Punjab Chief Minister held a meeting with the Vice-Chancellors of Guru Nanak Dev University Punjab University, Punjab agricultural University and Punjabi University in Chandigarh on July 8. Newspaper reports said the Chief Minister argued strongly in favor of common syllabi in these universities interestingly, despite their academic experience, not a murmur of protest was raised the Vice-Chancellors at the suggestion.
The meeting, the first to be held by the recently formed State Council of Higher Education, was at tended by, besides the Chief Minister and Vice-Chancellors, the Punjab Education Minister, Education Secretary, Chief Secretary the Chairman, Punjab School Education Board. The Chief Minister chaired the meeting.
But before we question the authority of the council to take a decision on syllabi, let us examine the issue at stake.
Primarily two arguments have been forwarded in favor of common Syllabi. Both need careful dissection. The first is that common syllabi will make migration “of Students from one university to “another easy. Such an argument is father infructuous since there are only a very few cases of migration every year. For example Punjabi University in Patiala recorded only 50 cases of migration this year, besides, academicians see no harm in migrating students haying to repeal a section of the syllabus. Thus it does not appear imperative for universities to have common syllabi merely to facilitate migration.
The second argument is that common syllabi would make it easy to publish common textbooks at cheap rates. This need not necessarily be so. For example, any delay, deliberate or otherwise, in the publication of textbooks before the beginning of the academic Session is sure to help publishers of “help books” hit a gold mine. Anticipation of such an event is not far-fetched. The administrative efficacy of our universities is only 100 well known. It may be interesting to mention here that the Hunter Report of 1881 (more than 100 years ago) strongly favored the cause of teaching English to local people who, in tum, would write textbooks in their own vernacular. However, nothing concrete has been done in this direction. A large number of help books’ have been published, but these should not be confused with textbooks. “Help books” only give a little, information and are far removed from rendering an understanding of the subject. Writing textbooks in your own language is not a question of translation, but thinking and communicating arguments m your own language.
Interestingly, both GND University m Amritsar and Punjabi University in Patiala have given the option to its students to study both graduate and postgraduate courses in Punjabi But a pertinent question is: Where are the textbooks in Punjabi?
There are other arguments against adopting common syllabi, various universities specialize in different subjects and For example, Punjab University in Chandigarh is known for the high standards set by its Mathematics Department. Hence, it is very likely that the academic level there is higher than in other universities. Similarly GND University’s History Department enjoys a good reputation and so does Punjabi University’s Department of Teaching of Punjabi Language. The academic standard in these departments is bound to be higher than their counterparts in other centers of learning. A common syllabi is bound to act as a disincentive rather than an incentive for both the students and faculty members aiming at academic excellence.
It is important to stress the point that different universities have different statutory responsibilities.
All universities came into being through an Act of legislation. In the case of GND University, the legislation categorically provides for research on Guru Nanak and obliges the university to spread his teachings in the world.” The Faculty of Guru Nanak Sikh Studies in Punjab University and the Department of Religious Studies in Punjabi University are entrusted with a similar responsibility. How can any panel or committee on higher education tone down these responsibilities?
Last but most significant, the, syllabi of any university are decided by its Academic Council. ‘The decisions of the council cannot be rejected by any panel of the Syndicate or the government. The Vice Chancellor is only the executive arm of the Syndicate, How then could the Vice-Chancellors On their own decide on the syllabi, as appears to have been done at their meeting with the Chief Minister on July 8?
Any move towards centralization of education is in itself undesirable. It is bound to entail inefficiency and corruption. These problems do not disappear with decentralization, but at least become visible or detectable. Local initiative to tackle these problems cannot be underestimated. To do so is to give a free rein to the kind of apathy that pervades any large government institution.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 5, 1994
