The higher education sector in Kerala is in the news, mostly for the wrong reasons. The tussle between the state government and the governor over the appointment of vice-chancellors resulted in eight universities in the state not even having full-time V-Cs. Add to this new controversies involving student union leaders, mainly of the ruling front, engaging in unethical practices—and the credibility of Kerala’s higher education system is at stake.
In the last few days, a series of irregularities involving leaders from SFI, the student’s wing of the CPI(M), has come to light. Allegations have been raised against the leaders, including procuring fake certificates to land plum academic posts or to earn degrees they never enrolled for. K Vidya, a former SFI leader who was accused of producing a fake experience certificate for a job interview and charged with non-bailable offences, was arrested on Wednesday. Similar cases have also cropped up against KSU, the Congress’ students wing. That only aggravates the seriousness of the matter. What is more worrying is that all these irregularities have been committed allegedly with the tacit support of various college managements.
This does not mean all is bad in the state’s education system. Four institutes from Kerala featured among the top 100 institutes in the country, and 14 colleges made it to the top 100 colleges’ list prepared by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). But overt politicisation of colleges and universities is certainly hampering the atmosphere of educational institutions. The CPM leadership has distanced itself from the fake certificate row, making it clear that the party will not support the culprits. The SFI, on its part, has expelled the accused. But with these token measures, the ruling front will not be able to wash its hands of putting the credibility of the higher education system at stake. A total cleansing is needed; for that, the first step should be to bring transparency and accountability into the system. The political parties, on their part, should make student leaders accountable for their deeds instead of letting them loose. Everyone should realise that the credibility of educational institutions will be under the scanner if such malpractices continue. And that certainly does not augur well for the state and its future.