Merriam-Webster dictionary defines meaning of the word requiem as a musical service or composition in honour of the dead. From Churches in the medieval times these compositions travelled to the concerts in the 18th and 19th century. Till date about 2000 requiem compositions have been made. The list of composers include as prominent a name as that of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The latest directive of the University Grants Commission (UGC)of granting Category 1 autonomy to Delhi University, which is being feted as a great achievement, actually could be the first notes of the requiem for the soul of Delhi University.According to the statement issued by UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar, “Autonomy gives educational institutions the freedom and flexibility to innovate, adapt, and excel in education and research, as per NEP 2020. By tailoring their programs to meet the growing needs of students and industries, autonomous institutions can contribute immensely to academic excellence and global competitiveness. These universities are given either category I or II, depending on their NAAC grading.”
This means that funding of the university has to be through the fee charged from the students. This is prescription for utter failure. This would mean a stupendous hike in fee to meet the challenge of paying salary of the teachers, which justifiably goes up with every pay commission. Additionally paying for the infrastructure. Thus in the name of sustainability, what the UGC wants to introduce is self-financing.
It’s universally known that the curriculum of the self-financing educational institutions is prompted by the requirements of the market. However, a public-funded institution like the Delhi University should have its curriculum mapped by the thoughts of diversity, equality, and inclusion. Such elements in a curriculum creates a culture for learning, which is moderated for a yearn for knowledge than demands of the job market. Such ethos creates competence among students preparing them to engage effectively in a globalized world interspersed with diverse societal norms.
The attempts of Delhi University to run self-financed professional institutions like the Delhi Schoolof Journalism have proved to be a damp squib. It makes a unique case of an educational institution without permanent faculty. It’s being run by anassemblage of guest faculties being paid on the daily wage basis. Itsstudents have often taken to streets protesting against lack of faculty and infrastructure for providing experiential learning.
“Delhi School of Journalism is a trap for meritorious students. They are lured by the brand value of Delhi University to find themselves in a dungeon despite paying a very high fees. Same is going to be the story of the B Tech programmes launched by the university at a very high fees,” says Aditya Narain Misra the former member of the Executive Council of Delhi University.
The larger question is under the graded autonomy scheme, how many takers would be there for traditional graduate programmes in subjects like History, Political Science, Philosophy, Chemistry, Physics and Biology. These courses in the absence of students would shut down rendering the teachers jobless. Today DU has been asked to take loans from Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) in lieu of the denied grants to pay salary.
Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) is a joint venture company of Canara Bank and Ministry of Education. HEFA provides financial assistance for creation of educational infrastructure and R&D in India’s premier educational institutions. The loan comes with a heavy stamp duty and also an interest rate. How does the public-funded university pay back the loans?Of course by raising the fee of the students.
Mortgaging the university to a lender is such an obnoxious proposition. The campus would live in body but die in the soul. At this rate, the time to play the requiem has started.
Sidharth Mishra
Author and president, Centre for Reforms, Development & Justice