Cithara Paul By

NEW DELHI: Centralisation of all universities in India is on the cards and is a messenger of mixed tidings for Indian academia. While the idea of all Central universities merging into one with 45 different campuses across the country and a common curriculum, admission procedure and a common pool of faculty and mobility is definitely good news for students, talk of a mobile faculty may be a cause of worry for the teachers.

The Working Group of Vice Chancellors, appointed by the new government in September, has submitted a report to the HRD minister Smriti Irani last week recommending standardisation of all Central Universities. The sub-committee report, accessed by The Sunday Standard, has put forward dramatic recommendations which could overhaul the entire university culture in India. To begin with there will be a Common Entrance Test (CET) for admission to all universities. It means there will be a single-point entry for students from all over the country seeking admissions to prestigious Central Universities. This will give students across various boards and streams a common platform to compete for a seat and students will be allotted universities as per merit.

As of now, different universities are holding independent entrances to admit students. This will give way to a common admission procedure with an all-India ranking which could help students decide which university to opt for.

“It is a very good move as it would help the universities in far-flung areas to get good students. Otherwise not many will apply specifically to an upcoming university in a remote area,’’ said a source in the know.

Then, there would be a common curriculum for all universities. According to the recommendations, there will be uniformity in syllabus as far as core curriculum is concerned. “There will be uniformity in the core curriculum while there would be flexibility as far as electives are concerned,’’ reads the recommendation. Another major proposal with the potential for creating a huge controversy is the one on “faculty mobility”. It means that a professor teaching in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) can be transferred to a remote university and this is bound to create unrest among teachers, especially those who teach in prestigious universities such as Delhi University (DU) or JNU. “We know that there will be protests. But it can be implemented in a positive way if those teachers who opt for transfers are rewarded with points which will be counted for their promotion,’’ said the source. Another equally important suggestion is the introduction of student mobility which will allow students to migrate to a different university during the course. Towards this, the Working Group has recommended credit transfer system which allow the credits of the students to be transferred to the other university where s/he wants to join next.

The Working Group comprised VCs of University of Delhi, Central University of Gujarat, Central University of Kerala, Central University of Jharkhand, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (Lucknow), Tripura University and Pondicherry University. “The Ministry has received the recommendations and most of them are quite revolutionary. They have the potential of addressing lots of issues which are plaguing the Indian academics. It is up to the government to take the final call,’’ a source with the HRD Ministry said.

According to the official, the government is most likely to accept these recommendations as they match the “thinking’’ within the government. “Though all these measures look like centralisation, what it does in effect is de-centralisation of knowledge. In the current scenario, only those studying in JNU or DU get the best out of the system. But as per the new recommendations, a student studying in a remote university will also have equal access. This is the best scenario for knowledge sharing,’’ said the source.

The previous UPA government had also tried something on similar lines when Kapil Sibal was the HRD minister. But he did not succeed as JNU and DU had opposed the move to have a common entrance exam and curriculum, arguing that their exclusivity would be lost with this standardisation. But with this government there does not seem much scope for blind opposition. “There is too much autonomy with some universities now. The government may in all likelihood bring all the Central Universities under a single legislation,’’ said a source in the government.