The changing face of universities over the years

It is not only Moore’s Law which states that the number of transistors on a microchip double every two years and speaks about how numbers of things increase spectacularly over time.

When the Andhra Pradesh state was formed in 1956, for example, I was greatly impressed by the fact that the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad boasted of being home to 17 cinema theatres. That number today is at a whopping 400! And the area of the two cities has increased, during the same period, from 172 square kilometres to 650 square kilometres. While all this was happening, the population of India in the same period increased from 40 crore to 146 crore.

No doubt proliferation in due course is a natural feature across areas. Today, when we look at the numbers in respect of universities in India, their increase becomes a worrisome concern. An increase from a mere 27 in 1956 to 1338 in 2005 cannot be regarded as acceptable, when one is talking of universities.

Universities are institutions that are crucial for individual and societal advancement, expectedly providing structured learning environments, fostering critical thinking, specialized, knowledge, and valuable skills applicable to a multitude of fields. They drive research and innovation and contribute economic growth and social development. They also produce skilled forces that are of immense importance to industry and services.

The imposing list of globally revered centres of learning includes Oxford, Cambridge, Stanford, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale, Carnegie Mellon and Peking.

Nearer home, we have the Indian Institute of Science, Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management, University of Delhi, Banaras Hindu University, Jamia Millia Islamia University, University of Hyderabad and the Jawaharlal Nehru University among many other well-known temples of higher education.

Education, particularly higher education, is a public good which benefits society as a whole and plays a vital role in social mobility, economic development, and overall societal progress.

Over the past several decades, there have been extensive changes as regards goals, and organisational management of higher education institutions across the world, and their relationship with the governments.

From times immemorial, funding by the governments of the day has played a vital role in helping them perform all other functions effectively. Government support ensures that facilities offered by the universities are accessible to students across all social and economic backgrounds, especially those belonging to the disadvantaged communities, for whom, without such support, education would be beyond their reach, leading to widening of the gap between the rich and poor.

However, government support should stop short of degenerating into needless interference, be it in the academic, financial or administrative matters, which are internal to the respective universities. In recognition of that, there is a noticeable trend, the world over today, towards accepting the need for increased autonomy for universities.

There has always been a certain degree of conflict as regards the need to pursue fundamental or blue sky research in universities, as against the more imperative promotion of research activity, which responds to the demands of areas such as industry, commerce, and public administration. Maintaining the integrity of the education process, by striking a balance between those two seemingly exclusive domains, is a task which governments and universities need to work towards together.

The National Educational Policy of India also emphasises the importance of ensuring the autonomy of higher educational institutions; an emphasis that is yet to yield the desired results.

Autonomy, after all, is essential for universities to be institutionally effective and enjoy the freedom to come up with their own curriculum and syllabi that are tailored to the requirements of the market and those of the students, especially through a process of developing strong relationships with external organisations and attracting research grants and exploring funding opportunities. It is also important from the point of view of ensuring a culture of accountability and responsibility, on the part of the institutions to spur them on to terms better performance, and inculcate a spirit of stronger commitment to academic excellence.

My first exposure to the academic and administrative issues concerning the functioning of universities was when I served as a member of the Osmania University’s Board of Governors, in my capacity as Secretary in charge of the planning department of the state of Andhra Pradesh. My former guru Dr. Vanaja Iyengar was the Vice-Chancellor, and, once again, I had become her pupil. I gained invaluable insights about the challenges which universities face as also about the emerging opportunities they can respond to with a distinctive advantage.

I had the opportunity to enrich my knowledge further as a member of the First Court of the Central University of Rajasthan at Bandar Sindri, a village close to Ajmer.

I also had the good fortune of being a member of the Board of Governors of the Satya Sai Institute of Higher Education, Puttaparthi, which proved invaluable.

My tenure as Secretary to the Governor of Andhra Pradesh in the middle 1970s, was also an educating experience so far as the affairs of universities are concerned as the Governor was the Chancellor of many of the universities in the state. Later in the 1980s when Justice Hidayatullah was the Vice-President of India I served as his Secretary for a couple of years. He was also a visitor of Punjab University and was also closely associated with the activities of Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi. Much later, as Secretary in charge of the department of agriculture, Andhra Pradesh, I was able to closely study issues relating to the Agriculture University of Andhra Pradesh.

It is common for neighbouring educational institutions to maintain a healthy relationship of friendly rivalry. As a student of The Hindu College in the University of Delhi in the 1960s, I remember how such a rivalry existed between my College and the one across the road, St. Stephens College. It is with that pleasant memory in mind that I wish to end this piece recollecting the following experience. It probably has appeared in this column earlier, but in the context of a discussion about universities, it is topically relevant in this article.

In 1982–83, I served as Secretary to the Vice-President of India when Justice Hidayatullah was occupying that distinguished office. It was part of my duties to receive and send off important dignitaries calling on him and also to sit through their discussions. I had the rare privilege and honour to perform that function during the visits of many great personalities, such as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of England, the Speaker of the House of Commons of Britain, the Defence Minister of Iran, the dashing and debonair Chairman of The Palestine Liberation Organisation Yasser Arafat, who arrived resplendently dressed, sporting loaded weapons and an infectious broad smile, the Crown Prince of Jordan, accompanied by his wife, who was a niece of the Vice-President and, among many others, Prince Charles.

It was during the pleasant chat which the Prince had with Hidayatullah that the topic of the universities where they had studied came up. They were brought up from Trinity College in Cambridge University, which, as is known, has a traditional rivalry with King’s College on the opposite bank of River Cam. While leaving, the Prince, as is the custom, presented Hidayatullah with a parting gift, in the shape of a painting of their College, adding, with a mischievous smile, that the only effect that painting had was that King’s College was visible across the river!

(The writer was formerly

Chief Secretary,

Government of

Andhra Pradesh)