Tuesday, March 20, 2018

No college versus university teachers issue at all


This bears reference to a couple of articles published in GK in response to the joint press statement issued by KUTA and JUTA against the order issued by Principal Secretary, Higher Education, Govt. of J&K authorizing all college teachers to act as guides and co-guides for supervising M.Phil. and Ph.D. scholars. Pointed references have been made to the joint statement of KUTA and JUTA in these articles vehemently criticizing the same and taking jibes at their stand on the issue. While constructive criticism is the life and soul of any democracy, undue criticism not based on reason and facts is not only unwarranted and distasteful but divisive too. While putting across their point authors have used some choicest invectives to describe KUTA, University Teachers in general and University Research which is highly unbecoming owing to the fact that use of such language does not help in any manner to promote collaborations and foster inter-institutional relationship rather it only dents any such advancements.

While initially KUTA didn’t deem it necessary to respond to these articles since our initial press statement was self-explanatory wherein we had made our stand amply clear. Furthermore the arguments made in these articles were based on faulty premise and ill conceived conclusions. However since a wrong impression and incorrect message was being passed on to the readers it was deemed needful to clear the haze and set the record straight. It is quite surprising that while authors seem to be reasonably well-read, articulate as well as eloquent in putting forth their point, they seem to have willfully chosen to ignore the assertion made in our joint statement that reads, “It needs to be clarified that KUTA and JUTA are not against authorizing college teachers to act as research guides but against the way it is sought to be done. KUTA never had any problems with that as long as it is done within the purview of statutes and regulations in vogue at present. But if attempts are made to circumvent and override the existing norms and guidelines, overstepping one’s authority, undermining the statutory bodies and usurping the autonomy of the institutions of higher learning, KUTA will oppose any such move,”. There was hardly any need to say anything more after having said that in so clear and unambiguous terms. Nowhere in this statement has JUTA and/or KUTA opposed the recognition of college teachers as research guides/co-guides following codal procedure and statutes in vogue. Even the subsequent clarification issued by the Kashmir University authorities emphasized upon the fact that UGC regulations and statutes in vogue at present shall be followed while recognizing college teachers as guides and co-guides for supervising M.Phil. and Ph.D. scholars. It is beyond one’s comprehension as to what makes the authors doubt the intentions of KUTA and JUTA and not believe their assertion. It is not clear as to what makes them believe that the University teachers somehow feel threatened or insecure by this govt. order and that they vie to have a monopoly on research. These apprehensions are totally ill-founded and baseless. University teachers have never at any point of time stated or done anything that remotely points towards these conclusions.

It is really astonishing how unsolicited motives are being attributed to KUTA and how sweeping judgments are being passed on the quality of research being done at KU as well as on the competence of university teachers while it has never been a case of university versus college teachers even though the authors in question have tried their level best to make it appear like one. At least KUTA never intended it to be that way. There is absolutely no point in pitching college teachers against university teachers for we consider both as the pivots of higher education sector in the state. Both have to work shoulder to shoulder for taking the higher education system of the state to all new heights. No sane and seasoned individual, group or association can ever seek or claim a monopoly or fiefdom on research. Research is a collective means of creating knowledge and evolving solutions to the most intriguing problems faced by the society. All stakeholders have to work in tandem to achieve these goals.

University teachers will be among the happiest lot if government allocates sufficient funds from its kitty for the upliftment of facilities and development of world-class infrastructure in colleges that is necessary to make them capable of conducting high quality research. College teachers should actually press for that rather than going gungho about an order issued from an office of the secretariat that has little significance owing to the fact that college teachers have to anyhow fulfill criteria laid out in the existing statutes and regulations and follow the proper procedure laid out in rule books before getting recognized as guides and co-guides. Kashmir University has been recognizing college teachers as co-guides since its inception several decades back and there is nothing new about it. This government order can only serve as opium for those who want to thrive upon its euphoria and enter into a mud-slinging match against university teachers. Even the Chancellor of Kashmir University, Governor of J&K state in a recent meeting held with Vice-Chancellors of Jammu and Kashmir University on March 6th, 2018 has made it clear in presence of Education Minister and Principal Secretary Education at Jammu that, “The decisions relating to academic matters such as introduction of new courses, framing rules and regulations for running courses, authorising Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors of the colleges to act as guides, co-guides for MPhil and PhD scholars should be taken strictly in terms of Jammu and Kashmir University statutes”.

