Academic Freedom with a Reason

KIIT University is going to host the 38th ISTE National Convention from 19 – 21 December 2008. The theme is “Autonomy and accountability of technical education in changing scenario”. I hope the participants representing the private sector will champion the cause for greater freedom.

Read Kiran Karnik’s article on “Restructuring the education system” [Economic Times; 10 December 2008; Wednesday] . Karnik says:
“Institutions like UGC and AICTE are not needed and the effort of transforming them to a new role is unlikely to work. It is best that they are wound up. The National Knowledge Commission has recommended an independent regulatory body.” He adds: “The stifling oversight of government, of which the UGC and AICTE have become willing surrogates, needs to be removed and replaced with a helping hand.”

Here is my view:
[On Public] The government-funded Institutions (including the “elite” ones) have enjoyed substantial taxpayer support over the decades and it is time for payback. The elite ones also enjoyed greater autonomy but did little to empower the less privileged ones during the protectionist era. One way to payback now is by participating actively in various inclusive growth initiatives. Government oversight is, therefore, essential for such Institutions to ensure proper payback.

[On Private] The private sector, however, needs a free and independent regulatory framework. They need regulatory bodies bringing superior standards to make the education system “glocally” competitive.

Public-Private-Participation is worthwhile only when pains and gains are properly shared. In the current disposition, however, the public seems to pass on the pains to private without fixing much accountability on the self.

As I espouse for greater academic freedom, I am cautioned by William Wordsworth’s poem “Ode to Duty” (click).