Autonomy more important

The bottom-line of this news article in Telegraph reads => “Fewer students from Bengal in the IITs and IIMs mean fewer decision-makers of tomorrow from Bengal.” It expresses “parochial concerns” for not being included within a certain “pedigree”. It seems to suggest that decision-makers of tomorrow have to be from the existing IITs and IIMs. And, therefore, it is a do-or-die situation for the students. At the same time, it is oblivious of the outcomes of globalization in the education sector. Emulating Bengal will not definitely bode well for Orissa.

Today, while other states get away (with almost anything) by expressing their parochial sentiments, Orissa’s rightful demands are being neglected. The answer, therefore, lies in “making” our own IIT rather than “begging” for an IIT. Effort will be needed to inspire students and teachers to join these new IITs in the making. Some entrepreneurs (or “edupreneurs”) have already started on this road. The moot point, will the “regulators” allow enough autonomy to make such enterprise reach the level of an IIT? I don’t see that happening till education in India faces “free and fair” global competition. I hope that day is not too far.

Decision-makers in Orissa often seek the counsel of faculty members from IIT Kharagpur in matters related to higher education. However, thanks to the long prevailing “hierarchical control” in the system (MHRD => IITs => RECs => UCEs; somewhere along we were saddled with AICTE), technical education in Orissa has suffered to a large extent. It is not that the erstwhile engineering colleges of the state, UCE and REC, did not have the potential to be one amongst the IITs. As some of us know, there was a somewhat healthy relationship between the faculty of UCE, REC and IIT-Kgp. However, while IITs enjoyed a huge share of the taxpayers’ money along with the “autonomy” to use it the way they wanted, REC and most importantly UCE were left to fend for themselves with the scarce resources from the state. The least that could have been done was to grant academic autonomy to the individual faculty. Even that could not be granted because of this urge to “control”. Aspiring for the IAS, therefore, has instinctively been considered more important than to aspire for an IIT.

Instead of urging the students to work hard to get into these IITs/IIMs (read “limited capacity”), I would urge the educators to create systems that would grant greater autonomy to the individual in the upcoming Institutions of learning.