Though Kerala had achieved the enviable tag of complete literate State two decades ago, its higher education sector is lagging by as many years, since it failed to be in tune with the times.
Compared to others, we cannot say Kerala is behind, but we missed the bus to take higher education to new heights.
Our failure in utilising such opportunities is a cruelty meted out to the coming generation.
Keralites are never short of ideas, and our innovations have often awed the world. The State can boast of having India’s first electronics park and biotechnology centre. The State has more than adequate infrastructure to fuel the higher education sector, but we lack the energy to propel it to new levels.
Several seminars have discussed means to improve the higher education sector. If we have had implemented at least 10 per cent of suggestions made in such seminars, it would have helped us in a big way.
It is high time that we implemented practical ideas, rather than wasting time talking. The State Higher Education Council has been making several positive efforts. The Global Education Meet (GEM) was one in the right direction. The authorities concerned should now focus on GEM’s future course of action and on how to implement its recommendations.
There should be a concerted effort to uplift the academic atmosphere in the existing universities and colleges. Recently I visited my alma mater, University College, in Thiruvananthapuram. The state of affairs at its library was a matter of concern. Is this how we protect our educational institutions and libraries?
Teachers have a bigger role in leapfrogging high education. I, too, was a teacher. A good teacher is one who incessantly pursue knowledge. Teachers should recognize changes in the education sector and prepare students accordingly. Besides teachers, students and their parents, too, have equal responsibility in this matter.
The higher education sector won’t progress just by following the prescribed syllabus. It should also give prominence to prepare students to acquire job-oriented skills. The oft raised question over the employability of engineering graduates can be answered if our education system—like in the West—prepare students in partnership with various industries.
We should critically examine how many institutions from Kerala are among the India’s best in higher education. We don’t have much to boast about except NIT and IIM in Kozhikode. The Thiruvananthapuram-based Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology also maintains high standard. A 30-minute discussion had led to the founding of that institute.
I feel politicisation, too, is an impediment to the growth of higher education. When politics has a say in the finalizing syllabus and even in selecting text books, it will adversely affect the coming generation. When politics get involved in appointing high ranking officials, our campuses often become turbulent. All political parties have equal responsibility in marring the campuses.
All parties should take a decision against making the field of higher education a platform to gain political mileage. Only then we can mould a bright generation.
(The author was Principal Secretary to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh)