainable Development Project initiated by Mr Raveendranath in his Puthukad constituency as an MLA. The LDF government has to improve the employability of those who pass out of the higher education system. Mr Raveendranath said that getting employment is not the only component of education. However, employability is definitely one component of education. 

Our education sector has been disconnected with manufacturing sector. It has also ignored the agriculture sector and  nature.  Students lacked environmental awareness, said Mr Raveendranath. The government also would have to deal with the self- financing colleges. The admissions and fees in self-financing colleges have become  a headache to the successive governments.

Mr Raveendranath said that the issues relating to the self- financing colleges involved many policy decisions. The LDF has not yet conducted any discussions on it. Any decisions would be taken only after discussions,  he  said.