Malice towards None, Humour towards All

                                           Malice towards None, Humour towards All

This is intended as jeu de’sprit and adheres to the caption given above. “Humor brings insight and tolerance.  “Irony( Malice)  brings a deeper and less friendly understanding.”(from In Pursuit of Laughter)

An unexpected mail from a reputed government organization inviting me to be a member of one of its innumerable committees surprised me.  Having retired more than a decade ago and living a life far from the present turbulence of the academic world, this invitation put back some fizz into my stale and dreary life. I had almost reconciled myself to the universal truth: “Out of sight, out of mind” and like the Irish novelist Cecelia Ahem, I always desired: “I don't want to be one of those easily forgotten people, so important at the time, so special, so influential, and so treasured, yet years later just a vague face and a distant memory”. But truth is truth and it hurts. So when this invitation came, I remembered what Anna Brashares, American writer of young Adult fiction had said: “Sometimes you couldn’t face the sadness of being forgotten until you felt the comfort of being remembered again.”

It was a Eureka moment for me that I have been re-discovered to be a part of a team of intellectuals to deliberate over a weighty issue as to what ails higher education in India. I read through the piles of attachments sent with the mail about rules and regulations governing Universities and colleges and made my notes as to how to bring back the lost vitality and excellence in our institutions. I felt great that once again I was in the thick of a momentous action to revive higher education and make our universities-if not like Nalanda and Takshila  of the ancient times, but at least like the temples of modern India as envisaged by our first Prime Minister, Pt. Nehru. I prepared a longish article on how to bring a turn-around in our universities and a sample application form like the new Income Tax saral (easy) form for faculty members to fill in for promotion- what in the present day jargon is termed the API or the Academic Performance Indicators. (The present API form runs to many pages for teachers to fill and showcase their selfie CVs. A minimum of five copies to be submitted- which, inter alia means quite a tidy sum out of pocket. This saral API form is appended at the end of this article.)

It was exciting to get ready early in the morning (otherwise, we retirees just saunter to and fro,  up and down, in the pretext of doing something),enjoying the pleasure of donning a crisp new cotton saree, giving instructions to one and all as to what to do when I was away for a full day, gulping a cup of hot coffee as there was no time for breakfast but  adding with pride I will have plenty to eat and drink in the meeting and finally getting into the car a full 90 minutes  in advance to drive a short distance of 15 kms. I did not realize times have changed and traffic comes practically to a standstill in the morning rush hours. Driving these days driving is on the brake and not on the accelerator. What should have been a 30 minute drive stretched past 90 minutes and I entered the august hall where members were already seated. Huffing and puffing I took my seat and even when no explanation was called for, old timer that I was, I felt obligated to explain the five minutes delay. I mumbled: “didn’t bargain for the traffic” A wry mutter from the Chairperson( who is only a two year old retiree- and therefore comparatively younger than me) which I strained my ears to hear was “who does not bargain”- I did not understand what this meant though all smiled in appreciation of his sense of humour. I joined them with a sheepish smile.

 The meeting started. I could not make out what the Chairperson was saying as he spoke inaudibly and did not speak into the mike. Probably this is the new trend- not to use the microphone when the gathering is a small intimate group of ten people.  Then suddenly he turned towards me to introduce myself to the group. It was quite shattering to discover that I had become so ancient that I had to introduce myself. Well, the “out of sight, out of mind’ aphorism hit me. Standing four foot nothing and bent double with age, conscious of the fact that a dozen eyes were on me wondering who this pipsqueak is and where from , I gave a staccato introduction that I retired as Principal of a leading college and as Dean of Students’ Welfare at Delhi University. Even before I finished my introduction, like the news anchor on the TV channels who cuts short the spokesperson of an opposition party, he turned to other members who sounded impressive and confident in speaking about themselves.

