Lest IITs go the Air India way
Self-governance is the norm followed by all the world-class universities, technology and management institutes, and other centres of higher learning abroad. Government should only provide funds, lay down norms for accountability and strict adherence to the social justice principle, set high benchmarks for timebound progress, and leave institutional governance entirely to the boards or senates of IITs, IIMs, NITs, universities, etc.
The Indian Institutes of Technology ( IITs) are undoubtedly crown jewels in India’s system of higher education. Their contribution to making India largely self-reliant in top-notch manpower needs in diverse areas of engineering in the pre-liberalisation era, and to India’s emergence as a powerhouse in the knowledge economy in the era of liberalisation and globalisation is uncontestable. Even IITians who went abroad in large numbers have served the motherland in their own ways by achieving excellence in their professions and thus enhancing India’s prestige globally.
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Kapil Sibal, the new HRD minister, is one of the brightest members of Dr Singh’s post-election cabinet ... he has a golden opportunity to unshackle the higher education establishment in India and empower it to achieve ambitious national goals.
Here are a few suggestions.
Self-governance is the norm followed by all the world-class universities, technology and management institutes, and other centres of higher learning abroad. Government should only provide funds, lay down norms for accountability and strict adherence to the social justice principle, set high benchmarks for timebound progress, and leave institutional governance entirely to the boards or senates of IITs, IIMs, NITs, universities, etc.
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One of the chief objectives of this reform should be to develop a large number of new leaders in the education field, who will have the requisite competence, unfettered operational freedom and the fire in their belly to enable India to make the kind of breathtaking strides that China is making in higher education.
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