To Make Cut in International standards of Higher Education, Cut sprouting of Engineering Colleges like Chemist Shops; Regulators of integrity & Courage required: Academician Prof PB Sharma

   

 FIRED by valuating hopes to bring palpable change in quality of education in country’s institutions of higher education, Noted Academician and Newly appointed President of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) Prof PB Sharma has expressed grave concerns over falling standards of education in some institutions and said regulatory system must be made robust to bridle growth of engineering colleges as “Chemist Shops “.

His concerns spiked after a report in a national daily recently that more than fifty per cent of seats in the private engineering colleges remained vacant this year in the wake of demand and supply gap.

“Unplanned and uncontrolled growth undermines both the quality and standards and makes regulatory bodies redundant,  Dr Sharma said after the said media report.

Engineering education in the country seems to have reached the saturation point with around 54 per cent of undergraduate and postgraduate seats in the private engineering colleges across the country ,or 8.67 Lakh seats of 16.07lakg seats, not finding takers in 2016- 17, data put by a government site said, According to the media report in question.

 An outspoken Dr Sharma, VC of the Amity university, Guru gram, is of the form opinion that Democracy requires regulators of integrity and courage else Democracy becomes freedom infinite and leads  to chaos and disgust.

At a simple but elegant function on Tuesday, Prof Sharma was welcomed 

by the AIU fraternity as 96^th President of the AIU . Dr S. Radhakrishan , Vice Chancellor , BHU had decorated this office as President in 1943-44.

The AIU house Officers and Staff yesterday bid farewell to outgoing President Dr DS Chauhan, Former VC of UP Technical University.

Unbridled mushrooming of engineering colleges like “Chemist shops” is despairingly blighting national goal of producing engineers of excellence and quality in India, reveals a well-researched book- “Path to Excellence” by Prof Pritam B sharma who calls for a thorough review of the policy before it is too late.  Driven by a quest to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), the regulatory system in the country allowed “mushrooming” of engineering and technology colleges and deemed universities, thinking that the engineering colleges are like chemist shops required in every nook and corner of the nation, the book mentions. 

They overlooked that the engineering institutions are required to attract best of talent both in students as well in its faculty community …. “But for the crazy policy makers and regulators responsible for assuring quality this was not the agenda as they primarily focused on achieving an accelerated increase in GER from almost 9% in 2006 to almost 22% as of now, says Prof.Sharma.

It is a matter of grave concern the much of this increase has been achieved by setting up poor quality Institutions and adding seats in already poor performing institutions. He notes it is the genesis of the utterly low 

employ ability of graduates.He wondered the self-financing institutions, rather than taking advantage of freedom from shackles of bureaucracy, riveted their eyes on maximizing the intake rather than maximizing quality.

 The world class universities such ad MIT, Harvard ,Stanford and Carnegie Mellon have risen to the highest esteem despite having being established and private research universities .Nothing could prevent India’s privately managed engineering and technology institutions to shape as centers of excellence in education cum research universities and rise to level of world class universities in few years, He says.

Dr  Sharma had been the founder VC of Delhi Technological University, Foundrma er VC of Rajiv Gandhi Technological University besides wearing many other coveted caps in the field of academics. He was also the former Professor of IIT, Delhi.  

Despite such a low employ ability rate (around 25 per cent as voiced Industry Associations), India continues to be a prime attraction for manpower development and for outsourcing business and services for many advanced countries. Although 25 per cent of the graduating engineers are of good quality, yet they account for almost four to five times the total engineering graduates produced by American Universities as a whole.

India produces as many as 1.2 million graduates in its engineering program as against America’s total annual out turn of engineering graduates of 2,37826 ( as per WEF ,2015).