Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under R.N.I 53640/91
Vol. XXVI No. 15, November 16-30, 2016
Education in Tamil Nadu today It’s only turning out unemployables
by T. Rajagopalan
(Former Asst. Editor and Education Correspondent, The Hindu)
The higher education scenario in India throws up several-puzzling features. Among these are the mushrooming universities and colleges (arts and science, engineering, medical, vocational etc.). Almost in all institutions, the number of students knocking at their doors for admission shows no signs of abatement. We find, over the last three decades, several thousand graduates emerging from their portals.
What is the employment prospects for these youth? Several organisations, private, public, and the government, willy-nilly, have to recruit them. But the fact remains that the majority of the new recruits woefully fail to meet the needs of the employers. Lack of general knowledge, inadequate communication skills, and even basic courtesies are glaring lacunae.
Just look at the higher education institutions in Tamil Nadu alone. The majority of these are functioning in a lackadaised manner. The State universities are simply limping along. Many of these have been without a Vice Chancellor for months. It seems as if a sort of paralysis has set in. Without the executive heads, what type of administration can be expected by students, faculty and office staff?
The once prestigious Madras University has lost its sheen while other major ones like the Bharatiyar University (Coimbatore), Madurai Kama-raj University (Madurai) and Bharatidasan University (Tiruchi) are not covering themselves with glory.
There is no dearth of higher education institutions in Chennai itself. Apart from the familiar ones, we have universities catering to different disciplines. The best include Anna University (technical education), Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University (medicine), T.N. Veterinary and Animal Sciences University and even T.N. Physical Education and Sports University. These are all functioning with varying degrees of success, but the quality of the products leaves much to be desired.
Whether we like it or not, the English language has today become the lingua franca of the world. Obviously, proficiency in English is rated high in the job market almost for any job. A common complaint of employers is about the utter incapacity of present-day graduates to express themselves lucidly and coherently in English. It is not surprising to find hundreds of coaching institutes springing up in all the metros and towns. Chen-nai that was Madras has quite a good number. With what success these manage to improve the speaking, writing, and reading skills of the learners is anybody’s guess. Particularly when many teach English in Tamil!
Against this background, we must admit that the damage done by bad teaching in the earlier stages of education is hard to repair. It is difficult to come across good teachers in any field of learning and students exposed to bad teachers are no doubt at a great disadvantage.
Paradoxically, when salaries and perks of teachers, especially in government and aided institutions, have gone up considerably, inspiring teachers have become a rare breed. A casual attitude has taken hold of the mentors and, naturally, the students under their guidance are affected.
It is pathetic to note that different segments of education, whatever be their nomenclature, resemble atrophied limbs of the governments. The education system itself is like a huge locomotive lurching towards an abyss while fumbling hands try to control it.
Several seminars organised by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) have harp-ed on the malaise in education. Ills, -according to AIU, include: the affiliating system, inbreeding in faculty recruitment, over-regulation, and under-governance with multiplicity of regulatory agencies which lead to confusion and chaos.
Indeed, the regulatory bodies can be easily identified: the University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), Medical Council of India (M.C.I), Bar Council of India (BCI) etc. For assessment and accreditation, there are two important agencies: National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and the National Board of Accreditation (NBA). The former is an autonomous entity functioning under the aegis of the UGC. By its very nature, the task is a stupendous one and only few universities and colleges have been accredited till now. NBA is attached to AICTE and not much can be claimed by way of performance regarding technical universities and colleges.
With the laudable objective of expanding the reach of educators, correspondence cour-ses by universities came into being a few decades ago. Then followed what is now termed “Distance Education” and “Open Universities”. The correspondence institutes appended to universities are even now regarded as milch cows to generate revenues for the fund-starved parent universities. At the national level, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) offers courses in different disciplines to hundreds of thousands of learners. The State Open Uni-ver-sities including the Tamil Nadu Open University (TNOU) in Chennai, also function with varying degrees of success.
The concept of ‘distance education’ has been expanded to cover school education also. State open schools in a number of States are now in existence, but the encouragement for these from the education departments of State Governments continues to be lukewarm.
Chennai is famous for its great cultural values and heritage and was once so for its educational institutions as the capital of the old Madras Presidency. Whether the city can be made to regain its glory in the matter of education is anybody’s guess.