The peon came with plates of chips, pistachios and almonds and kept them closer to the person on my right. I felt shy to lunge forward to get the plate even as I recalled Robert Browning’s famous line “Your reach should be beyond your grasp”. I abandoned the effort to get to the plate and I was saved the embarrassment as the peon surfaced this time with tea in a plastic cup which he placed next to me. So amidst teacups and chips, almonds and pistachios, the meeting gathered steam. I was astonished that the ministry wanted earth shaking suggestions every week that could be relayed through Niti Ayog(Planning Commission) to PMO(Prime Minister’s Office) and thence to the hon’ble PM to make announcement of big bang reforms in higher education. The two officials from the Ministry were insisting on arriving at decisions they could carry with them back to their office. Their hurry made me wonder if they knew that no one was a magician to take a rabbit out of his hat. Reforms, like well deliberated research cannot be manufactured like goods in an assembly line. Anyhow with the officials waiting for weighty decisions to be carried to the Ministry before the evening was over, the Chairperson mumbled that the members can briefly give their views about modifying the regulations governing higher education.

Having been brought up in the classical mode of logic, analysis and critique, I thought that a review meant weeding out those rules that impeded progress of academic institutions and replacing them by new ones that helped in enhancing the quality of education. When my turn came, I started off what defines higher education so that within that definition we can see which one of the regulations can be eased. I was cut short by the Chairperson who said no one  has to define higher education or about enhancement of quality but limit the discussion to the existing regulations in force and not go beyond that brief as laid out by the Ministry. The idea was to help PMO make insta- announcement without breaking out of the cocoon called the Regulations.

I was flabbergasted as my small mind could not figure how dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’s in the regulations will bring about quality improvement. This is an insta-age, a new age that prides itself over its self sufficiency in knowledge and has no time to discuss concepts and practices that can aid in formulating changes towards the development of higher education. For example, an educational institution is dependent on its faculty and curriculum to reach excellence. Recruitment and promotion of faculty is currently done by API scores. API has not been successful in getting the best faculty in all our institutions as it provides loopholes for exaggerated CVs by the applicant. But the Committee that met was only interested in categorization of universities that have been already done by NAAC and NIRF(National Institute Ranking Framework) and wanted to make recommendations about the special privileges to be enjoyed by  Category I ,and on a lower scale by Cat II and Cat III ranked institutions. My old and tired brain could not understand how this will go to enhance quality improvement but such a question cannot be aired for the Committee had been given a limited brief. To work within that brief, it was axiomatic to believe that the regulations that dealt with quantifiable measures were sacrosanct and any change suggested should be not on a macro level but only at a micro level.

The peon came with cold fruit juice, followed by hot cup of coffee. Probably the juice was to cool one’s inquisitive brain and the hot coffee to invigorate the feeble brains of old misfits like me. I drowned both the juice and coffee in quick succession as it was time for lunch break. I waited for the chairman and his experts to get up and raise a toast to a meaningful pre lunch session. The chairman was a tall 6 footer and before him I stood- a Lilliputian. It was difficult for him and for many of the other tall experts with their high held heads (in keeping with Tagore’s verse), to lower their eye level to contact mine. I knew this was my last meeting with this –or for that matter any committee of our times- and so it was my turn to speak without fear and with my head held high. : “Thank you for providing me the temporary comfort of being remembered and invited. I have learnt that I don’t fit in with the requirements of modern times as we are basically in a post-idea age when neither new ideas have to be generated nor accepted. I am afraid, I have deprived a younger person the opportunity to be in the committee and contribute to the proceedings. Kindly accept my inability to do anything worthwhile and replace me by a more suitable person.”

I came home and I knew before long, I will give my people an exaggerated version of the meeting, my heroic and valiant act of resignation and the shock and awe of the committee members. Though exaggerated, my narrative has a kernel of truth. The truth is successive governments desire to bring reforms in education but stop short of visiting and re-visiting  the old hackneyed regulations and make inconsequential changes that have no impact on the central issue of promoting excellence in higher education. We have UGC and as the name indicates its main task is disbursal of grants to universities and colleges under the Central Government. As granting authority, it has over years given itself powers to monitor and oversee the performances of all universities of Central and State governments, private universities, deemed universities... Gradually UGC has changed into becoming a prescriptive and paternalistic body and is now donning the role of Big Brother watching and threatening to withhold grants if universities violated the rules and regulations laid down by it. The result is a gradual freezing of university autonomy and a veiled compulsion to follow all the regulations lest its monitoring agency NAAC should give the institution  a lower ranking. Hence today’s discussion was what to do with rewards and punishments for institutions according to their ranking. There was no attempt to break away from regulations; on the contrary make the universities docile and compliant institutions.

I realized- albeit late- that I had taken review of regulations at its face value. I accepted the invitation to be a member to contribute my two penny worth of wisdom. I felt stupid and like Eliot’s Prufrock, I went on asking

Do I dare? Do I dare?

Disturb the Universe?

In a minute there is time

For decisions and revisions which a minute will

reverse

Do I dare

 I remembered Tennyson’s poem The Brook which says “men may come and men may go, I go on forever” These meetings are like the Brook - governments may come and governments may go, they go on forever.

I had written some days back about University education: Need for a Turn-around in which I had suggested

(1)    full autonomy for Universities to design their courses, their fee structure their admission policies, their recruitment procedures etc. A time was when this autonomy was in full force in our higher educational institutions. University education should not be linked with employment and should serve as a platform to generate new ideas to meet the requirements of contemporary society. University is not to be a multiversity and turn out graduates who are “jack of all trades and master of none” – and what is worse is today the new products from the universities are neither. What is required is inclusive knowledge and not just exclusive specialization- the latter is required by professionals. Skill is one-dimensional; knowledge is multidimensional. It is not just acquiring skills to do a particular work-which is no doubt valuable, but what is imperative is to integrate skill with knowledge to understand its impact on society, to adapt it to increase economic growth and reduce incidence of poverty, to view its long term outcome on the physical and moral health of fellow beings, and recognize its value in building societies and sustaining morality. This is what one expects from university education.

(2)    Change from semester system to annual system to enable students gain wholesome knowledge, realize and value unity of knowledge.

(3)    No more of the API form as it exists today-make it simpler, to the point, for the selection panel to evaluate the applicant.

(4)    Categorize post secondary education into vocational, professional and academic to restrict the inflow of humungous numbers into Universities. Quality is inversely proportional to quantity. The universities should be open only to those who opt for academics and research.

(5)    Raise vocational institutions to the standard of academic and professional institutions, providing for holistic development of the individual as a responsible citizen. This means providing avenues for participation in debates, discussions, sports and extra- curricular activities as we have in academic colleges now.

(6)    UGC should be a funding institution and through judicious disbursal of grants encourage quality research in our universities. Funds should be granted to well qualified researchers. UGC has to be a truly Up Grading Commission to galvanize our universities to achieve excellence.

I came out and felt cooler and comfortable. The cold comfort of the meeting hall was certainly less appealing to me than the hot summery freedom of being a distant and forgotten memory.

 For those interested in a simpler version of API, I have appended it as the concluding piece of this article. Let us remember: “The more you say, the less people remember. The fewer the words,  the greater the profit.”(St. Francis de Sales)

                                                    Performance Based Appraisal System for Promotion under CAS

1. Name:

2. Department:

3. Number of Years of Service(including guest, ad-hoc and permanent positions):

4. Current Designation and Grade Pay:

5. Date of Last Promotion:

6. Date of Eligibility for Promotion:

7. Email and telephone No.:(if changed)

8. Highest Degree obtained:

9. Field(s) of Specialization:

10. Academic Staff College( orientation/refresher course attended):

11. Two Published Papers (last two Years) :

 12. Articles/Chapters in Books(last three Years):

13. Published Books with Titles:

14. Any other relevant information related to last two years:

15. Students’ Feedback(to be sent by the institution where the applicant is teaching)

Note: Since the teacher is already in the college/university / department, no need to ask for personal details.  Details asked in columns 6,8,9, 10, 12,13 ,14 are not needed. Promotions are strictly merit based and there is no need to ask for SC/ST/OBC status

Academic qualifications need not  be repeated as the applicant must have fulfilled the basic eligibility criteria for appointment as Assistant Professor/Associate Professor/Professor etc

As of today, it is mandatory for every teacher to do evaluation, paper setting, extra academic duties besides taking the requisite number of lectures, tutorials etc and hence these columns do  not carry any substantial and significant information. If the applicant desires to provide any other information, that can be added in column 14.