Cluster Universities of Jammu and Srinagar have been established under the provisions of Srinagar and Jammu Cluster University Act 2016 as an initiative of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme, RUSA (Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan) with an aim to create new universities through upgradation of existing colleges and conversion of these colleges into a cluster. Five prominent and leading colleges of Jammu and Srinagar each have been clustered into these two universities that offer undergraduate, postgraduate, integrated masters and research degrees in humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, applied sciences, management and commerce besides some professional courses. That means they have to anyhow recognize the senior faculty working in their cluster of colleges as research supervisors and co-supervisors in order to enable them to guide M.Phil. and Ph.D. scholars registered with these universities. So when nobody has opposed establishment of these two cluster universities why would anybody oppose the research degrees that they intend to offer and the associated recognition of guides and co-guides from colleges. Only matter of concern could be the availability of adequate facilities, infrastructure, staff and funds to go ahead with research at these colleges. Furthermore as per news reports more cluster universities are in the pipeline (GK dated March 6th, 2018: J&K seeks 6 more cluster universities: Altaf Bukhari) implying that more colleges of J&K state will be clustered together to become part of these upcoming universities paving way for more college teachers to be recognized as guides and co-guides and more infrastructure getting created at these colleges to establish research laboratories. These are all positive developments that are always welcome. This will only pave way for radical developments in the higher education sector of the state provided sufficient funds, manpower and necessary infrastructure is made available to these college and they do not meet the same fate as newly established colleges many of whom were being run in cow-sheds as per news reports. It should not be reduced to just paperwork with no substantial progress on ground and that is what college teachers and their associations should actually push for rather than prowling upon an authoritative order flown like a paper plane from some office and feeling overwhelmed about it. I am sure university teachers and their association will lend all possible support in this endeavour at every stage.

While the college teachers strive to achieve these goals they need to simultaneously protect and preserve the dignity and stature of the office of Vice-Chancellor. It is quite shocking that one of the prime constituent colleges of Cluster University Srinagar is going to organize a conference in the fourth week of March, information brochure of the conference as well as its website shows Principal Secretary higher education as Chief Patron, Principal of the college as Patron and some faculty of the college as members of organizing committee of the conference. Astonishingly name of the Vice-Chancellor of Cluster University Srinagar does not figure anywhere either in the brochure or on the website. He is nobody in the conference. This shows the level of sycophancy that some of the college teachers and principals are resorting to throwing all conventions and norms to the wind. This type of approach will not lead us anywhere. Supremacy of academics in all academic institutions has to be maintained at all costs and that is the prime issue KUTA or JUTA had with the order issued by the Principal Secretary who had marked a copy of his order to all vice-chancellors of the state with directions of immediate compliance thus attempting to reduce the vice-chancellor’s office merely to a post-office that could not have been allowed to go unopposed since no respect had been shown to the office of the vice-chancellor in this very order. Unfortunately authors in question have given the joint statement a totally new and unwanted diversion that was never intended to be the case. Perhaps they found a vent for their victimhood syndrome under the garb of our joint statement and started firing their salvos against us. We are being made a butt of the ridicule for no fault of ours.

Due to constraints of space I am not going into some other debatable issues raised in the articles like quality of teaching and research done in the university, quality and quantum of teaching in our colleges, basic mandate of colleges and universities as per statutes and regulations, contribution of college and university teachers towards the progress and development of higher education sector in the state and promotion of science, technology, social sciences and humanities. Those issues will be discussed in another piece but one thing needs to be emphasized that one-upmanship and self-righteousness will lead us nowhere. Mud-slinging and passing the buck will only push us further into an abyss. Negative campaigns do not serve any purpose other than creating animosities and bad blood among two communities of the same system. Rather we need to join hands and work together to improve our lot and uplift the standards of our education and research that will entail this state on a path of sustainable progress and development and enable us the meet the challenges of globalization of education in twenty first century. Drawing sadistic pleasure out of unduly criticizing an entire community of teachers while blissfully ignoring one’s own shortcomings and lacunae will not serve any ends other than bringing some solace to the hurt egos and complexes. Magnanimity demands working above all levels and sects for the benefit of our student community.

(Author is General Secretary of Kashmir University Teachers Association and can be reached at ishaqgeer@gmail.com)

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