Plan 12, Year 2012: Mission Higher Education

Volume 03 Issue 07 50A 9.9 medIA PublIcAtIon

July 2012www.edu-leAders.com

Pawan AgarwalAdvisor, Higher Education,

Planning Commission, outlines the 12th Five Year

Plan roadmap Pg 12

PROFILESon of the Soil Prof MJ Xavier,

Director, IIM Ranchi P52

TECHNOLOGYDigital Document

Management explained P34

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1July 2012 EduTEch

FOREWORD

Dr Pramath Raj [email protected]

Straight from the source

“It was perhaps no coincidence that Dr Raj later went on to become the Vice Chancellor of Delhi University”

In 1951, the First Five Year Plan put together by KN Raj, a 26-year-old economist from London School of Business, was published. Education was one of the pains-takingly prepared sections in the Plan, as for the leaders at that time it was clearly the path to take the young country on the course to development. It was perhaps no

coincidence that Dr Raj later went on to become the Vice Chancellor of Delhi University and was also instrumental in setting up the Delhi School of Economics.

Education occupies a highly significant role in our country’s development agenda, though it may not be that apparent. Just like the Budget, the Five Year Plan document is much dis-cussed and debated, and by far more complex and daunting. Like all other sectors, the higher education community also engages in discussions on what works and what doesn’t in the sector. Leaders in higher education do not shy away from going into the nitty-gritty to prepare the intimidating document, discussing threadbare various facets of the sector, in order to prepare the roadmap for the next five years.

As we wait eagerly to lay our hands on the 12th Five Year Plan document, which is being prepared by the Planning Commission and is in the final stages of completion, discussions around the Plan have already begun on many forums in the higher education community, based on the initial reports of various steering committees. There is a level of anticipation on what it will actually entail for the sector.

To bring to you an insight on the 12th Plan, EDU decided to visit the person putting those final pages of the plan on higher education together—Pawan Agarwal, Advisor Planning Commission. We also spoke to a few academics and community influencers to capture their expectations and desires from this Plan that will influence policies on higher education going forward. We hope our effort to get this information straight from the source helps you under-stand what the Plan could mean for you.

2 EduTEch July 2012

ContentsJuly 2012EDU

update 04 policy 05 cAMpUS enrolMent06 iiit tAlkS07 elected centre

Viewpoint08 onkAr Singh Technical Education at a Crossroads

dialogue30 looking for next gen leAderSJoe Haberman, Global Managing Partner, Education and Social Enterprise Practice of Heidrick & Struggles, on trends in Higher Education LeadershipBy Smita Polite

strategy 26 cet: coMMon entrAnce trAUMAWhat’s getting the IIT faculty up in arms over the proposed Common Entrance Test—insights into the opposing views By Smita Polite

technology34 ddM to yoUr Aid Banish mounting piles of paperwork with Digital Document Management (DDM) solutions By Tushar Kanwar

38 tech tUteLiving life on the cloud By Tushar Kanwar

40 interviewMurlidhar S, CEO MeritTrac on merits of taking the online route for exams By Radhika Haswani

global perspectiVe Find out what’s currently happening in institutions around the world. The Chronicle of Higher Education shares its perspectives with EDU42 nyU-ABU dhABi BehAveS like cArefUl gUeSt in foreign lAnd By Ursula Lindsey 46 in itAly, A dySfUnctionAl UniverSity SySteM SinkS deeper into decAy By Megan Williams 49 in london A working-clASS UniverSity wreStleS with chAnge By Aisha Labi

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Real talent is still in rural areas and needs to be tapped—MJ XavierDirector, IIM Ranchi

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3July 2012 EduTEch

timeout58 BookS59 gizMoS & gAdgetS

legacy60 MAhAdevi vArMA

This index is provided as an additional service. The publisher does not assume

any liabilities for errors or omissions.

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VOLUME 03 ISSUE 07 50A 9.9 MEDIA PUBLICATION

JULY 2012WWW.EDU-LEADERS.COM

Pawan AgarwalAdvisor, Higher Education,

Planning Commission, outlines the 12th Five Year

Plan roadmap Pg 12

PROFILESon of the Soil Prof MJ Xavier,

Director, IIM Ranchi P52

TECHNOLOGYDigital Document

Management explained P34

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12 destination: expansion, equity, excellenceAn outline of the 12th-five-year plan roadmap for higher education by sanjay kumar & smita polite

18 make accreditation mandatoryAbhijit chakrabarti, Vc, Jadavpur University

20 change mindsets for real changeAshok Kolaskar, Vc, KiiT University

22 create the environment for private playersSunjoy Joshi, Director, observer Research foundation

24 make optimum use of resourcesJAK Tareen, University of Pondicherry

3July 2012 EduTEch

from the world of higher education

4 EduTEch July 2012

05 campus 05 enrolment 06 iiit 06 talks

07 elected 07 centre & more

Policy Higher agricultural education is set to get a boost with a National Policy for Higher Agriculture Education on anvil. The policy aims to achieve the targeted four per cent growth in agricultural sector, according to sources in the Indian Council for Agricultural Research. The announcement came from Dr S Ayyappan, Director General, ICAR, Delhi, recently while he was presiding over the 23rd meeting of ICAR Regional Committee at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. The meeting was inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Agri-culture Minister S Damodaran who asked the scientists and researchers to play a vital role in the progress of farmers.

Ayappan said that on the suggestions of Bill Gates, the ICAR was working towards interfacing agriculture with ICT, as it would benefit farmers in a big way. The modalities for the policy were being worked out keeping in view the needs of the agricultural sector. The policy would be included in the 12th plan period. Farmers in India are currently facing rough weather.

Boost for Agri EducationA National Policy for Higher Agricultural Education with an aim to boost farming sector is being worked out; to be included in the 12th Five Year Plan

relief: The National Policy will work for the uplift of the farmers and aim to achieve four per cent target growth in the agriculture sector

AssAm univErsiTy gETs A nEw vcDr Somnath Dasgupta has been

appointed as the new Vice Chan-

cellor of Assam University. He

will be the fifth vice chancellor

of the central varsity, which was

established in 1994. Dasgupta is

the Director of the National Cen-

tre of Experimental Mineralogy and

Petrology (NCEMP) under the Univer-

sity of Allahabad. He has made significant

contributions in the field of petrology and

geochemistry. He has also served as director

in the Geological Survey of India, Jadavpur

University, Kolkata and in the Indian Institute

of Science Education and Research, Kolkata.

gAdE is vc of PunE univErsiTyNoted biologist Wasudeo Namdeo Gade has

been appointed as the new Vice Chancellor of

University of Pune. He will succeed RK

Shevgoankar. Gade obtained his BSc in biol-

ogy from the Nagpur University and later

secured his MSc (life sciences), MPhil and

PhD in Life Sciences from the Jawaharlal

Nehru University, New Delhi. He was a post-

doctoral fellow in France and Sweden

between 1988 and 1990.

fAizAn musTAfA is vc of nAlsAr lAw univErsiTyProf Faizan Mustafa has been appointed the

Vice Chancellor of Nalsar Law University,

Hyderabad. He is former dean, Faculty of Law

and registrar, Aligarh Muslim University. Prof

Mustafa specialises in new areas of legal stud-

ies such as Intellectual Property, Human

rights, etc. Prof Mustafa is the senior profes-

sor of AMU Law Faculty and has vast adminis-

trative experience. He has a number of books

to his credit, which have been widely quoted

by scholars in India and abroad.

uPdate

5July 2012 EduTEch

globalupdate

enrolment Women in Pakistan are showing an increasing interest in higher education,

according to statistics collected from across Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the

country. The number of women in universities has risen from 196,000 in 2004-05 to

391,000 in 2009-10. The total number of students in HEIs in 2009-2010 stood at 869,000.

The total female enrolment rate of 36.89 per cent though still comparatively low com-

pared to men which is 63.11 per cent, the overall increase is an indicator of

the changing circumstances of women in the country.

One of the major reasons for the jump in the enrolment rate

is the institution of a number of exclusive universities for

women. Pakistan has seven women universities. How-

ever, there are some universities where the statistics

for 2010-11 showed that the number of girls exceed-

ed that of the boys while in some others the num-

ber of girls and boys is almost equal.

Increased Enrolment of Women in Pak HEIs

camPus Karnataka-based Manipal University is planning to open its over-seas campus in China. The university is in talks with two Chinese universities—Tianjin University and Shanghai’s Tongji University. The campus would be Chi-na’s first all-English educational institu-tion that will provide training in Infor-m a t i o n Te c h n o l o g y ( I T ) a n d health sciences.

Vice Chancellor of Manipal University, Dr K Ramnarayan recently had a meet-ing with the heads of Chinese universi-ties in Beijing and Tianjin. He said, “We would like to provide academic support and set up an all-English campus in China. The campus would offer techni-cal training both in technology and health sciences.”

The VC informed that the two poten-

Manipal Mulls Campus in ChinaThere is tremendous potential for India and China to work together

enrolment rate of men in Pakistan universities and higher education centres63.11%

total female enrolment rate in Pakistan higher education institutions36.89%

tial partners in this collabora-tion are Tianjin University and Tongji University, Shanghai. He said, “We would collaborate at the student and faculty level through exchanges and also programmes that could be jointly run.” Dr Ramnarayan also met with the head of Chi-na’s National Office for Teach-ing Chinese as a Foreign Lan-guage. Manipal already runs overseas campuses in Antigua, Dubai, Nepal and Malaysia. The VC said, “We always felt that China is one country where we could make our presence felt. India has always been looking towards the West. But I think the potential for India and China to work together is tremendous.”

The Chinese government has set up more than 300 Confucius Institutes in 100 countries. The centres are usually joint initiatives with a host foreign uni-versity, a Chinese partner university and the Hanban.

china calling: Manipal University believes it can make a mark in China with its offerings

6 EduTEch July 2012

uPdate

iiit Northeast India’s first IIIT (Indian Institute of Information Technology) will be set up in Tripura with a cost of Rs 128 crore. Tripura Education Minis-ter Tapan Chakraborty said, “The HRD Ministry has decided to establish 20 more IIITs in the country in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. In the first phase, five IIITs would be set up in differ-ent parts of India, includ-ing one in Tripura.”

At present, there are four IIITs in India—Allahabad, Gwalior, Jabalpur and K a n c h i p u r a m . T h e s e autonomous institutions are providing undergradu-ate as well as postgraduate technical education.

North-East India’s first IIIT at TripuraThere are currently four IIITs in the country, with the HRD Ministry planning to set up 20 more institutions in various cities

“The central govern-ment has decided to provide more financial aid to the northeastern states than the other parts of the country to se t up the I I ITs , ” Chakraborty added.

“To establish the IIITs in the northeast, the Cen-tral government would provide 57.5 per cent share of the total cost while the state govern-ment would give 35 per cent share and the private or industr ia l houses’ share would be 7.5 per cent,” the minister said.

To set up the IIITs in the

other parts of India, excluding the northeast region, the central govern-ment’s share would be around 50 per cent and the industrial share would be around 10 per cent.

“In order to develop manpower for different areas of the knowledge econ-omy, educat ion and tra ining of information technology, the centre has decided to set up more IIITs in the c o u n t r y, ” s a i d H R D Mi n i s t e r Kapil Sibal.

hi-tech: Technical education will go pan-India with the establishment of premier IIITs around the country

57.5% will be the Central

government’s share in the

total cost

talks Union Minister for Human Resource Development,

Communications and IT Kapil Sibal participated in the high-

profile India-US Strategic Dialogue in Washington recently, and

held a Higher Education Dialogue (HED) with US Secretary of

State Hillary Clinton with a view to revolutionise vocational

education in India. The vocational education sector in India is in

a poor shape as compared to university or degree education.

Notably, by 2022, the country would need a total workforce of

500 million skilled workers. The current capacity for vocational

training in the country could produce only three million people

against the requirement for nine million workers.

The discussions concerned the modalities for adapting the

community college system of America to prepare Indian work-

force. Community col-

leges are institutes of

higher education in

vocational training

that the US has used

successfully since

1901 to build a cadre

of workers to “imple-

ment the decisions of

the theoreticians”,

including engineers

and supervisors. A

high-level team of

ministers and officials

from the education sector had visited a number of US states

and interacted with groups such as the American Association of

Community Colleges (AACC) earlier this year. The bilateral talks

marked a beginning in these efforts.

India-US Strategic Dialogue on HE

uPdate

7July 2012 EduTEch

uPdate

voices“All the European languages are popular among students in DU.

But, due to their longer presence in the country and demand

in the industry, German and French have more number of students opting for them”—Kusum AggArwAl,Head of germanic and romance Department of studies, Du

“ The new JEE will not only ruin IITs’ autonomy but will also

be detrimental to the interests of the students from rural

India and the move, if properly analysed, seems benefitting to no one but coaching institutes—a fact belying the claims of MHRD”— KApil sibAl, union HrD minister, india

“A lot of students aspire to become doctors. The only way

to ensure students get into MBBS is to increase the number

of seats in government colleges” — JAyAprAKAsH gAnDHi,Educational Consultant

elected Swati Piramal, Director of Piramal Healthcare Ltd, has been elected as a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers. She is now one of the five new overseers elected to the board for a term of six years. She was the only inter-national and Indian candidate nominat-ed for contesting elections by the Har-vard Alumni Association committee this year. Reacting to her elections, Piramal said, “It is a great honour to be elected as an overseer to one of the most historic and prestigious boards in the world. The Overseer Board brings together a diverse set of people who are all aligned to take Har-vard to greater heights of excellence.”

Further she added, “I believe that my international perspective and deep experi-ence in creating effective change in large institutions

centre Banaras Hindu University (BHU) is all set to establish first-of-its-kind Stem Cell Research and Bone Marrow Transplantation Centre. The new centre is expected to cost Rs 20 crore while the equipments will be worth Rs 40 crore approximately. It will be ready for use in the next one-and-a-half year.

The Vice Chancellor of University said, “BHU will have a sophisticated centre like the stem research centre in Hyderabad and Mumbai, meant for interdisciplinary research for development of new technology in stem cells. It will be a centralised facility where researchers from other life sciences departments as well as Indian Institute of Technology and BHU will be able to carry out research.” The VC said, “There are not many centres in the country that carry out such stem cell research.”

Swati Piramal to be a Harvard OverseerPiramal is the only Indian candidate to be nominated by the Harvard Alumni Association this year

The Research Centre will cost Rs 20 crore approx and will pave the way for new research

will help Harvard graduates recognise their potential as destined leaders who will make a positive difference to their community and their world.”

Piramal has a medical degree from the University of Mumbai, a diploma in Industrial Medicine and a masters in Public Health from Harvard University, US. She currently serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board of both the Harvard School of Public Health and the Harvard Business School. She also serves on the

boards of Indian and inter-national academic institu-tions such as IIT Bombay and Harvard University. She was the Commence-ment Speaker at the Har-vard School of Public Health in 1992.

The Harvard Board of Overseers is more than 350 years old and was cre-ated in the 17th century.

350 years—The age of the

Harvard Board of Overseers. It was created

in 17th C

BHU to set up Stem Cell Research Centre

Viewpoint Onkar Singh

8 EduTEch July 2012

Technical Education at a Crossroads

India’s tryst with technical education began in 1847, with the establishment of the Civil Engineering College at Roorkee for training engineers, overseers and draughtsmen on the recommendations of then Lieutenant Governor of North West Province, Mr James Thomson. However, in the days of the Raj, Indians were not allowed to study in this college. But with passage of time, after around 20 years, the number of Indian students exceeded European students. Very soon, three more engineering colleges, at Calcutta, Madras and Pune, were established to meet the requirement of engineers.

A Historical perspective History shows that in 1884-85, the total number of students in the four engi-neering colleges was 608, while in survey schools and industrial schools it was 465 and 1379 respectively. Even at the end of the 19th century, India had four degree-level engineering colleges, around 20 survey and technical insti-tutions and about 50 industrial schools. After World War I, looking at the need for trained engineers and educated youth, some more institutions came up, among them were BHU, Varanasi (1916), HBTI Kanpur (1921), Bihar

Engineering College, Patna (1924), Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad (1926), Andhra University, Vizag (1933), UDCT, Bombay (1934), AMU, Aligarh (1935).

In the pre-Independence years, in spite of all efforts, the student intake of different engineer-ing institutions could go up to only 2,500. Subsequently, numerous initiatives were taken by the government and significant number of pre-mier institutions like IITs, RECs and other state- funded and private colleges came up.

technical education todayToday, India has 31,324 colleges, 559 universities and university level institutions, while there were only 500 colleges and 20 universities at the time of Independence. Uttar Pradesh, the most popu-lous state of the country alone accounts for four central universities, 21 state universities, seven private universities and seven deemed-to-be universities. In the technical education sector, the approved intake has currently blown up to around 8.5 lakh in the engineering and 1.5 lakh in the management education sector respectively. This shows the keenness amongst students for education and the potential for establishing

Technical education in India was in response to a felt need of nation-building. Once again, the time has come to heed the call of the country, crying out for reforms to rejuvenate this much-maligned stream.

Onkar Singh Viewpoint

9July 2012 EduTEch

“Due to the unregulated enhancement in intake, alarm bells are ringing over the sustainability of degree institutions”

institutions of higher learning in technical educa-tion. However, in the past few years, the rate of upcoming new institutions has slowed down a little due to the changing mood of students. Due to the unregulated enhancement in intake, alarm bells have started ringing over the sustainability of many of these degree-level technical institu-tions. However, from the placement point of view, the prospects of diploma and certificate holders are quite good and sensing this, a number of new institutions are coming up, even as existing tech-nical institutions have started diploma and ITI courses on their premises.

Degree Market DynamicsThe situation in technical degree colleges is quite precarious. After six decades of Independence, we have arrived at situation where students have a number of options and they can choose a suitable technical institution. Newspapers are full of advertisements trying to attract students to take admission in BTech, BPharm, BArch, MBA, MCA, etc, with lucrative offers. Sensing the opportunities in the market, a numbers of private admission agencies have come up to woo inno-cent students. These agencies compile contact details of prospective students and sell the data-bases to interested institutions. The institutions then directly contact the students and persuade them to take admission in their institution.

Statistics shows that in the last few years, seats sanctioned by AICTE were not filled up through entrance examinations due to insufficient numbers of meritorious and interested students. The institutions then admit students with poor merit through direct admission on the available vacant seats. Such students ultimately erode the quality of the institution and lead to deterioration in its reputation.

It is evident that in spite of the number of eligi-ble candidates increasing every year, the percent-age of total filled seats through counselling in engineering institutions across the country is decreasing. In fact, the counselling which is the official and transparent mode of admission on the basis of academic merit has not been helping in admission on all available seats. This is due to the fact that the total number of seats available in various courses in these institutions is more than actual takers, and there are multiple reasons for this anomaly. While there is fierce competition for admission to reputed and well-performing insti-tutions, the lesser known ones have few takers.

This makes clear that the quality of institution is the one of the most important considerations

for students at the t ime of admission. Unfortunately, though there are a number of institutions and the intake of students has also increased for different course, the country still lags behind in ensuring quality education. Institutions offering professional courses have made reasonably high investments and their buildings and campuses are worth admiration. Many of these institutions do not lack physical and financial resources, but they are lagging in suitable human resource to nurture the institu-tion. It can be said that we are collectively creating temples without priests. It is evident that our technical education has reached a point where the institutions are approaching students to trans-form them into engineers and technologists, but the students are not ready. This situation needs to be analysed.

Reasons for FailureAmong the many different reasons, the most prominent one is the lack of public confidence in these institutions. This, in turn, stems from the institutions’ failure to produce employable gradu-ates. This again is attributed to lack of adequate qualified teaching resources, large expenditure in pursuing the course, lesser number of appropri-ate jobs, lack of suitable placements, insufficient infrastructure, etc. Students are dissatisfied post admission due to insufficient deliveries to them.

A large number of faculty members teaching in these institutions are graduates from such institu-tions who themselves lack proper qualification and training to serve in such posts. However, due to severe shortage of qualified teachers, such graduate students are taken in and the results are disastrous. Thus, a vicious loop has been created.

Meanwhile, reduction in the number of admis-sions has meant an increasing pressure on the receipts which eventually affects the institutions’

Viewpoint Onkar Singh

ability to sustain their activities. Institutions are forced to curtail their activities and hiring. Such practices lead to deterioration in the quality of education and the cumulative effect of all these is visible in the form of unemployable graduates. Severity of poor employability can be understood by the fact that today graduates with engineering, management, computer application degrees have started seeking Class III and IV jobs, which is sheer wastage of human resource.

Recourse & RemedyThere is an emergent need to introspect and take corrective actions before it is too late. The routine role of regulators of the country needs to be mod-ified to ensure that institutions engaged in techni-cal education deliver the desired fruits to the young who have reposed confidence in them by taking admission there. The government should undertake a study to find out what is the actual requirement of trained technical persons in the country and accordingly fix the seats in technical institutions to ensure placement for graduates. This will help in fixing maximum intake in tech-nical courses in different institutions across the country and balance the demand-supply gap.

Educational institutions must also change their approach towards and order of priority in education. Imparting proper education should dominate their list, and then only can quality technical institutions thrive in the country. Institutions must also understand the students mandate of producing employable graduates and redefine their roles to meet the expectations of public at large.

Survival of technical institutions is not only important for their promoters but is also in the interest of the country. Employable technical manpower will help country’s economy grow and strengthen. Let us hope that the regulatory frame-work takes care of lapses in the institutions and restores charm of technical education amongst the student community.

It is time to give serious thought to the plight of technical education and the growing disenchant-ment among students. The model for technical education should be further modified so that delivery of quality education is possible and employable engineers are produced.

Subscribe to the daily electronic newsletter from EDU at http://edu-leaders.com/content/newsletters

Author’s BIoDr Onkar Singh is presently Dean, Academic Affairs and Professor & Head, Mechanical Engg Deptt at Harcourt Butler Technological Institute (HBTI), Kanpur and has been a coordinator for UP State Engineering Examination–2011.

12 EduTEch July 2012

Destination:expansion

equity excellence

Policy cover story

13July 2012 EduTEch

It was in 1950, when a young graduate from London School of

Economics, 26-year-old economist, KN Raj took up the task of drafting the

first five-year-plan for India. Ever since, every five years, we eagerly wait

for the document that defines which course the country will take to reach

the desired goals. It’s that year again, and like all other sectors, higher

education has been abuzz with an air of expectation.

It will be some time yet before you get your hands on the daunting

document. Meanwhile, EDU decided to get you a preview of the

document directly from Pawan Agarwal, Advisor, Higher Education,

Planning Commission. We also spoke to a few stakeholders to capture

their expectations from the plan that will influence policies in higher

education going forward. Read on to get a quick view of the document and

understand its import for you

by sanjay kumar & smIta polIteillustration & Portraits by manav sachdev


cover story Policy

Pawan AgarwalAdvisor (Higher Education),Planning Commission

shape to the draft for the 12th year plan on Higher education, agarwal in an interaction with eDu, reveals its roadmap

The steering committee for the 12th Five Year Plan (FYP) was set up in May 2011. Working groups chaired by the Secretary of Department of Higher Education were also set up to look into general issues on higher and technical higher education. For the first time, we also set up a working group on private sector participation, as this segment’s share has increased significantly over the past few years. We wanted to find out where we were and where we need to go. Another first was the creation of sub-committees on com-mon issues—technology, employability, commu-nity engagement, faculty development, availabili-ty, retention and motivation. Several other units and groups also gave their inputs.

Now the challenge is to put all the inputs togeth-er into a 23-page comprehensive document, which will be a part of the 12th FYP.

The plan is largely about the capital investment in higher education. It is the central government’s investment plan in higher education for the next five years and defines public policy. It also takes into consideration evolving public policies and legislations to prepare the grounds for

garwal’s association with Human resources

Development ministry (HrD) and uGc goes far back. Higher education is not just a job for him, but a passion, as is evident from his book Indian Higher education: envisioning the Future. It presents his radical views on higher education. In the final stages of giving

“While the destination continues to be E3: Expansion, Equity and Excellence, the route is through A3: Aspiration, Achievement and Alignment”

a

15July 2012 EduTEch

Policy cover story

transitioning to the kind of framework that they are aiming for. It does not, however, take into consideration a significant part of Indian higher education—the state governments’ investments. Yet, it influences and defines their priorities and concerns.

The gradual growth of India may be a blessing in disguise. If capacities increase too rapidly, you can perhaps put the infrastructure in place through effective project management, but you cannot get teachers. Teachers are a product of the system and if postgraduate and doctoral capacities are limited, you cannot have the required number of teachers.

The challenges in the next five years are going to be somewhat different. As we have expanded rapidly, the challenge would be to maintain the growth momentum and improve quality across the board. The outlay for the 11th Plan increased nine-fold over the 10th Plan. Though the expendi-ture was only five times more, it is a very signifi-cant jump for higher education. The number of institutions and enrolment increased dramatically in centre as well as state-funded institutions.

the First e: expansionDriving Capacity of Universities: Today there are around 645 universities, more than 30,000 colleges and around 10,000 institutions offering diplomas. Our system is huge and highly fragmented, presenting challenges of quality. In smaller units, you cannot offer students a choice of subjects across disciplines, and interac-tions are also limited. Small size is inherently not good for institutions, even though it may be good for geographical dispersal. You have to have some minimum capacities. Various countries have addressed this issue by policies that force mergers of institutions. We can’t force mergers, but we will advocate at least clustering so that there is a larger body of students and faculty working as an academic unit. Moreover, land has also become scarce. Forget about educational institutions, it is unlikely that you will get huge chunks of land for setting up any public facility. So why not use the existing land resources optimally?

No doubt clustering would improve quality without stretching existing resources. When you are talking about 45,000 institutions, you know that consolidation is intuitive and makes sense. Why not increase capacities of existing institu-tions rather than set-up new institutions?

In fact, the focus in the next plan is to make room for a larger variety of institutions to come up. For which diversity and institutional differen-

tiation would be promoted. Each institution can-not be a Delhi University or a Jawaharlal Nehru University. They can all serve a different purpose and no purpose is inferior to another. This is the concept of diversity in higher education, which is not adequately understood today.

In the 11th Five Year Plan, we spent about Rs 40,000 crore. Almost 50 per cent of it was spent on centrally-funded institutions which enrol less than three per cent of the student population. If we want the quality to improve, you obviously need to focus on the other units—the state univer-sities and colleges, and the private sector. In the next plan, this will be the big paradigm shift in terms of funding the higher education system, so that the system as a whole benefits.

State-funded Institutions: We will talk of states as a unit and let them prepare higher education plans in the spirit of federalism and support their plans with a funding mechanism that helps improve the overall system of higher education. We will shift from a schematic format to a planned format of support. Each state has a different need and faces different kind of chal-lenges; therefore intervention strategy for states would vary widely. We will also take that into account. The intent is to give far more funding to state universities and colleges and state system of higher education.

Private Institutions: Private institutions can be supported by better regulations and accreditation. They can also be supported in other imaginative ways by making them a part of the larger develop-ment plan. For instance, in the third phase of

“Almost 50 per cent of 11th plan funding was on centrally-funded institutions which enrol less than three per cent of the student population”Pawan AgarwalAdvisor (Higher Education), Planning Commission

(Continued on pg 18)

16 EduTEch July 201216 EduTEch July 201216 EduTEch July 2012

enrolment: 2009-20101,46,24,990GER now stands around 17

An overview of Indian Higher-Education through statistics

We have come a long way from the time of independence when we had 20 universities to the present when we have more than 611 universities. the number of students is more than 1.5 crore and the Ger is at 17. most of the students are enrolled in the arts faculty and law, agriculture and veterinary sciences have the lowest share of students. to cater to the needs of the pres-ent scenario the proposed initiative is rs 1,84,740 crore

there were only 20 universities and 500 colleges with 0.1 million students at the time when india attained independence

Where We stanD toDay

Central Universities

43

State Universities

289

State PrivateUniversities

94Deemed-to-be

Universities 130

institution type

stuDent population

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17July 2012 EduTEch

(Faculty-wise enrolment percentage to total students enrolled )

Faculty type*

Source: Document on Inclusive and Qualitative Expansion of Higher Education 12th Five-Year Plan, 2012-17 by UGC

Engineering/Technology 10.33 Arts 42.01

Science 19.3Commerce /Management 17.83

Law 2.35

Others 4.01

0.55Agriculture

Veterinary Sciences 0.14

Medicine 3.48

*Other Institutes include Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) (5), National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT),Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology (RGIPT) and Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER).

Institutes of National Importance plus*Other Institutes

50

Institutions established under State Legislature Acts

5Total Universities 611Total Colleges 31,324

Grand Total 31,935

*Provisional

The overall budget

requirement projected to achieve the

proposed initiatives for 12th FYP is

Rs 1,84,740 cr

17July 2012 EduTEch 17July 2012 EduTEch

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Private Public Partnerships: When it comes to PPP, Indian higher education perhaps has the biggest PPPs in the world. Much of the infusion of private funds in higher education has been through private colleges affiliated to a public uni-versity. In this model, the public university pro-vides overall academic supervision, sets the cur-riculum and conducts the examination. In fact, learning from India’s experience, China has used this model in expanding its higher education in recent years.

But the kind of PPPs that we have been plan-ning of late, are complex and different. For instance, the PPP for IIITs has not been the best experience, mostly because of problems of trust.

improving engineering education through the World Bank support, private institutions would receive greater attention to create a better ecosys-tem of engineering education. We will create mechanisms to address issues of curriculum, fac-ulty development and networking with industry as a whole, rather than at individual institution level. Private institutions will also be part of the umbrella programmes for quality improvement. Ideally, deserving private institutions would also get research funding at the same level as the pub-lic institutions. We are aiming for excellence in research at a global level, not just at a national level, so research funding has to be selective and sector blind.

MandatoryProf Abhijit Chakrabarti, Vice Chancellor, Jadavpur

University, on his expectations from the 12th Five Year Plan and his ideas on how to improve quality in higher education

The last few plans have helped develop interdisciplinary courses and conduct research in addition to regular

postgraduate courses. There is tremendous enhancement in higher education, particularly in engineering, science and some sectors in arts including social sciences.

I support the policy of setting up universities and institutes. We should maintain the minimum and essential parameters of quality, in this regard, at the beginning. Once the set-up is established, for three to five years thereafter, we should enforce stricter quality control measures. The motivation for improving quality should commence at the beginning and must be implemented within three to five years of inception.

Abhijit ChakrabartiVC, Jadavpur University

Make accreditation

19July 2012 EduTEch

Policy cover story

If the government puts in 85 per cent of invest-ment and the private player puts in only 15 per cent, the private players get wary of losing management control. But then, they also do not want to invest more than that. So, it’s better to let them go solo. Thus, PPP arrangements will have to be carefully structured.

If purely private initiatives can increase capacities, then why get into difficult and complex arrangements of a PPP? Private colleges are doing a decent job. As far as fee is concerned, students who are not able to afford private educa-tion can get government scholarships. This will address the equity issue while encouraging expansion. If there are niche areas where private

players don’t invest, then we can come up with PPPs.

Quality may be a challenge in private higher education, but it is also a challenge in public higher education. Addressing the quality chal-lenge in both the public and private institutions will be one of our main concerns in this FYP. In public institutions, we need to improve the quali-ty of infrastructure and teachers. We need to ensure that we have enough teachers and provide the right incentive structure to retain them and get the best out of them. In private institutions, we have to bring in healthy competition and facil-itate a shift to information disclosure-based regu-lations from the current inspection-based regula-tions. This is to introduce competition so that facts become public and institutions become known for their performance. Fair competition and closing of demand-supply gap will ensure that the quality improves. The churning has already started in engineering education where we have more capacity in the private sector.

There are many institutions which have been rejected by students and parents and are closing down now. There are also those who have started commanding a premium as they are now known to be of high quality.

the second e: equityRemoving Inequity: With rapid expansion, stu-dents from all socio-economic sections have ben-efitted and now have greater access to higher edu-cation than before. Inequities in higher education are therefore less acute now. We are now getting to the second level of details when it comes to

The challenges that higher education face today are—first, lack of awareness among common people; second, low quality of education, third, inadequate infrastructure and funds, and fourth, lack of qualified faculty and its availability.

Of these, faculty crunch can be handled by motivating students and scholars to take up teaching and research from the beginning of their career. Academic Staff Colleges are of secondary importance. Teaching-learning method must be innovative and course curriculum should be free from bureaucratic restrictions.

The private sector may play an effective role, by motivating them and putting in stringent quality control measures in place. Accreditation is of prime importance in enforcing these quality checks and I suggest that it should be made compulsory for all private and government institutes.

The PPP model is not common in our country as of now and I do not think it will be a success at this stage. There needs to be awareness among investors and academic regulators about it, who must be active and transparent in this regard.

“If purely private initiatives can increase capacities, then why get into difficult and complex arrangements of a PPP?”Pawan AgarwalAdvisor (Higher Education), Planning Commission


cover story Policy

equity. Most issues of inequity arise at lower levels of education and a lot of action has been taken there. It’s reflected in higher edu-cation where enrolment patterns have changed. Now we will have to focus more of our attention on the worse off rather than the better off within the SC and ST communi-ties. We will look at specific communities where access is still an issue and we will also look at the locations where these communi-ties reside.

Community Colleges: The concept of com-munity colleges is a fantastic idea and has been a part of our policy for over two decades. Now there is a new thrust which is very desir-able both for expansion and equity. The chal-lenges lie in the model of these colleges. What adaption of the US model can be employed here? Is there a space for US like community colleges in the Indian context? Or has that space been occupied? To me the numerous engineering and management programmes in India offering professional degrees are similar to what community col-leges offer in the US. People go for jobs after an engineering degree and then go back to college for an MBA. It’s the same with com-munity colleges in the US. So, we perhaps need a different model where we have a voca-tionally-oriented curriculum with enough prestige attached. You call it an associate degree, a full-fledged bachelor’s degree or vocational degree, but it should be held in high esteem by people otherwise no one will go for it. It also has to be less expensive than the second degree. You may be spending

around three to four lakhs for an engineering education and then another five lakhs for an MBA education if you are opting for really medium-quality institutions. But if you are doing a job after these degrees that could very well be done even without a management degree it could make sense for you to go for a two-year skill-focussed degree that makes you equally equipped to handle that job.

In small towns and large villages with rapidly increasing population there are not enough high-er education institutions, so the people have to move to bigger cities for higher education which adds to the costs. If we can design institutions

Ashok KolaskarVC, KIIT University

“We expect much of the expansion in the next five years through community colleges”Pawan AgarwalAdvisor (Higher Education),Planning Commission

Policy cover story

change Mindsets for

real changeProfessor Ashok S Kolaskar, Vice Chancellor, KIIT University, on what he feels the Plan should focus on

Unless mindsets change and we bring about some radical transformations in our perception of higher

education no amount of budgeting and planning is going to work for the country. The 12th Five Year Plan must focus on state universities to really serve the cause of higher education. Outcome-based education is important. This will help in producing quality fellows missing from most of the state and private universities today. Just increasing the number of universities and institutions is not going to serve the purpose. In order to improve quality, autonomy is

which are less expensive and available in these places it will fill the gap. These institutions will be small. They will not be like an average community college in thee US with 8,000 to 10,000 and some-times even 50,000 students. The institutions we are thinking of will have just a few hundred stu-dents. We may use facilities of existing institu-tions on a part-time basis and employ technology to reduce costs. We expect much of the expansion in the next five years through these kinds of com-munity colleges or what we are also calling new-generation colleges or even skills colleges.

Skewed Arts to Science Enrolment Ratio: The problem of enough people not opting for science

important. All state universities must be brought together. Changing the system of governance in universities and choosing right leaders to head them is important. Accreditation is important to improve the quality of education. But it should be based on the output quality of the institution and not merely on infrastructure. You have a good infrastructure but if the product coming out of that is bad then one must review the accreditation process. Community colleges may not work in a country where society is hierarchical. The only hope is industrial houses that have started investing in higher education.

is by the way, a global phenomenon. If we create suitable incentive structures then the problem of enough people not opting for science or commerce or any other particular discipline can be sorted.

All Women Universities: The number of women students as well as academics and admin-istrators in higher education has started to increase. There are far more women than there were, say 10 years ago, and I am sure there will be more. I am not so sure of all women universities’ ability to help in the acceleration. I believe that it segregates them further. Having a separate women university is not very desirable except per-

21July 2012 EduTEch


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that. Therefore, one also has to look at short-term measures for addressing this issue. For instance, we may have to continue with graduate teachers. But this may not work for all disciplines. Many institutions already have BTechs as teachers and we need innovative programmes to train them. If you ask them to go for an MTech or a doctorate, then who will teach in their place? It will be a

haps in rural settings, where parents are still wary of sending their daughters to co- ed institutions.

the third e: excellenceAccreditation: The entire debate on accredita-tion and making it compulsory is still evolv-ing. The standing committee of the Parlia-ment has given its comments, the ministry has had one round of consultations and the law is being revisited. Accreditation is an important element in improving quality, but it is important to understand that accredita-tion by itself cannot improve quality; it is just a report card. It is only by proper provisioning of public institutions and encouraging com-petition among private institutions that qual-ity can improve.

Faculty Development: For a rapidly expand-ing system of higher education, availability of faculty itself will be a big issue, then comes the issue of whether our faculty is qualified and competent to teach and then whether they are motivated enough to teach. Our chal-lenge is devising ways to address this issue of ACM: availability, competence and motiva-tion. To improve the availability of faculty we will focus on increasing postgraduate and doctoral capacity in the system far more rap-idly than has been done in the past and widen the pipeline for fresh faculty. We will also renew our efforts in getting more faculty and doctoral graduates from overseas to teach in Indian universities.

Despite this we may continue to have huge shortages of faculty in the near future. Not just in the next five years but even beyond

Sunjoy JoshiDirector, Observer Research Foundation“ In consultation with IITs, we

have devised a Masters in Engineering Education programme to be delivered online by a group of IITs”Pawan AgarwalAdvisor (Higher Education),Planning Commission

23July 2012 EduTEch

Policy cover story

catch-22 situation. So, we have to provide opportu-nities for them to upgrade their qualifications while they teach. In consultation with IITs, we have devised a Masters in Engineering Education (MEE) programme, which can be delivered online by a group of IITs with limited physical interface.

This proposal was presented a few months ago by IIT Chennai and it’s imaginative. We hope to

create a capacity of 6,000 to 8,000 teachers through this method in the coming years.

From the concept stage to implementation and practice, there must be change leaders who take up the responsibility for the idea. If ideas come from professors themselves, they have a greater chance of succeeding as they are not imposed on them. In the 12th Five Year Plan, the issue of fac-

create the environMent

for Private PlayersSunjoy Joshi, Director, Observer Research Foundation on how the Plan can address the challenges of the sector

Sheer demographics make the challenge of numbers in India daunting indeed. However, simultaneously it also ensures that given the scarcity of institutions,

the probability of only the creme de la creme graduating from the available institutions is also equally high. Finding and positioning faculty and facilities is not going to be easy. Yet, institutions like IITs will continue to produce quality products.

Education should be a response to the economic and social environment prevailing at the time. Historically, princes were taught to manage kingdoms, warriors to fight and peasants were taught tricks of the trade. Later, with industrialisation, people were taught to think linearly to manage assembly lines. However, new age education may have flavours of the past but is more about exploration, connection, learning from each other and social camaraderie.

Unfortunately, we still carry a legacy. Traditional classroom-based learning must give way to learning in facilitation environments; physical reach or access would have to be replaced with virtual reach; administrative structures in education might not be required. There are four main challenges:

1. A curriculum that teaches young minds to question, that is delivered in a manner that provokes thought and not rote learning. We should not be content with producing good followers but good leaders.

2. Investing in our faculty for high-quality research and research-led teaching.

3. Creating the best in world-class physical and knowledge infrastructure for credible intellectual capital that can attract international students by virtue of their global ranking.

4. Encouraging Indian higher education institutions to obtain international accreditations and build their brand.

Private sector only participates in economies where markets are vibrant, less regulated, competitive and incentivising in nature. It is unreasonable to expect private sector to play a philanthropic role on a sustained basis and on a large scale. For example, between 2007 and 2011, there was a phenomenal growth of engineering and MBA colleges however, now we are seeing a spate of closures on account of unavailability of students and decreasing business.

Given the right regulatory environment the private sector is raring to come into the field. Therefore, we are sitting atop a huge unrealised potential, an opportunity which if properly utilised, could unleash and transform our entire human resource. In the end that is what education is all about. Regulatory systems need to facilitate rather than play the role of gatekeepers. Our regulatory bodies need to take a page or two out of the book of global accrediting bodies and strive instead to continuously improve the quality of higher education institutions.


cover story Policy

ulty will be addressed in a variety of innovative ways across disciplines. We set up an umbrella initiative called The National Mission on Teachers which will allow a flexible set of approaches to address faculty shortages.

Academic Staff Colleges: The scheme of Aca-demic Staff Colleges (ASCs) was well intentioned but it did not deliver according to expectations because of inherent design defects. These colleg-es remained outside the formal structure of the

university and did not get appropriate time, atten-tion and funding. Hence, the whole issue of ASCs is being relooked at. There is another concept of Teaching-Learning Academies that focusses on pedagogy, pedagogical tools and use of technology in pedagogy, cutting across subjects and disci-plines. Many countries around the world, includ-ing the UK and US have these TLAs. We are try-ing to find if this model can work in the Indian context and whether the ASCs could be remod-

Make oPtiMuMuse of resources

Prof Jalees Ahmed Khan Tareen, VC, University of Pondicherry, who chaired sub-committees on access and

equity for the Plan on what he feels will work

The 12th plan envisages three things. Massive expansion, improving quality and equity in disadvantaged groups of people and women.

The total utilisation of the allocation of the last five year plan is only about Rs 15,000 crore. We do not have a good appraisal plan. In absence of constant monitoring, we strive to allocate, but we do not achieve the targets.

Unless there is a large resource, the supply of quality students is low. If you throw a net into the pond then you’ll get some small fish and crabs. If you throw the net into an ocean, you’ll catch fish and crabs and also the bigger fish like sharks and whales. These are the inventors who’ll make discoveries. India may have had Nobel Laureates, but they are an accidental few and far between. We have to have a critical mass. For eg, if you take an 800 acre campus, you cannot have 3,500 students;

JAK Tareen VC, University of Pondicherry

25July 2012 EduTEch

Policy cover story

CEOs of companies, even though role of an aca-demic leader could be far-more challenging. How-ever, the selection of vice-chancellors and heads of the institutions around the world is based on their academic credentials and research perfor-mance. Our challenge is to ensure that a good teacher becomes a good leader. This can be done firstly, by supporting the leader with a second tier of professionals to manage the institution. In India, we don’t have academic or training programmes to create this second rung of professionals to run complex academic organisa-tions. We need to create such programmes for teachers or junior managers to specialise in such functions.

The second way to achieve this is by learning from another institution. Most countries have associations and organisations like the associa-tion of placement officers and registrars. These organisations play a pivotal role in cross-learning. We would like such associations to come up in large universities to share experiences and facilitate formal training. Academic programmes like education management could be set up. To address the issue of training, a national institu-tion of this kind was proposed in the 11th Five Year Plan. But today, a single national outfit will not serve the purpose. Rather, such training organisations will have to be established within institutions where capacities exist and that can run programmes in higher education manage-ment with some support and also address the issue of capacity building and consulting. These centres can then be put under a network coordinated by a central organisation like a National University for Education Planning and Administration (NUEPA). These ideas are still at the conceptual stage and we have to develop a consensus on them.

The 12th Plan, while, building on the growth momentum and continued focus on the E3: expansion, equity and excellence enunciated in the 11th Plan, would aim to meet the growing aspirations of the people with focus on achieve-ments measured in terms of clear outcomes. For this, alignment of efforts of multiple stakeholders of higher education would be needed. Thus, while the destination continues to be E3: Expansion, Equity and Excellence, the route is through A3: Aspiration, Achievement and Alignment, so that country has a strong higher education system that’s good for now and the future.

elled on the pattern of TLAs as these colleges already have a certain infrastructure.

The document itself will allow a lot of flexibility in the design of these initiatives and in ensuring that it’s adaptable to changing circumstances.

Administrators and Leaders: Academic leader-ship has become very complex. Heads of institu-tions are now required to be experts in not just teaching-learning, but also in managing money and infrastructure. They have to operate like

you should have 20, 000 students. The average student intake per college today is 700. We have to change this. The central universities have on an average eight to nine students per acre. University of Toronto has less than 600 acres of land but 50, 000 students and 15 Nobel Laureates working on the campus. Every university should try to double its intake.

Undergrad and postgrad programmes must be integrated. Affiliation system should slowly be abolished as it has only caused corruption in the system. Employment of faculty from foreign universities on contract basis should be encouraged. It brings in fresh energy. If we have to increase the GER, there has to be a multipronged approach including government participation, private players inclusion and also PPP. I have a strong view on accreditation. NAAC did not meet the expectations with which it was set up. Its credibility is now being questioned. Community colleges are great concepts provided they are vocational. I have even proposed it for the state education forum that I am a part of. In a democracy, one can not go away from politics. We have to bridge gaps and bring the less privileged into higher education.

Subscribe to the daily electronic newsletter from EDU at http://edu-leaders.com/content/newsletters


It’s the stamp that says you are a cut above the rest—a stamp that almost every Indian stu-dent who consid-ers himself intel-ligent and has

taken maths as a subject of choice in the Class XII has aspired for. IIT JEE is the

CET: Common Entrance Trauma

The Common Entrance Test to the IITs is proving to be a collective headache for the stakeholders while leaving aspirants increasingly confused and traumatised. Edu speaks to two academics holding opposing views on the new model, to understand the hullabaloo

by SmiTa poliTE

test that picks students for IITs—the crown jewels of Indian Higher Education.

No wonder then that the proposal to change it has caused such a row. Students and faculty alike are locking horns on whether the “One Nation One Test” proposal of the HRD ministry is going to work. According to the ministry, the common entrance test was introduced to:

1. Increase the importance of board exams and encourage students to study in schools and understand basic concepts

2. Get rid of the proliferation of coach-ing centres which gives an edge to those who can afford it

3. Increase the number of girls in engi-neering education as they do better than boys in 12th standard

STraTEgy Exam Systems

27July 2012 EduTEch

1960: First IIT entrance exam called the Common Entrance Exam held. Students tested for knowledge in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and English

1997: JEE question papers leaked, exam reconducted

2000-2005: Additional screening test held, allowing only 20,000 top candidates from 450,000 applicants to take the main exam

2005: A group of IIT directors announce reforms in the two-test system; make it a single objective test format. Eligibility criteria for General category students of all boards was increased to 60 per cent in Class XII boards; for other categories the criteria is 55 per cent

2008: Prof MS Ananth, Director and Dean, IIT Madras and Prof VG Idichandy, Dean of Students IIT Madras, suggest revision of the exams and reverting to board marks as criteria for admissions

2009: IIT Council suggests increasing eligibility cutoff for Class XII to 80 per cent. A committee formed for the purpose comprising various government department officials—Science and Technology, Biotechnology, Science and Industrial

Those against the new system say that none of these objectives can be effec-tively met by the system. Ever since the May 28 announcement of the new test by Sibal, the faculty and alumni of IITs have come out on public forums to dis-cuss the proposed Common Entrance Test. The two most vocal names are prominent higher education figures—Dheeraj Sanghi, Dean Academics at IIT

Kanpur, and Gautam Barua, Director at IIT Guwahati. Incidentally, Gautam Barua was at IIT Kanpur from 1982 to 1995. He is the only Director speaking publicly and supporting the move. Per-haps, it’s the Kanpur faculty culture of being outspoken and taking active part in discussions that is egging the two professors to participate in public debates. Though to the general public,

their interactions may appear like spats, it’s clearly a good time for higher education in India with faculty choos-ing to speak out their mind and engag-ing in debates without the fear of repri-sal holding them back.

EDU spoke to two academics holding opposing views on the proposed Com-mon Entrance Tests. Here’s what they had to say:

JEE: The Journey So far

Exam Systems STraTEgy

Research, are unable to come up with proposals for the same

2009: Acharya Committee is instituted with directors of four IITs to propose reforms. Proposal to normalise Class XII marks along with SAT-like exams is rejected by most stakeholders

Feb 2012: Based on Ramasami Committee report, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal announces that National Educational Institutes of Engineering would have a common entrance test from 2013

may 28, 2012: MHRD officially announces Indian Science Engineering Eligibility Test—Common Entrance Test for all central educational institutes: IITs, NITs, IIITs and IISERs—modelled on SAT it would replace IITJEE+AIEEE

June 1, 2012: IIT Delhi Alumni Association decided to file PIL in various high courts as they feel increased weightage on board marks would increase stress on students rather than decreasing it

June 8, 2012: IIT Kanpur decides that it would hold its own entrance exam from 2013

June 21, 2012: IIT Delhi also decides that it would hold its own entrance exam from 2013


STraTEgy Exam Systems

What is your opinion of the entrance exams that indian colleges have?

I cannot opine on this as I do not have informa-tion on all the entrance exams.

What has led to the extremely competitive scenario in undergrad education in india?

I t i s c lear ly a problem of demand outstripping supply.

What is your view on the proposed Common Entrance Test?

First of all, the current proposal is only to com-bine two exams, AIEEE and IIT JEE into one. Whether other state-level and private institutions will also embrace it, only time will tell. They can-not be forced to do so.

Do you think that in its present form, CET fulfills the objectives that it initially set out to meet? How?

The present form is based on a compromise and so it will be temporary in nature. The original pro-posal was to have only one aptitude test, to be offered a number of times a year, and to base admissions on best results in this test and the board marks.

are there any entrance exams in india that you think are really well-designed? Why?

I cannot say as I have not seen all the exams. The IIT JEE is becoming too difficult and so stu-dents need to take coaching to do well.

What according to you is leading to the current row over CET?

According to me, the following are the points:

“a hardening of stands will help no one”

a) the proposed scheme is based on a compromise and many people do not realise this and are criticising it from an ‘ideal’ point of view; b) there is a lot of negative feeling about school boards, especially the non-CBSE Boards, and so the proposal to include board results is inviting criticism; c) there is a feel-ing among some people that this proposal has impinged on the autonomy of the IIT Senates, and that IIT Senates should be deciding changes.

What is your stand and iiT guwahati’s stand on CET?Why? IIT Guwahati’s Senate in April end accepted the proposal placed before it,

but wanted it to be implemented from 2014. I have been defending the proposal in various forums. I think the appre-

hensions regarding the quality of the boards are real, but the proposal is including board results in such a manner that, for most students, the tests, rather than the board results will determine success in getting admission into CFTIs. As percentile ranks are being used, the top 75,000 students in the country as per board results (assuming a total of 15 lakh candidates), will be within 2.5 marks of each other out of 50, and the other 50 marks will come from the main examination (for IIT admissions). So, while board marks will be important, they will not be decisive. But, even a student com-ing in the top 1.5 lakh in the boards has a chance to get shortlisted as he will be only five marks behind the board toppers. He will need to score a few marks more than others to get shortlistedFurther, the final ranking will only be based on the Advanced test results. Even for other CFTIs, the for-mula of using the board results with 40 per cent weightage, will not make any major difference to the numbers: the mains and advanced tests will be the deciding factors.

How can the present issue be resolved according to you? Since the other CFTIs have not objected, they do not need to do anything.

The IIT directors and faculty with experience in IIT JEE, to be selected by the Senates, should have a joint meeting and agree to a single scheme and then request the IIT Council to reconsider their earlier decision and examine this scheme. For this to succeed, a spirit of give and take must be there within everyone. A hardening of stands will help no one.

gautam barua, director, IIT Guwahati

pattern of the proposed Common Entrance TestTwo tests would be held on the same day:ISEET Mains (English Comprehension, Logical Reasoning and Critical Thinking)

ISEET Advanced (Problem-solving in Basic Sciences: Physics, Chemis-try and Mathematics) set by the IITs

Admission to IITs would be based on Class XII Board marks (50%

29July 2012 EduTEch

Exam Systems STraTEgy

What has led to this row over CET? In India, everyone in the top position thinks of

himself as an expert. This mentality has led to the current row. People in IIT Council are no doubt great education administrators. However, their belief that they are also great sociologists, psychol-ogists, statisticians, experts in testing and a whole lot of other things has meant that they do not restrict themselves from discussing vision and goals of the IIT system as also other broad prin-ciples. If every one works on their strengths, and respects the other person’s strengths, such fiascos would not happen.

What is your stand on CET? The Senate of IIT Kanpur has taken a stand that

the proposal from IIT Council suffers seriously in academic terms. The basic assumptions for com-ing to the proposal are all false. Secondly, all uni-versities and not just IITs must have autonomy in taking academic decisions, and admission is a core academic process of any university.So, we want autonomy to be preserved, and we want a system which is better not worse. We do not want change for the sake of change. We want change which will solve some real problems and/or give us better quality student intake.

How can the present issue be resolved according to you?

I think, the minister should announce that there will be no change in 2013, and we will go back to the drawing board for 2014. Second, for 2014, the group that should be constituted should not be a group of directors or chairpersons, but real experts in related disciplines, and they should interact with senates and academic councils of various universities and institutes.

“in india, everyone in the top posi-tion thinks of himself as an expert”

What is your opinion of entrance exams in india? They mostly test the technical knowledge that is prerequisite for the cours-

es taught in the programme. They do not test the breadth, language skills, analytical skills, aptitude, etc.

What has led to the extreme competition at undergrad level? The government policy has focussed on access, equity and cost in the last

two decades, when it encouraged private investment in the higher education sector. The fourth goal of higher education policy, which is quality, has not had the same focus. As a result, we have very few high-quality institutions in the country, which means that there is intense competition to get into them.

What is your view on the proposed Common Entrance Test? It is a bad idea. It does not give a second chance to students if they per-

form poorly in the test. Also, it discourages innovation in admission strate-gies. It does not allow universities to focus on different aspects of knowl-edge—skills and experience of candidates. Many people talk about SAT being the common entrance test in the US. They forget that it is only one of the filters and not the ranking mechanism. Typically, universities in the US consider essays, statement of purpose, CV (including extra-curricular activi-ties), recommendation letters, and even personal interviews for admission.

Does CET fulfil the objectives it set out to meet? It does not. In fact, it does exactly the opposite. For example, the original

goal was to reduce coaching. Now the proponents of CET are themselves agreeing that it will increase coaching. Hence, it will make life even more difficult for persons from rural areas and from financially weaker sections.

are there any well-designed entrance exams in india? At the undergraduate level, there is hardly any good entrance exam. BITS

entrance exam is arguably the best, because it includes a section on lan-guage. In general, we are averse to testing language skills (in any language, not just English) in India. And we have not done enough research in testing to develop aptitude tests relevant for our system.

Dheeraj Sanghi, dean Academics, IIT Kanpur

weightage) and performance in ISEET Mains (50% weightage). ISEET Mains would also serve for screening candidates. A fixed cutoff would be used to prepare the initial merit list or around 50,000 students or five times the number of available IIT seats would qualify for the initial merit list. The final ranks would be based on ISEET Advanced.

Admission to other institutions like regional engineering colleges would be based on Class XII marks (40% weightage), combined weight for ISEET Main and Advanced (60% weightage). Board weightage could go up to 100 per cent. State governments and institutions could decide the weightage that they would want to give to different components.


dialogue Joe Haberman

Joseph C haberman

Present enGAGeMent: Global Managing Partner of Education & Social Enterprise Practice, Heidrick & Struggles

ACADeMICs: Master of Arts in Education, George Washington University

PrevIous enGAGeMents: Vice president and managing director for nine years with another global executive search firm. Joe served on its management board and eventually as vice chairman. Before that, Joe was senior VP with Shearson/Lehman Brothers and previously American Express and Manufacturers Hanover Trust

31July 2012 EduTEch

Joe Haberman dialogue

Joe Haberman, Global Managing Partner, Education and Social Enterprise Practice of Heidrick and Struggles talks to EDU about trends in higher education leadership and succession planning

LeadersNext GenLooking

for

edu: Tell us a bit about your company and how you are involved with the higher-ed sector?Joe Haberman: Heidrick & Struggles is a global leadership advisory firm. We have been in the executive search business for more than 50 years, finding leadership talent for institutions, companies and organisations. Over the past 10 years, we have been adding to that capability with a broader advisory framework. Executive search for us means leadership transition. It is one thing to recognise that you have to help find a new leader and quite another to plan for that search as a future event and also assist in efforts to ensure that the transition from one leader to the next is successful.

As leadership advisors, we get involved in activities that effectively prepare an organisation for a search, and then advise on actions that will be needed after the conclusion of the search and that pave the way for long-term success. That’s what we do and have been doing for various sectors around the world. We are globally organised into six industry groups, with higher education included in the Education and Social Enterprise—the practise that I am responsible for.

By smiTa poliTe


dialogue Joe Haberman

The firm has a global office presence, yet clients are more interested in our specialisation than where we are locat-ed. However, we tend to work in major centres. As far as education is con-cerned, we are in the US, Europe, UK, in particular, in China (Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong), Australia (Melbourne and Sydney), Singapore, New Zealand and South Africa. These are the places that historically have created most of the major higher-ed centred leadership needs. We also see a lot of need and opportunity developing here in India.

you are just starting to work in india. What drew you here?

The capacity for higher education is important for the development of any society and if that capacity is not large or focussed enough then it gets the attention of the government and sup-porters of education. Our experiences in other markets have shown that as governments translate an economic or societal development vision into action, the need for effective leaders who have expanded capacity in higher education, outstrips the thin supply of that talent. So, when we think about investing by adding resources or focus, we look for those conditions because we know we can make a meaningful contribution to institutions, their boards and the broader societal needs.

What are some of the trends in terms of exchange of educational leadership? do you see a pattern in talent shifting from one part of the world to another?

The source countries are, by and large, those where the higher education infrastructure and community develop-ment is long standing. It’s mostly the UK, the US and Australia at this point, who are exporters of education leaders with the right experiences. But there are alternatives other than cross-border shifting for clients. An increasing number of leaders with demonstrated success in other sectors are finding a t t rac t i ve oppor tuni t i es in the education sector.

challenges of growth. In established institutions, you would only understand how to sort out the problems of plenty and how to use the numerous resources you would be receiving. That is not going to prepare you for a building opportunity where you need to employ different skills. And I see a lot of those kinds of needs coming up.

Another thing that we find in India as well as other places around the world concerns the ability to reconcile the aca-demic contribution from your faculty and resources with the enterprise man-agement perspective. How can you run your institution more effectively? Resources are always very low and, in fact, they are getting slimmer. I don’t see that changing anytime soon. So, I think, as we look for future leaders here in India or elsewhere, the best will be those who can reconcile these two areas—somebody who understands good enter-prise management. Fundraising—yes, that’s also a part of it. But leadership has to make sure that the organisation is

What advice would you give to faculty in india looking to shift overseas?

I would probably say the same thing to them, as I would to professionals in a variety of places around the world. It is important to be in places that will show-case what you have to offer. And, if the faculty members have something to say, they should find ways of connecting with constituent peers interested in that area. They should seek opportunities to attend international conferences and congress-es as networking venues. They should not rely on a firm like ours to reach out to them. Though, we are active in candi-date development, firms like ours, still represent a relatively small percentage of the overall opportunities that are out there, and that is even truer for faculty. We, generally speaking, are searching for administrative leadership. Our cli-ents are the universities, and the boards of these institutions, who are engaging us, not individuals.

What are the trends that you see in india’s higher education leadership?

Running an institution anywhere in the world has to be seen in a context that is more often global. Leaders need to address more diversified challenges than was the case 10 years ago. In the US, the predominant requirement for a univer-sity president is fundraising abilities. Yet, the traditional route to the presiden-cy was often through the provost’s office. Research has shown that the provosts are far less interested in making that progression now because of the external fundraising dimension being more para-mount than academics. I don’t think it’s the same case here. But I do see that the challenges with regard to building uni-versities are similar. Most of the situa-tions that I am hearing about have less to do with maintaining status quo and more to do with building capacity and quality to meet societal needs. Hence, when we are looking for leaders, we are going to be looking for the experience of growing something relevant. It is just not the same if you are leading a top- tier institution which has never faced

33July 2012 EduTEch

Joe Haberman dialogue

running effectively and that you have a good relationship with your board, in such a way that it can benefit research that is being pursued as well as the stu-dents and communities being served.

so you are saying that leaders of institutions have to have business skills?

Yes, there are lot of business like prin-ciples that are applied here and we shouldn’t fool ourselves into thinking that they are not required. Growth requires understanding of finance, mar-keting and customers or student servic-es. Why should the recipe be any differ-ent than that of a world-class business? It’s not a mutually exclusive path.

When it comes to leadership and choosing leaders, is there any particular advice that you have for the higher-ed community in india?

I feel that one of the greatest gover-nance failures in higher education has been its lack of attention to leadership

succession planning. Just think about this: when we’re involved in a search to select a leader in every other industry, there’s often at least one internal candi-date to consider who has been conscien-tiously developed as a possible successor. Usually there is a quality candidate, but it’s not because the president or the board insisted on developing a succes-sion point within the university. Succes-sion planning in the education sector doesn’t exist in the US, in the UK, nor here.

Whenever we do a search in virtually all industries, we are asked to evaluate internal candidates as well as external candidates, because we don’t have any economic interest in pushing external candidates. But in education, those inter-nal candidates usually aren’t presented at all. By contrast, all listed companies in the US private sector are regulated by something called Sarbanes-Oxley, a law that requires the board to put in place a succession plan for its chief executive. If the board is not fulfilling their responsi-bility, to assure the shareholders of lead-

ership continuity, they could be held lia-ble and the company could be fined. I am not saying we need the same pre-scription for higher education, but lead-ership succession is an issue that does need attention. We see a lot of promise in this way of thinking. The next genera-tion of leaders could be right under our nose, but most institutions think about them as faculty or chairs performing well in their departments.

They are not considered for longer-term aspirations and opportunities. Not recognising their interests frequently builds conditions that contribute to los-ing valuable people. I just ask your audi-ence to sit back and think about this in a longer-term context. The notion of engaging your next generation of leader-ship is very important. When this hap-pens, it sends a message to the entire university that its leader is interested not only in the institution and the future of the community, but also in those who aspire to lead. This is one of most posi-tive aspects we should demand of our leaders.

The next generation of leaders could be right under our nose, but most institutions think about them as faculty or chair performing well in their departments


DDM to Your AidDigital Document Management makes life easy for institutions buried under daily mounting piles of paperwork and databY TushAr kAnwAr

The pursuit of higher educa-tion is often glorified in the general public’s mind, replete with visions of grand campuses and

imposing structures, a busy and vibrant student populace and legions of students soaking in the fountains of knowledge. Reality, as our readers would know, is often much less poetic, with mountains of paperwork increasing day-by-day, requiring more time and attention from your already pressed-for-time staff and faculty. Enrolment applications, tran-scripts, examination records and record keeping for regulatory and legal compli-ance—each year, the numbers just keep rising, without a budget to match.

38 Tech TUTeS: Living life on the cloud

35-41 Tech SnippeT: Technology news and Tips and Tricks

40 Tech inTeRVieW: Murlidhar S, ceO, MeritTrac

TECHNOLOGY B

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Digitising Data TEChnOLOGY

35July 2012 EduTEch

Whether you’re a small college or a multi-campus university, the challenge of maintaining a balance between delivering quality education and manag-ing the documents that come as part-and-parcel of this equation is ever present. In this issue, we look at the important considerations and choices you have to make while implementing a digital document management (DDM) solution.

Institutional needs–why Digital Document Management?As with any large turnkey technology implementation, the reasons why you would choose to implement a DDM solution vary based on your institute’s unique requirements. In general, DDM refers to a computer-based system that stores, tracks, and indexes your electron-ic and paper documents. While paper documents are imaged (scanned) and stored electronically, DDM brings in effi-ciencies even to your electronically gen-erated documents by organising them for easy access, while eliminating walls of filing cabinets and providing for the utmost in information security and disaster recovery (with properly formu-lated backup processes).

Some of the needs DDM solutions address are:

Student Records Management: Digitise, index, and merge documents

for admissions, financial aid, and registration, and integrate them into your student information system for a cradle-to-grave tracking of a student a s s / h e p a s s e s t h r o u g h y o u r education institution.

Admissions Processing: Digitally auto-mate admissions to provide fast, accu-rate, paperless processing and enable communications via a web interface, and integrate existing online applications and enable the index and capture of all supporting materials that are received. Streamline Application processing from weeks to a few days.

Courseware and Copyright Manage-ment: Automate the process of request-ing copyright clearance for electronic texts and courseware.

key Components of a DDM solutionAny mature DDM solution should address the following key components and considerations:Metadata: Essentially, data about each docu-ment stored, such as the date the document was stored and the identity of the user storing it, meta-data can also be extended to cover description of the document’s contents, either extracted automat-

ically or manually fed in. Advanced sys-tems can use optical character recogni-tion to scan entire documents and provide keyword based or full text search capabilities.Capture: Capture components refer to OCR and OMR solutions software and hardware to convert digital images into machine readable text, and the accep-tance/storage of electronic documents and other computer-generated files.Versioning: The process by which docu-ments are checked in or out of the docu-ment management system, allowing users to retrieve previous versions and to continue work from a selected point. Versioning is critical for documents that change over time and require updating, but it may be necessary or required by law to go back to or reference a previous copy.Storage: How will the electronic docu-ments be stored (in terms of physical

media and infrastruc-ture), how long will they be stored, and when are they required to be destroyed (by law) – key considerations that deci-sion-makers and plan-ners have to make at the onset of planning a DDM strategy.

Indexing, Retrieval and Search: While indexing looks at the science

DDM a computer-

based system that stores, tracks and

indexes your electronic and paper

documents

The agonising wait for the much-hyped ultra low-cost Aakash tablet PC, to be launched by the Indian government, continues! Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has said the specifications for the Aakash 2 tablet PC will be finalised by this month. The minister had previously said that an improved version of the Aakash will launch in May—evidently, that did not happen.According to reports, the tablets and related apps are currently being tested at IIT-Mumbai. “During the course of this month, we will finalise the specifications and

technology for the Aakash project and move,” Kapil Sibal is quoted as saying. The minister expresses confidence that the government will provide the ultra low-cost tablet to every school and college student in the country in the next five to seven years. The device will also be available for individuals who wish to buy it. Speaking of the pricing, the minister revealed the device will be as cheap as USD 35, which is approximately Rs 1,960, or less.It may be recalled that Sibal had unveiled Aakash tablet in October last year amidst much fanfare.

TECH SNippET | aakash

Aakash delayed again; specs by June-end


TEChnOLOGY Digitising Data

A report from networking company Cisco says the number of networked devices will grow to two billion in India by 2016, up from one billion in 2011. The Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast attributes the sharp growth to increasing popularity of high-speed internet services, tablets and smartphones.The report further estimates there will be 18.9 billion network connections globally by 2016—almost 2.5 connection for each person on the planet—up from 10.3 billion in 2011. The Asia-Pacific region will have 46.7 per cent,

8.7 billion, of the global network connections. The internet traffic in

India is expected to grow at rate of 64 per cent between 2011 and 2016. Also,

there will be 502 million internet users by 2016 in India, up from 127 million in 2011.

It’s learnt that the government has accorded top priority to the internet telephony segment. As per the recently approved National Telecom Policy 2012, the government has relaxed norms for internet telephony and aims to increase penetration of telecom services in the country, 39-70 per cent by 2017 and 100 per cent by the year 2020. “Increasing video consumption, fuelled by adoption of 3G and 4G ...will be the key drivers,” Cisco India and Saarc Senior VP (Service Provider) Sanjay Rohatgi said.

TECH SNippET | Forecast

networked devices in India to grow to 2 bn

behind keeping track of each and every unique document (via simple attributes or metadata), retrieval and search are the end-user facing functions which define how each document stored in the system can be searched for and displayed.

Security: Underlying the entire approach is the concept of security and authenticated access to each document. Any mature document management sys-tem should have a rights management module that allows an administrator to give access to documents based on type to only certain people or groups of people.

Client-server or Vendor-run Approach

An important consideration adminis-trators and decision-makers have to make early in the process is whether to choose a client-server model or a vendor-run approach. With the former, the stor-age and scanning systems are located within your premises, or at a location managed by you. While it does allow you full control over the data and the flexibil-ity of data capture as your needs evolve, it does bring with it upfront costs of hardware infrastructure and IT staff to manage the system, backups etc. An alternative approach is to use application service providers (ASPs) where the appli-cation and data reside on the service pro-vider’s servers, and access is provided either via a web browser or through pro-

prietary client software. Unlike the cli-ent-server model, backups and uninter-ruptible power supplies are no longer your headache and IT maintenance is almost always part of the package. Costs are low initially (usually just a setup fee), followed by a monthly usage payment based on the number of users. The flip side is that a fast reliable internet con-nection is a prerequisite, since this affects key success factors such as search and document retrieval speeds.

how They Did It: Case studiesPepperdine University, USA: This vast 830-acre campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean had much of its content spread over several different repositories, in both paper and digital format, making it difficult for administrators and faculty to access and find content. By using the solution provided by Xythos, Pepperdine has centralised accreditation informa-tion, automated faculty review processes and archived institutional content such as student portfolios and published papers. In fact, the laundry list doesn’t end there, and Don Thompson, Associ-ate VP of Planning (IT) says that they plan to use the system to streamline a long list of administrative and academic processes, building collaborative servic-es within each step and web-enabling many of the processes that have relied upon email attachments or physical doc-

ument exchange and storage in the past.Stanford University, USA: Home to

14,000 of the world’s top students, Stan-ford started their search for a DDM solu-tion with a simple objective—to design a single location with a common interface where university users and IT personnel could share information that required no technical skills to manoeuvre. After a pilot run, Stanford chose Xerox’s DocuShare solution to share and man-age thousands of documents, both elec-tronic and paper, across a wide variety of PC, Mac and Unix platforms.

City College, Birmingham: As part of the move to a new campus, City College chose to introduce a state-of-the-art doc-ument management system from Docu-ment Manager, which would allow them to find and share documents in 60 teach-ing locations, while reducing costs, streamline processes and reduce its car-bon footprint. All this was previously managed as paper files and took up 10 teaching rooms full of archives!

Lovely Professional University, India: While LPU is yet to fully embark on their DDM systems, Vice Chancellor Dr RS Kanwar states that the planned system will be used to retain digital copies of all MA, MS, MTech, MBA, M Arch and PhD theses, plus IP material such as refereed research papers, conference proceedings, book chapters, patents, etc, in the univer-sity library. In addition, all HR documen-tation will be stored digitally.

37July 2012 EduTEch

Digitising Data TEChnOLOGY

Facebook is reportedly going to allow children younger than 13 years old to join the social network, but under parental supervision. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the social networking site is working on technology to link children’s accounts to those of their parents. The Journal also says parents may be allowed to control whom their children add as friends. Access to apps and games will also be decided by parents, the WSJ sources say.At the moment, Facebook prohibits children under 13 from joining the website. The social networking presently has

more than 900 million active users across the world; opening the gates for preteenagers will significantly boost the numbers.Rumours have been surfacing for quite some time that the social networking giant was looking to change its policy and allow under-13s to join the site. A couple of weeks ago, the Sunday Times quoted Facebook’s UK Head of Policy Simon Milner, that “under-13s may be let into (the) Facebook fold.” However, Facebook later denied the possibilities. Main reasons for not allowing under-13s from joining Facebook are considered to be rising cases of cyber-bullying, pornography and trolling.

roI calculations must in planning stage of DDM

TECH SNippET | FB for Kids

Facebook may allow children under 13 to join

what were the needs that drove the decision to implement a DDM solution at Amity?

It was decided around three-four years ago to initiate Digital Documentation in the pivotal departments of the Amity Univer-sity. With the Admission Department of Amity University (UP) alone receiving more than 1,00,000 admission applications every year, manual handling or processing of so many applications was tedious and susceptible to manual/judgmental errors, bias, delay or even loss of information. Realising this fact, our team at Amity decided to start ICR (Intelligent Character Recognition) processing of forms in the Admissions Department, whereby all admission forms deposited by the aspirants are imaged, and as a result, applicant information across a number of admis-sion criteria are stored. Authorised users located at Amity campuses in India and abroad can easily access and extract this information, not only during admissions, but also throughout the entire lifecycle of the student’s association with the university. Similarly, in the Examinations Depart-ment, OMR (Optical Mark Recognition) processing is used to store, track, and index the information related to students’ marksheets, certificates and overall performance and assess-ments. The information is digitised using image scanner and stored for further analysis and future use. We widely use DDM for document and records compliance for the many recognitions and accreditations that we have received.

Can you give us some insights into the implementation process?

The core team, consisting of key people from the admissions and examinations department along with internal hardware and software experts met to decide upon the attributes and features expected, and based on the quality of software/technol-ogy, time involved in processing, cost and accuracy equation, the VC Doc Applica-tion was finalised and put to use along with Kodak and Canon Scanners.

w h a t b e n ef i t s h a s t h e

system delivered? We’ve seen a host of benefits resulting

out of this initiative. Not only do we save time, money and space and reduce our paper usage, we’ve seen an overall improvement on the efficiency of the institu-tion. By having our data on centralised servers, access is that much easier across the Amity network worldwide, and allows us to streamline processes and roll in best practices into the system.

Any best practices or learning from your approach you would like to share?

It is critical for those planning to deploy DDM systems that they first estimate the quantity and quality of data that needs to be digitised, which can drive decisions on required features and attributes of the system. RoI calculations should be made right in the planning stage.

Dr Js sodhi Security Compliance Specialist (SCS)

Assistant Vice President-IT, Amity


TEChnOLOGY Cloud apps

It’s raining Apps!

The clouds are upon us, and no, despite the fact that we’re in the middle of the monsoons, the clouds I refer to aren’t the ones

overhead, but spread across thousands of computers interconnected by the internet! Now, while some of us might be familiar with enterprise cloud implementations at our campuses, did you know that there are a num-ber of supremely capable applications in the cloud that consumers, folks like you and me, can use? If you want to breakfree from the hegemony of desktop appli-cations, here are some cloud applications that let you perform everyday tasks

slipshod in my coverage if I didn’t men-tion the do-everything-wonder—Google Apps! The combination of Google Docs and Google Calendar instantly lets you collaborate on pretty much any task and document, and all you need for this is a Gmail account! It couldn’t be simpler!

Note Taking: If you’re like me, and you love to take notes on everything—that list of restaurants you want to try out, the songs you want to write to a CD for the car, the screenshot of the site you were reading, try Evernote. The versatile software—available for Android, Apple iOS, Blackberry, Windows Phone 7 and PC/Mac—lets you scribble notes or take screenshots and store them in the cloud,

no matter where you are!Office Productivity Apps: Just want to

type out a simple letter or pull together a basic Excel sheet for some data analysis? You don’t need an expensive copy of Microsoft Office for that! Just log into Zoho Productivity Suite, and you can access an online word processor, spread-

sheet app and presentation software, all within the browser! Plus, your docu-ments stay safe in Zoho’s online storage, so you can access them from just about any PC, and when you’re back at work, the site offers plugins to convert to (and from) Microsoft Office file formats so you can share your docs with the world! Of course, I’d be

rEADEr rOI There are some simple cloud applications for everyday use

Office productivity apps allow you to work without buying software

Cloudy Cloud offers many simple-to-use applications that even the technology challenged can adopt to make their lives more organised

Tech TUTeSLiving life on the cloud

Google has updated its Maps feature across devices, making it more comprehensive, accurate, and usable. It has also enhanced its off-road feature, Street View Trekker, giving users visual access to even more remote locations, where wheels simply can’t take you. The biggest new feature however, is the addition of 3D models to metropolitan area on Google Earth, for mobile devices. To make Street View Trekker data more comprehensive, Google officials are visiting major wilderness spots, equipped with Street View backpacks that gather impressions of the landscape around. In order to make Google Maps more accurate, Google been incorporating user feedback consistently, with the Report a

Problem tool, and Map Maker. The Map Maker tool has now been officially extended to 12

more countries globally—South Africa, Egypt, Australia, Austria,

Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, New

Zealand, Norway and Switzerland. Another new feature is offline Google Maps for Android, which will begin rolling out within the next few weeks, allowing users to take maps offline from more than 100 countries. Finally, getting to the new 3D map features, three-dimensional models of major cities will now be accessible via mobile devices. Google has been using new imagery rendering techniques and computer vision to automatically create the 3D cityscapes, from 45-degree aerial imagery. The company hopes to have 3D coverage for metropolitan areas with a combined population of 300 million people.

TECH SNippET | Google Maps

Google updates Maps with 3D features

39July 2012 EduTEch

Cloud apps TEChnOLOGY

Looks like there is more court trouble for internet companies in India. Delhi High Court has issued notices to Facebook India and Google India after a petition filed by the ex-Bhartiya Janata Party leader, KN Govindacharya, who accused the two websites of tax evasion, using users’ data for commercial purposes, and not verifying users details. The former BJP leader also slammed Centre for not taking action against the internet companies. The court has asked the companies to respond to the notice within four weeks.The petition said that Facebook India was transferring data of its Indian users to the US for commercial purposes, without paying any taxes to the Indian government. The

TECH SNippET | Notice

Delhi hC issues notices to Google, Facebook

To Do today, tomorrow or day after...if you are a habitual memo writer, Evernote on the cloud is just for you

Mother of all clouds is Google Apps that lets you collaborate on any task

and document. Just open a Gmail account if you don’t already have one

and before you know it, synchs these notes to each of your devices so you have them available (and searchable) every-where you go. Make a shopping list on your home PC, walk out of the door and into the supermarket and the shopping list follows you on your phone. Take some screenshots from some research sites at work, and they’re ready and wait-ing for your on your PC the moment you get back home. If there was ever a per-fect digital assistance, this is it!

Image Editing: Basic image editing is something most of us need to do some-time or the other, but using software like Photoshop is like bringing a jackham-mer to do a fine chiselling job! If all you need to do is something basic, like crop-ping, resizing or rotating your image, or applying a few special effects, try pixlr.com or photoshop.com—both of these let you edit photos from within your browser, with no install required! Best of all, these tools even work with your exist-ing online photo albums on Picasa, Face-book, flickr, etc.

Online Storage: Gone are the days of floppy disks and USB thumb drives to carry and synchronise documents and files from one PC to another. Head to Google Drive or Dropbox for the ulti-mate in seamless web storage—both of

these have versions for every major OS (plus direct web access from any web browser) and let you access your files no matter what device you have at hand. Granted, the web storage is only between two-five GB in size only, but that’s more than enough for carrying your must-have files wherever you go.

Page Layout/Web Design Software: There used to be a time when even hav-ing a basic web presence used to be a time-consuming job, and you needed to have someone fairly technical to make

sense of the technical mumbo-jumbo and the page layout software. And then along came Wordpress, allowing you to setup a fully web-hosted blog or website in a matter of minutes. Without the jar-gon, and with plenty of simple to use themes to customise the look to your lik-ing (and personality!).

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petitioner further wanted the government to ensure implementation of verification norms for social networks, as done by the telecom companies.The petitioner pointed out that nearly five-six per cent of Facebook profiles are fake and that the government had laid guidelines for “Know Your Customer” for all sectors, especially for telecom companies. However, the social networking companies were not following the guidelines. Govindacharya also slammed Facebook for letting children under 13 years to join the network. Also, Facebook wasn’t paying due taxes on their Indian operations. The petition also sought a ban on government officers accessing social networking websites through the government computers.


TEChnOLOGY Interview

Taking Tests OnlineLarge examinations are taking the online route given the reach, ease and cost-effectiveness of the process. Murlidhar S, CEO, MeritTrac tells Radhika Haswani about the merits of the process

First CAT, now AIEEE is going online, what are the benefits of the online system over the traditional one?

One of the key benefits that online system offers is that the entire process of exami-nation is secure and security is highly important in any such process. The second benefit is accuracy. It makes the process extremely accurate. As a student taking an

exam, you would not want wrong score credited to you, and that’s an important thing in an examination. Thirdly, it has huge logistic benefits for the organisa-tion conducting the exam as they don’t have to print lakhs of question papers and ship it by trucks or trains across the length and breadth of the country. Here, the question paper can be delivered to the exam centre instantly and that’s a huge benefit. These are a few benefits of an online system.

Is online restricted to multiple choice question (MCQ) format or can essay-type questions also be part of it?

Today, the capability is not for large essay-type questions. Single line answers, single word answers can also

Tech inTeRVieWMurlidhar S, CEO, MeritTrac

Murlidhar s CEO, MeritTrac Services-India’s largest testing and assessment company

A charter member of TIE Bangalore and actively involved in mentoring and supporting entrepreneurship

Successful new age entrepreneur

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be added. So it’s not restricted to MCQs. You can also have single word or single line answers which make evaluation lit-tle more interesting. In MCQs itself there are many varieties of question pat-terns that you can use. For example, we can use code chunks if trying to test a person’s programming skills. Then each of the answer could be a large code chunk itself, it need not be a simple yes or no kind of situation. This makes even the MCQs fairly interesting and nice.

what are the challenges of the online system?

The key challenge is to ensure that technology which is the software, infra-structure which are the test centres and the exam process which is how you con-duct the exam—are taken into account and a balance struck between the three. Today, with a lot of exams taking the online route, large organisations are just focussing on the software technology, forgetting that it has to be implemented in a lab or a classroom, across the length and breadth of the country and that facil-ity is typically a third party lab or class-room. Hence, equal amount of emphasis has to be placed on the infrastructure as well as the process. Generally, the people who are involved in online testing are typically software companies that have sat in a room, designed a software engine but do not have the experience of conducting exams. In an exam, as I said, the process of examination is equally

important—how you register candi-dates, how much time you give to them and how you make them feel at ease in an online environment—all this is very important. All the traditional exam ele-ments are equally important in online tests as compared to the technology.

The other thing is that today large examinations want to go online. Where-as, about two-three years ago the num-ber of venues and locations were restrict-ed for online exams. It was offered in 20-30 cities—CAT is offered in 30-32 cit-ies. But the challenge for most large exa-mintaions going online like AIEEE, is that their offline paper and pencil exam is being conducted in more than 100 cit-ies. If you look at private universities, their offline paper and pencil exams are conducted in more than 100-150 cities. Hence, the key challenge for any service provider is the ability to provide the same online format in these centres.

This is very important if you are to tak-ing large examinations online, specially as we are also talking to state govern-ments for conducting their exams online. Suppose if in Karnataka, I want to take their engineering exam online, they would not want the number of ven-ues in Karnataka to be restricted.

how long do you think it will take to go online completely?

I think it’ll be like the way mobiles got adopted, where there will be the hockey stick effect of people, an increasing pace

of adoption. My guess is that a couple of years and most of the significant exams will go online. As it is, we are talking to administrators across states and in the central government and find a large number of them serious about taking exams online. We did a survey about two to three years back with education administrators who said that more than 60 per cent are intending to take exams online. Already around 30-40 per cent have taken steps towards that goal. They are either in the early stage of prepara-tion or are already engaging with the vendor. I find a lot of government depart-ments apart from educational institu-tions, taking their exams online. I think it will have cascading effect now with huge number of exams going online in maybe a couple of years.

what is the idea behind MeritTrac?

The key idea was to help organisations conduct high-quality scientific exams and tests. When we began in the year 2000, we figured that in the Indian industry there were no external agencies which could conduct examinations and tests scientifically. Thus, the players had no option for outsourcing exams. We combined the content, the design of tests and the delivery of exams on a large scale in India. We made those three things possible for our client. It was an entrepreneurial dream for me and my co-founders.

whilst it continues to recover from the massive data breach that saw more than six million users passwords leak online, the professional social network LinkedIn has assured its users of bringing in new security features to prevent similar incidents in the future. “We continue to execute on our security roadmap, and we’ll be releasing additional enhancements to better protect our members,” said Vicente Silveira, a director at LinkedIn, in a blog post. He revealed that prior to the attack, LinkedIn was already working on a

TECH SNippET | Security

LinkedIn promises better security features

“transition from a password database system with hashed passwords—which provided one layer of encoding—to a system with both hashed and salted passwords”. According to Silveira, new system ensured an extra layer of protection, which is considered to be the best practice in the industry. Silveira also said that the accounts whose passwords haven’t been disabled are unlikely to be at risk. However, he urged users to reset their passwords. A Russian hacker had posted 6,458,020 encrypted passwords on a website and LinkedIn tendered apology to its users.


perspectiveINSIDE

F r o m o F h I g h E r E D u c a t I o N

the global 46 | In Italy, a Dysfunctional University System Sinks Deeper Into Decay

49 | In London, a Working-Class University Wrestles With Change

NYU-AD takes care not to engage in local issues in the UAE and says it’s not part of its mission abroad by urSula lINDSEy

NYU-abu Dhabi behaves like careful guest in Foreign land

Leah Reynolds is the kind of student New York University and the government of Abu Dhabi hoped for five years ago, when they began an ambitious partnership to create a model of academic excellence in the Persian Gulf emirate. Smart, articulate and

thoughtful, Ms Reynolds, a sophomore, is editor of the online campus newspaper. Yet she is keenly aware of the limits of her position, both as a student and as a representative of the institution.

“We’re not here to cause trouble,” says Ms Reynolds, who is studying social research and public policy at NYU-Abu Dhabi. “Students want to be in this part of the world. And we’re not repressed.”

Many people on this campus, from the chancellor on down, describe themselves as guests of the United Arab Emirates, and like guests they are mindful of staying in their host’s good graces.

But critics say this mindfulness turns foreign branch cam-puses in the region into exceptional enclaves, fearful of engaging with contentious local issues. In interviews with over a dozen current and former educators in the Emirates, the insu-larity of foreign branch campuses was a recurrent theme. Sev-eral of NYU-Abu Dhabi’s own staff and students describe the campus as ‘a bubble’. Some critics complain that it and other foreign universities have stood by in silence as authorities in the UAE have cracked down on freedom of speech in the wake of the Arab Spring.

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Chronicle of Higher Education at Chronicle.Com/Globalnewsletter

The Chronicle of Higher Education is a US-based company with a weekly newspaper and a website updated daily, at Global.Chronicle.com, that cover all aspects of university life. With over 90 writers, editors, and correspondents stationed around the globe, The Chronicle provides

timely news and analysis of academ-ic ideas, developments and trends.

“Any academic, any university—you have to be connected to the reality of the country you’re in,” says Christopher Davidson, a former professor of political science at Zayed Univer-sity, in Abu Dhabi, and author of several books about the UAE. “You can’t say your aca-demics are protected but the ones at the university down the road aren’t. You can’t enter a situation where you admit there isn’t academic freedom in the country, there isn’t academic solidarity.”

New York University’s leaders insist that public, and sometimes critical, engagement with one’s host country is not part of their mis-sion abroad, In fact, they argue, it could be taken as a sign of hubris.

“What is inherent in the very notion of the global network university is that we often are going to take ourselves outside our comfort zones,” says John Sexton, NYU’s president, who is the architect of the Abu Dhabi venture, in a written response to The Chronicle. “Many of us will find ourselves living in new cities, new countries, new parts of the world, and it would be downright presumptuous to pretend that we have some inherent understanding from day one that would allow us to think that we have all of the answers for society, much less the questions.”

“It’s not that we’re not concerned” with off-campus events, says Ms Reynolds. “We’re learning what’s the best way to engage with the context we’re in. It doesn’t have to be the same way as in New York.”

But is treading cautiously a long-term strategy for success, particularly for a university that hopes to shape the region’s cultural and intellectual landscape?

an academic capitalIn operation for close to two years, NYU’s Abu Dhabi campus is a high-profile experiment for both the leadership of the federa-tion of small, oil-rich emirates and the American institution.

The NYU campus was invited in, and is fully subsidised by, the ruling family of Abu Dhabi. The operation enjoys the

support of that family’s leader, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the country’s president-for-life. His brother and heir, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, worked closely with Mr Sexton to hammer out the deal that brought the university to the Emirates.

By 2014 the campus will move to splendid new digs on an exclusive island, alongside branches of the Louvre and the Guggenheim museums. For now its 300 students and 125 faculty members, recruited from around the world, work in a modest complex in down-town Abu Dhabi.

NYU-Abu Dhabi’s goal is to be both a pre-mier research university and a highly selective liberal-arts-and-sciences college. In both respects, it is a new venture in the Emirates, functioning as a model for other universities there. The pursuit of academic excellence, say

both NYU and the UAE’s leadership, is how the new university will affect and benefit its host country.

So far the campus seems to be having its greatest impact through research and collaborations with local universities and government institutions.

“Part of our role here is to build capacity indirectly, to import scientific expertise and share equipment through collabora-tions.” says David McGlennon, vice provost for research admin-istration and university partnerships.

The linguistics departments of NYU-Abu Dhabi and United Arab Emirates University, for example, are jointly studying the differences in cognitive processing of Arabic and English.

“It’s benefitting us and our students—there is more expertise coming from overseas, more money for research, more oppor-tunities,” says Steve Bird, Dean of the Linguistics Department at UAE University.

Through the government’s largess, NYU-Abu Dhabi has allot-ted $36-million to finance work at five research centres dedi-cated to fields such as Arabic literature, communication net-works, and climate modelling. The university plans to create about a dozen such centres, generally supervised by senior fac-ulty from the New York campus.

The establishment of NYU-AD, as it’s known, has raised “great expectations on all levels: economic, social, and on a pol-icy level,” says Sunil Kumar, Dean of Engineering, who has helped form a consortium of engineering faculty in the Emir-ates. They plan to share curricula and equipment and to coordi-nate course offerings.

The new university also hopes to attract more Emirati stu-dents; currently it enrols only 16. It runs summer academic camps for local high-school students and offers tutoring to Emi-rati applicants who don’t meet its admission requirements.

Within the country, spending on the university is a sensitive and closely-guarded subject. Some local academics ask why, if the government wishes to improve higher education, it doesn’t

Critics say this mindfulness turns foreign branch campuses in the region into exceptional conclaves

thE global PErSPEctIVE


simply invest more in its own institutions, which are struggling with recent budget cuts.

Al Bloom, NYU-Abu Dhabi’s Vice Chancellor, counters that the university “will inspire more students to seek the highest level of education and help other universities to argue for and obtain the kind of resources and faculty they most need in terms of their own development.”

Shifting ‘red lines’Most afternoons, Abu Dhabi’s higher-education minister, Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan meets visitors and peti-tioners at his diwan, a traditional open audience chamber in his house. NYU-Abu Dhabi, he says, will help the emirate become “a major global centre of excellence for higher education.”

That’s a tall order for a new institution that is still learning to navigate a country where public debate is tightly monitored, policy decisions are made in an opaque manner by the mem-bers of the ruling family, and repressive laws are sometimes suddenly, arbitrarily enforced.

Nearly 90 per cent of the residents here are foreign, lured by the Emirates’ economic opportunities and relatively tolerant atmosphere, but mindful that they can be swiftly expelled if they challenge cultural or political restrictions. None of NYU-Abu Dhabi’s faculty is Emirati.

Under Emirati law, remarks that are deemed insulting to the seven emirates’ ruling families and government officials, or to Islam—or that are seen as causing social unrest—can lead to prosecution. Demonstrations are illegal. Swear-ing in public and engaging in homosexual rela-tions are also crimes.

All universities must obtain security clear-ances for faculty members. Publications and the media are censored, although universities are generally able to obtain any books they want. Researchers and other academics say they use caution in broaching topics such as AIDS and prostitution; the status of migrant labourers; Israel and the Holocaust; and domestic politics and corruption. Any critical discussion of the Emirates’ ruling families is an obvious no-go zone.

A former research associate at the Dubai School of Govern-ment who requested anonymity says the graduate school and research centre—set up in consultation with Harvard Univer-sity’s Kennedy School of Government—had lofty ambitions to be “a proper, international, renowned think-tank”. But even before the Arab Spring, researchers and administrators at the Dubai school were ‘walking on eggshells’, the researcher says. There was pressure ‘not to make the government look bad’ and disagreements over suitable areas of research and how widely it should be disseminated.

Some academics say, though, that these so-called red lines don’t impede solid academic work.

“Academic freedom has been usually better than overall free-dom in the UAE,” says Abdel Khalek Abdullah, a political-sci-

ence professor who recently retired from UAE University. “You are not intimidated, you can talk to your students and give them lectures. Nobody tampers with your research. But it could be better. One knows there are some red lines here and there. It’s really a mixed bag.”

Jane Bristol-Rhys, an associate professor of anthropology at Zayed University, maintains that even supposedly ‘taboo’ subjects—religion, domestic politics—can be taught if one has the necessary context and confidence. “We suffer more from self-censorship than anything else,” she says.

Self-censorship can be a powerful force, though. A foreign academic working at a national university in the Emirates who requested anonymity says most of the foreign professors there work under “an overarching fear of being booted out of the country. The system as it is encourages people not to push the boundaries.”

Why rock the boat?Nasser bin Ghaith learned that lesson the hard way. An Emirati expert on international economic law who has lectured at Paris-Sorbonne-Abu Dhabi and elsewhere, he and four others were charged in 2011 with insulting top government officials and inciting other people to break the law on the basis of posts in an

online forum criticising the government and calling for reform. He spent nine months in jail before being convicted and then pardoned.

“I thought foreign universities would bring the culture of freedom of expression,” says Mr bin Ghaith. “Academia is all about thinking and speaking freely. I thought they would raise the ceiling as high as this ceiling,” he says, pointing toward a skylight in the lobby of a club on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi. “But unfortunately it was just a showcase.”

After his arrest, the board of the Sorbonne voted down a motion to express support for Mr bin Ghaith. Sorbonne-Abu Dhabi administrators

said the fact that he had delivered ‘a few lectures’ did not make him a professor there.

“We don’t want to comment on anything that is not academ-ic,” says Jean-Yves da Cara, Executive Director of the branch campus, when asked about Mr bin Ghaith. “As a university we have nothing to do with this case and we cannot comment on decisions made by judiciary. It is outside our mission.”

NYU-Abu Dhabi administrators, too, have declined to com-ment on Mr bin Ghaith’s case, arguing that he had not been arrested in his capacity as an academic. The administration draws a distinction between academic freedom—which it says is guaranteed by its agreement with the Emirati authorities— and freedom of expression in the country at large.

The nervous reaction of the UAE authorities to the Arab Spring has complicated matters further. The advocacy groups Reporters Without Borders and Human Rights Watch have documented increased repression of freedom of assembly and expression there. Emirati authorities aggressively monitor

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online social forums and persecute government critics—either through arrests or campaigns of verbal and sometimes physical intimidation, the groups say.

Authorities recently revoked the citizenship of six naturalised Emiratis because of their ties with a local Islamist organisation. One of them was fired from his job at a national university.

In March, Emirati officials closed the offices of the National Democratic Institute, a democracy-promotion organisation backed by the US government.

Today in the UAE “there’s less academic freedom, less free-dom of expression, less freedom of assembly,” says a reformist Emirati writer who asked to remain anonymous. “There’s been a complete regression. And the worst thing is, nobody cares.”

on the SidelinesAsked about the incidents of repression that have taken place over the last year, students, faculty, and administrators at NYU’s Abu Dhabi campus plead ignorance, minimise the events, or choose their words diplomatically.

Whatever may be happening elsewhere in the Emirates, “there was a guarantee that we can enjoy academic freedom, and it has been implemented in every way,” says Mr Bloom, the chancellor. “There is no interference, no sense of concern, fear, or anxiety.”

But “in the public realm,” he adds, “there is a sense of commit-ment to being a guest in a host country which may have different cultural and legal expectations. It’s important for us to respect them when those restrictions don’t erode the basic educational and intellectual mission of the college.”

University faculty argue that they teach the same classes they would in New York, and that restrictions on freedom of expres-sion off-campus exist everywhere, including the United States.

What’s happened in the UAE in recent months is “an issue of concern because people are getting arrested,” says Nathalie Peutz, an assistant professor of Arab crossroads studies. “It’s not an issue of concern for my teaching.”

The case of Mr bin Ghaith launched a lively debate on the NYU-Abu Dhabi campus, if one that didn’t travel much beyond its walls. And Ms Peutz notes that she has assigned articles on the Holocaust to her students, although teaching the subject is banned in Emirati schools. “We talk about everything from reli-gion to government to politics,” she says. “There is no need to

self-censor in any way except to take into account the different assumptions students are coming with.”

A UAE researcher who asked to remain anonymous dismisses such freedom as the right to “let the elite speak about things in a controlled environment. You can always stop it.”

the FutureEmirati leaders and NYU administrators alike insist that they can’t envisage their experiment foundering. The relationship is built on “the basis of good will,” says Mr Al Nahyan, the educa-tion minister. “The intentions are good on both sides. If you get married, you don’t want to talk about ‘What if it doesn’t work out?’ There’s no use speculating.”

NYU will not comment on what recourse it might seek if it felt that the agreement had been violated.

One student, April Xiong, expressed her mixed feelings about the university’s position in the New York campus’s stu-dent newspaper last year. Sometimes, she wrote, “It feels like we’re not actually accomplishing anything here, and that we were falsely promised the opportunity to create change in this country.”

But, she cautioned, “It would be foolish to jeopardise every-thing we could accomplish in the future...by making brash comments right now. Remember, any critical comments made by a faculty member or a student of NYU-AD, although made individually, could cause the government to completely lose trust in NYU-AD as an institution.”

Emile Hokayem, an analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, who worked in Abu Dhabi from 2008 to 2010 as a columnist at a national newspaper, agrees with such cau-tion. “These societies are young and developing, and change is going to take a long time,” he says. “There is a real risk that foreign institutions are going to be seen as patronising and disloyal” if they voice criticism.

But Mr Davidson, the former professor at Zayed University, says ruling governments count on such self-censorship. For-eign universities and other joint cultural ventures are a form of foreign policy, he says, “investments that will remind the West that these countries are our friends and we should protect them if need be.”

In the midst of this debate, Matthew Silverstein, an assistant professor of philosophy at NYU, struggles with the significance of his own presence in Abu Dhabi. “If my reasons for being here were contingent on my belief that my presence will revolu-tionise the Emirates, I wouldn’t be here,” he says, sitting in the small, lush garden on the campus. “Similarly, if I was sure that NYU-AD would have no effect at all, I also wouldn’t be here.”

“It’s hard to see how being home to a world-class university couldn’t have an effect on the guiding norms for society about religion or politics or freedom of expression,” he says. It’s just soon to tell, he adds, what that effect will be.

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Nasser Ghaith, an Emirati expert spent nine months in jail as he was charged with insulting top government officials



At an outdoor cafe in a small, quaint piazza in historic Rome, Andrea Bordi gazes yearningly across the square at the

University of Rome La Sapienza’s Faculty of Architecture, a rundown Baroque-era palazzo where he has spent much of his adult life. Since receiving his PhD from the faculty 15 years ago, Mr Bordi, an architect, worked first as an unpaid assistant and researcher until, five years ago, taking on a series of short-term professor contracts, receiving anywhere from 300 euros a year to nothing.

Like tens of thousands of other con-tract researchers and professors within the Italian university system, Mr Bordi hoped that all his free teaching and research would one day be rewarded with a full-time professorial position.

His aspirations have been irrevocably dashed however, by the global recession and ensuing government reform efforts. Since 2008, Italian universities have seen their budgets slashed by 14 per cent. And in late 2010 the Italian govern-ment passed a law that drastically reduced the number of contract univer-sity workers, effectively laying off thou-sands of postdocs, assistants, research-ers, and lecturers. The law also included a planned decrease in the number of full-time professors, associate profes-sors, and researchers in the coming years from 58,000 to an estimated 40,000 by not replacing professors as they retire.

Mr Bordi took to the roof of the nearby architecture building to protest with doz-ens of others from a network of activist researchers called the April 23 Network. But a year and a half later, he sits resigned to the reality that his lifelong dream of becoming a professor is dead.

“It’s true that no one ever promised me I’d become a full-time professor,” he says, looking a tad self-conscious, “but it’s also true that the only way to become

Since 2008, Italian universities have seen their budgets slashed by 14 per cent by mEgaN WIllIamS

in italy, a Dysfunctional University system sinks Deeper into Decay

a professor in Italy is to do what I did, work for years for next to nothing, hop-ing that you’ll be one of the lucky ones. And I wasn’t.”

Mr Bordi’s bitter disappointment is shared by thousands of other academics. Ironically, their situation was made worse by the government’s 2010 plans to improve the system, known as the Gelmini reform, for then-education minister Mariastella Gelmini. The

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restructuring was promoted as a long-overdue effort to streamline, modernise and introduce meritocracy into an unsustainably costly system. But critics charge that the government’s real goal was political: to erode the right to pub-licly financed, widely accessible higher education that is enshrined in Italy’s Constitution. The reforms, they say, push the system toward the American model, with high student fees, reduced access, and differentiation in the quality of institutions, such that students will no longer be able to attend a reliable local institution.

Whatever the long-term impact of the reforms, many academics are reeling from the immediate effects of the cuts and layoffs. From 2008 to 2013, 1.5 bil-lion euros will have been sliced from the country’s higher-education budget, a c u t e l y i n t e n s i f y i n g d i s t r u s t among critics.

Many of those protesting the govern-ment’s moves were part of the vast underclass of precariously employed assistants, researchers, and professors like Mr Bordi, who came to form the pil-lars upon which Italy’s universities largely rest.

The institutions employ about 60,000 tenured professors. By contrast, there are about 41,000 instructors who work under contract, and an additional 40,000 researchers, assistants, and postdocs who also teach, according to the educa-tion ministry and the Italian Association of Doctorate Graduates. Francesco Sylos Labini, one of the authors of Researchers Do Not Grow on Trees, says types of tem-porary contracts in Italian universities vary wildly and numbers of workers are unreliable. However, he says, a conserva-tive estimate of contract workers aspir-ing to tenured positions who have now lost their jobs is 20,000. Yet contract workers are not the only ones feeling the crunch of cuts and reforms.

In a dingy rented apartment overlook-ing a freeway on the outskirts of Rome, Enrica Saraullo, 27, pours espresso into small cups on a low table.

The La Sapienza aeronautical-engi-neering student, who is in her final year and shares a bedroom with another stu-

dent, looks pale and tired. She explains that her fatigue is the result of finishing a six-week stint as a museum attendant with eight-hour shifts, earning four euros an hour, an amount she says is about average pay for young people in a country with a youth unemployment rate of 31 per cent.

“It was pretty exhausting standing all that time in high-heeled shoes,” says Ms Saraullo of her most recent job, “but the worst part of it was missing lectures. That really affected my marks.”

Skipping classes to cover her rent was not how Ms Saraullo imagined she’d be spending her final years at the universi-ty. She qualified for a full annual govern-ment grant of 4,766 euros, plus a tuition reimbursement. But because of budget cuts, an estimated 40,000 students—one-quarter of all those who qualified for support in 2010—did not get any money. For those who did, the funds have been slow in coming. This year, Ms Saraullo has received only the first half of her annual grant from 2010-11, which arrived two months after courses started. There is no sign of the final installment, which she expects will come after she has graduated. She plans on finishing her degree even if it takes her longer. But many others have given up. Only 20 per cent of Italians ages 25 to 34 hold univer-sity degrees.

Late payments, though, are only part of Ms Saraullo’s struggles. Italy’s scarce investment in research, among the low-est in Europe, means her faculty, once at the vanguard of innovation, is a faint echo of its former glory. Indeed, the fac-ulty grounds just outside Rome more closely resemble a junkyard, with rusty, antiquated equipment, than a centre of

Italian government has carried out cuts throughout Italy’s tertiary institutions, with no consideration for the quality/work they produce

aeronautic-engineering research and instruction.

“In the 1960s, our department was a world leader in our field. Italy, for instance, was the third country to send a satellite into orbit,” she says. “It was designed by a professor in my faculty with our own equipment, which was almost avant-garde at the time. Then the funds dried up, and we have closed labs because they’re too dangerous. We don’t even have the money to upkeep expen-sive equipment donated by NASA, like a vacuum chamber that simulates outer space. It’s totally unusable.”

Italy has even fallen behind in text-book writing in her field, says Ms Saraul-lo, pointing to textbooks from the United States and Britain.

At La Sapienza, students sit on floors and along window ledges, some even crowding outside doors, to take in lec-tures. As a response to the inadequate funds for research, the Italian govern-ment encouraged universities to raise money on their own through European Union grants and, more controversially, by soliciting investment from private-sector companies wanting to develop new technology.

It’s a suggestion that respected scien-tists like Renato Bozio, a professor of physical chemistry at the University of Padova, one of Italy’s top-ranking insti-tutions, calls wishful thinking. He points out that Italian industry is composed predominantly of small to medium-size firms that have no history of making serious investment in research, let alone donating to universities. A tax system that offers no incentives also doesn’t help. The few larger Italian firms, he says, have shown ‘complete negligence’




when it comes to investing in innovation and research, opting instead to invest in the financial market.

Mr Bozio is also critical of how the Ital-ian government has carried out cuts in equal doses throughout Italy’s tertiary institutions, with no consideration for the different quality of work that univer-sities or departments produce. He says that while the Gelmini reform offers marginal financial incentives for higher-performing professors and faculties he doubts tha t’ s enough to make a difference.

“Not only are we cutting back in areas that have traditionally been our strength in terms of research, but we’re also exporting our brightest young research-ers, who are now leaving Italy,” he says, referring to a recent exodus of highly educated young people.

the Power of baronsWhat constitutes challeng-ing changes in the Italian university system are made even more difficult by a hierarchy, which the latest reforms leave untouched, that places decision-mak-ing in the hands of largely unaccountable full-time professors and smaller administrative councils while stifling opportunity for those wanting to enter or rise in academe.

Italy’s universities have long been rife with what Italians refer as i baroni —‘barons’— powerful professors and department heads who create academic fiefdoms, blocking young, talented researchers; promoting yes-men and relatives; and fixing job competitions. It’s a problem that has received recent front-page coverage after a call for the resignation of, and the opening of a pre-liminary judicial inquest into, Luigi Frati, rector of La Sapienza, Europe’s big-gest university, with 150,000 students. Before his appointment as rector, three years ago, Dr Frati directed the Faculty of Medicine for 16 years, during which time his wife, daughter, and son were all appointed as professors.

Dr Frati, a natty 69-year-old, dismisses concerns about the hiring of family members in his faculty, insisting they were all qualified for their positions. Sit-ting at a long table in his elegant, spa-cious office in the Fascist-era edifice that houses the rector’s office, he points repeatedly to a sheet of paper listing his new hiring criteria for bringing about ‘ a n A m e r i c a n - s t y l e ’ s y s t e m of meritocracy.

“The hiring commission has had no rules until now,” he says, “and I have just applied these rules for all hirings, requir-ing international indicators,” which “clearly shows the hiring criteria is excel-lence, which is very unusual in Italy.”

When asked about the effect of the government cuts on La Sapienza, the rector, who responds evasive-ly to most questions, at first says they are neg-ligible, citing a new state-of-the-art medi-cal-research centre that recently opened. He concedes that while some science labs may be outdated by 25 years, most of the cuts have hit stu-dent services, where

there is an acute shortage of housing or administration. When pressed for a spe-cific example, he says that unlike his counterparts in the United States, he doesn’t have a company car and driver.

Next door, in the Faculty of Literature and Philosophy, a building with peeling paint, rusting radiators, and battered classroom desks and chairs, Renzo Bra-gantini, a professor who started a peti-tion calling for the rector’s resignation, shakes his head in disgust. “I find it incredible that people like Frati talk about meritocracy while they have so deeply betrayed its spirit themselves,” says Mr Bragantini, in a bare-bones, shared office. “Frati is a terrible example o f t h e s y s t e m o f b a r o n s , and many have not spoken out against him, because they themselves are caught up in the same system of exchanging favours.”

Mr Bragantini admits that no col-leagues have signed the petition, only students. He says that while he’s not worried for his job as a full-time profes-sor, he does worry that colleagues who oppose his petition will take it out on his students, by denying them access to con-tracts and jobs.

While Mr Frati is held up as an extreme example of abuse of power, the widespread lack of merit-fuelled mobili-ty and, for that matter, a sense of fairness within Italian academe, leave many young Italians deeply discouraged. Ms Saraullo, for eg, says that despite her love of aeronautical engineering, she will not go on to do a PhD, and not just because the government cut in scholar-ships. “It pains me to say this, but when I decided to study engineering, my uncle, who’s the only university graduate in our family, told me not to expect ever to have a university career, that it just wasn’t possible here if you’re not con-nected,” she says.

Others, however, remain more hope-ful. Research activist groups like the one supported by the architect Andrea Bordi, continue to mobilise for increased public funds, career-advancement based solely on merit, and wide access. With national elections in 2013, they are already lobby-ing political parties toward that end.

And on paper, at least, the government has put in place ambitious goals through its 2010 reform plan: a tenure system based on merit, performance-based research financing, tighter monetary controls in university administrations, and a ban on hiring relatives in the same university.

But as rectors throughout the country put forth proposals to raise student fees, and with a new government that, like the one that resigned in late 2011, says it just doesn’t have the money, the Italian dream of a functional, affordable, high-er-education system seems more elusive than ever. As it struggles to find a new, viable model, a whole generation has already paid the price.

1.5 billion euros will have

been sliced from Italy’s higher-

education budget from

2008 to 2013


49July 2012 EduTEch

University of East London hikes tuition fee under the government’s higher-education reforms efforts, dashes many dreams by aISha labI

in london, a Working class University Wrestles With change

London Patrick McGhee, Vice Chancellor of the University of East London, has a lot in common with many of the 28,000 students at the large urban institution he leads. He was the first in his family to attend university. And he dislikes much about the

government’s higher-education reform efforts, which he has deemed “misguided, premature, unproven and rushed”. He is especially opposed to a measure allowing universities to nearly triple tuition this fall, to as much as £9,000, or $15,500.

Yet his university, which serves the largely low-income, ethni-cally diverse boroughs of east London, has done just that. The decision to set tuition at this new maximum rate, along with a host of other changes, has upset many on the campus. Faculty members argue that the university is losing sight of its roots and failing in its mission to provide an affordable education to mostly first-generation college students. Administrators, including Mr McGhee, counter that in order to thrive in a rap-idly changing landscape the University of East London must “deal with the real world as we find it, not as we might wish it to be.” That means taking advantage of the revenue that will come from the higher tuition and using the money to prepare the institution for the future.

That position seems a far cry from December 9, 2010, when he joined 14 other vice chancellors in publishing an open letter assailing a House of Commons vote to allow the controversial tuition increase, and warning that the new financing model would burden future graduates with too much long-term debt.

Universities had been subjected to budget cuts under the pre-vious government. Beginning this fall, as the new tuition takes effect, public financing will be reduced even more. As the gov-ernment continues to waffle over key provisions laid out in a report produced last year, there is widespread uncertainty about how the nation’s universities will fare.

A government crackdown on immigration has heightened those worries, as many universities rely heavily on the higher tuition that foreign students bring in. Mr McGhee describes the government’s immigration-policy changes, coupled with the “instability caused by the domestic reforms”, as a ‘double whammy’ from which universities are reeling.

by

pho

tos.

co

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Deceptive: The calm at University of East London hides a restiveness brought on by massive changes

New Kid on the blockThe challenges facing the University of East London are typi-

cal of those confronting many English institutions, particularly younger ones that tend not to draw the top high-school gradu-ates and are not the leading research-intensive universities.

The university’s roots date back more than a century, to a technical institute established in 1892 to serve the local com-munity. In 1992 its designation, along with that of dozens of other polytechnics, was upgraded to university. Today it offers



more than 250 full and part-time programmes in areas like social work and bioscience. In response to student demand, new graduate programmes are being added in fields including Islamic finance, cybersecurity, and sports business.

The university has two campuses, one in Stratford, where many of the main venues for this summer’s Olympic Games are also located. Its other campus is in the Docklands, one of Europe’s biggest regeneration zones, with new commercial and residential properties constantly under construction. The uni-versity’s operating budget is £160-million, and international students, who represent 12 per cent of enrolment, have contrib-uted £23 to £28-million for the past four years. The students who throng both campuses are a vivid depiction of the capital city’s multicultural modern identity. Observant Muslim women in headscarves whose speech is inflected with the distinctive Cockney accent of East London sit in classes alongside foreign students from dozens of countries.

Mica Nava, who recently stepped down as a professor of cul-tural studies after nearly 30 years, says that the university’s pro-file as “a non-elite university with a very gratify-ing student body and a really good collegial atmosphere” was essential in its appeal for her and many colleagues.

Anxiety is especially acute at universities that were created after 1992, and those, like the Uni-versity of East London, that are not highly ranked, says Corinne Squire, who has taught social sciences at the university since 1996. There is real concern about whether low-income families will be willing to incur significant debt for a university degree. “Reputation issues will be more at the forefront,” she says.

Mr McGhee says the university felt it had to charge the maximum, once the government voted in favour of the new system. The extra income will pay for what he calls one of the best support packages in the country for students, provid-ing them with money toward expenses such as books and hous-ing. “I’ve never been a great supporter of the £9,000 fee, or of shifting the funding burden to students, but we’re trying to make sure our students get the best deal,” he says. Moreover, he says, he is worried that tighter immigration policies are already starting to affect international enrolments, putting further bud-getary pressures on the university.

So far, though, domestic application figures for the fall of 2012 have not borne out faculty fears. “Students are not put off by the £9,000 fee,” Mr McGhee says, although he concedes that applications from mature students, who tend to be more debt-averse, have taken a hit.

Frustrated FacultyThe decision to charge the maximum tuition allowed was made with minimal input from rank-and-file academics, according to some fac ulty members. Governance of the so-called post-92 institutions “is more akin to business,” says Jacqui Mitchell, a senior lecturer at UEL. “The biggest danger is that the academ-

ic voice in our institutions is not being heard sufficiently.” Oth-ers echoed her complaint.

Some professors are also keenly unhappy about the way in which the administration has consolidated and changed some course offerings, reorganised different schools, and held two rounds of voluntary buyouts. The government is phasing out direct financing for the teaching of most arts, humanities, and social-sciences degree programmes, the areas in which the course consolidations have occurred. The University of East London lost an estimated £8-million in government support as a result of the change in financing structure. By a recent mea-sure, the university spends less on staff as a percentage of its budget than all but one of the other universities in the country, a situation the local branch of the national faculty union blames for increased stress among faculty and staff and compromises to teaching quality.

Last March the university’s school of humanities and social sciences was disbanded. Humanities is now part of the school of arts and digital industries, and social sciences is coupled with

law. The reorganisation has meant that disci-plines with a distinct academic focus, such as cultural studies and sociology, are paired with more professionally oriented schools and are diluted or diminished, says Gavin Poynter, a former dean of humanities and social sciences. Some courses have also been cut. While he understands the emphasis on employability and professional development, the trend wor-ries him.

For Mr McGhee, the reorganisation is part of a larger set of ambitious goals that include strengthening the university’s academic core, boosting research money and performance,

improving its showing in national rankings, and focussing on employability skills for students. “The best business pro-gramme for a university such as this is to support and generate high-quality graduates in areas like the humanities who can go on to jobs that are very different than what they expect to do,” he says, adding that he is “100-per cent committed to our provision in humanities, social sciences, literature. That is essential to what a university is.”

The two rounds of buyouts reflect efforts to recalibrate staff-ing levels that were pegged to outdated demand, Mr McGhee says. But according to Ms Mitchell, the cuts have resulted in undue strain in some departments, where growing class sizes and fewer staff have increased academic workloads for some. That is “just not going to be sustainable in a world where stu-dents are being asked to pay £9,000,” she says.

“What is difficult,” she says, “is thinking that we may lose students who are going to be cut off from UEL and what it tra-ditionally did.”

12% international

student enrolment; who

contribute £ 23-28 mn to

£ 160-mn university budget



Prof MJ Xavier says you may call him a mad man with eccentric ideas. But after you hear him out, it is clear that he is a man with unconventional ideas for which the world he inhabits is just about readying itself. Once he opens his heart to you, you won’t wonder for long at his strange choices in life. He landed in his current role as the Director of Indian Institute of Management Ranchi also because of his idiosyncratic style of reasoning. While others in the race for the directorship of the new IIMs

went for plum postings at locations that promised better advantages, Prof Xavier opted for Ranchi, which no one wanted. Why you wonder? And he answers: “While teaching at XLRI Jamshedpur, I developed a liking for Jharkhand.”

Son of the SoilHis reasons for his affinity with the countryside is not far to seek. Son of a postmaster, Prof Xavier was born in a nondescript village in Kovilpatti in Tamil Nadu. But an almost nomadic life, with his father being transferred every three years, ensured

Eccentric with a VisionTeaching is in Prof MJ Xavier’s blood

and he hates jargon or obfuscation. No wonder, wherever

he goes, a crowd of learners builds around him—currently on IIM

Ranchi campusBy Sangita thakur

varma

MJ Xavier PrOFiLE

53July 2012 EduTEch

that young Xavier grew up exposed to many cultural influences. He soaked in the ambience and was naturally adapt-able and flexible.

“Within Tamil Nadu, each place has a different culture. My father’s frequent transfers gave me the opportunity to go places and meet people. He was mostly posted in small places. The nomadic life helped me explore each new experi-ence I came across. And I enjoyed meeting people, making friends,” rem-inisces Prof Xavier.

Till today, Prof Xavier is a firm believer in collaboration. At IIM Ran-chi, this son of the soil is sowing the seeds of teamwork firmly. To the utter shock of his new students, in the first session that he held at IIM Ranchi, he turned all their notions of management

upside down. “I asked them to be hum-ble, honest and work hard.” Arrogance is not accepted on IIM Ranchi campus. Competition is not in its lexicon, col-laboration is the buzzword.

In our Indian milieu fed on self-aggrandisement, where an IIM or IIT is like a badge of honour and a ticket to instant stardom, these lessons in humility, of course are hard to digest. But Prof Xavier firmly believes that the era of competition is over in the corpo-rate sector. He feels that the Indian management education has been fun-damentally flawed, teaching students to be rapacious and heartless in their race to the top. He says the ‘bloodbath era’ is ending and the new age that is dawn-ing is the ‘age of collaboration’. At IIM Ranchi Prof Xavier is readying his stu-dents to usher this new era.

Jharkhand may have had another charm for Prof Xavier. A man rooted to his genesis, he is a firm believer in native talent. “I feel real talent is still in rural areas and needs to be tapped,” says the spirited professor. And to mine this reservoir of rural talent, IIM Ran-chi is coming up with innovative pro-grammes. For instance, a management programme for the illiterate grassroots entrepreneurs to be rolled out in July.

That the rural people are born cre-ative is a “belief which is very strongly ingrained in me”, says Prof Xavier, who “felt humbled throughout my life” at this knowledge. Though being a post-master’s son gave him advantage of a proper schooling, he never thought he was superior to his village friends. “I had the opportunity to study till Class VI in my village,” he says, and adds proudly, “I learnt a lot there, made a lot of friends in my village.”

The humility that Prof Xavier dis-plays betrays his deep understanding of human frailties and strengths. This man of letters knows that knowing one’s alphabets or collecting degrees does not automatically qualify you as successful. Also, creativity is inborn many a times, and can be found flower-ing in strangest of circumstances.

“The village I come from is very small but it has produced many billionaires,

among them are some of my friends. There is probably something in the soil,” says Prof Xavier smiling. Surpris-ingly, some of these billionaires are school dropouts. “I was one of the few who continued with studies. Most oth-ers dropped out of school in Class IV or V and ran away to Chennai to become ragpickers. But many are now rich peo-ple with their own businesses,” says the professor.

The reason for this according to him is the creativity that his friends possessed. “Though I was academically at the top, my friends were far more creative and intelligent than me. That is my assess-ment,” he says. He recalls the creativity of two childhood buddies as an example. “They had created a language of their own by slightly altering the words and talked to each other in this secret lan-guage,” he says.

It is perhaps due to this inborn creativ-ity that “one of them is a multi-million-aire today,” says Prof Xavier.

The lessons that Prof Xavier learnt from his rural upbringing are deeply etched in him. “What I learnt is the rural thing,” he says. “Different kinds of skills exist in the countryside. People make a variety of toys using locally available material, and their creations are just beautiful,” he says. He adds with humil-ity, “I could never do any of these things. I never had the dexterity or the aesthetics to do the kind of creative work that many of the youth then had in rural areas.”

He feels fortunate that his postmas-ter father could afford to put him through formal primary education. “Early years were difficult monetarily. We were three-four children but there was a single source of income. I stud-ied and came up in life.”

a Passion inherited, a Promise kept “Education is probably in my blood,” says this teacher who counts the fact that “even the ones I taught in my first assignment at XLRI remember me and love me” as the single biggest achieve-ment of his entire teaching career.

His grandfather was a teacher. “I believe my grandfather studied till

fact file

Name: MJ XavierCurreNt eNgagemeNt: Director, IIM Ranchi Favourite book: All time favourite Bhagavad Gita; one I liked a lot is Death of Competition by James S Moore Favourite movie: 3 IdiotsFavourite food: Dosa & Coconut Chutney Favourite pastime: Browsing the internet & FacebookFavourite holiday destination: Sri LankaFavourite quote: The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn – Alvin TofflerBirthday: August 4Your little seCret: I have a craving for homemade chocolates from KodaikanaliNspiratioN aNd philosophY:The Bible, Gita and religious philosophy They gave meaning to my life.VisioN for iim raNChi: Bring it to the top five in the country in the first five years


PrOFiLE MJ Xavier

Class VIII and taught in local schools,” says Prof Xavier. His father though could not fulfil his ambition. “My father aspired to become a college professor, which could not materialise, as he had to support his parents. He could study till Class X only,” recalls Prof Xavier.

But he never forgot his aspirations. “He would always talk to me about it, regretting the fact that he could not study further.” And this firmed up little Xavier’s resolve. “I always had it in my mind that I had to fulfil my father’s desire. He had instilled in me the ambi-tion to become a college teacher.”

No wonder, the professor never wavered from his single-minded pursuit of academics. “Even at the time of my intermediate that is Class XII, I wanted to take up mathematics and become a professor,” Prof Xavier reveals.

But fate had little twists and turns in store for him. The student who was always in the top 10 percentile of his class, was advised to go for engineering. “Someone in my father’s office saw my marksheet and suggested to him to put me in an engineering college.”

It was a very reluctant boy who went to do his father’s bidding. “They forced me to study engineering,” he says. Prof Xavi-er did his BTech in Chemical Engineer-ing from Coimbatore Institute of Tech-nology in 1976. Thereafter, he went on to get an MTech degree in 1979 in Chemi-cal Plant Engineering from Regional Engineering College, Warangal.

The engineer was ready, but “my desire was to be a professor,” says the professor. After his engineering, Prof Xavier went on to obtain a Doctorate in Management in 1984 from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. And “luckily before my father died I joined IIM Bangalore as a full-fledged professor,” thus fulfilling his father’s long-held desire. “So, in a way, he died a happy man and I was also glad that I could do it for my father,” says the duti-ful, loving son.

The engineer turned manager turned professor meanwhile consolidated his industry-academia position gaining 25 years of varied expertise in teaching, research, and consultancy. With consid-

erable experience, he then took up writ-ing and authored three books and pub-lished more than 100 articles in journals and magazines in India and abroad. His book Marketing in the New Millennium won the DMA-Escorts Award for the best Management Book of the Year in 1999.

Ask him what inspires him in this pro-fession and drives his passion for teach-ing and he gives a simple answer: “I don’t know. I simply enjoy the freedom I have in this profession.” The freedom to teach, you can add. “I always loved and enjoyed teaching,” he says and you believe him. He is a born pedagogue. But there is a huge difference in his form of pedagogy and the general mindless lecture method you find elsewhere. “As a student I used to hate lecture method of teaching,” he says and “as a teacher I follow experien-tial learning method,” infusing a life of its own in his classrooms.

It is this method that he is implement-ing at IIM Ranchi—a healthy mix of management, marketing, art and cul-ture—rooted in the local milieu. In this holistic curriculum, a study tour of the ruins of Nalanda becomes necessary. It is a modern Gurukul on the principles of ancient Nalanda University that the pro-fessor seeks to build.

Call it simply his passion to teach or what he dismisses humbly as just “sim-ple Christian ethics”, even as a young stu-dent, Prof Xavier was stretching out a helping hand to his fellow classmates. “I would teach the weaker students of my class, I don’t know how this habit came to me,” he shrugs.

He clarifies that these students were “weak only in studies. They were better than me in other aspects.” But that did not bother young Xavier. So he went about assisting his classmates diligently. “The teacher would write essays in Eng-lish and I would rewrite them for my friends in simpler language.”

This ability to break down complexities to more comprehensible forms has stayed with him. No wonder, wherever he was teaching, there was always more crowd in his class than any other regular class. “It is no rocket science for me,” he says. “People think using jargon and complex language and keeping it incom-

“He remembers till date what it was when he was not a leader, and

what it is today leading a big organisation like IIM. While he believes truly in development,

his biggest strength is being a cheerleader

who is keen on mentoring. He would

be the first person to tell how a new policy,

procedure or even a mistake was going to

make you a better leader”

Kalpana KosalramAssociate Professor,

SRM University

“People who have worked with him will remember him for

many things—his sharp intelligence, excellent

teaching and leadership skills. What stands out most is his trademark

humane touch to everything and his

approachable nature. Rarely did I come

across a person of his calibre who devoted his

time and energy mentoring newbies like me. If I have something to show in academics, it

is because of him”

Arun ThamizhvananAssistant Professor,

BIM Tiruchirapalli

VoicEs

55July 2012 EduTEch

MJ Xavier PrOFiLE

prehensible is scholarly. But I feel sim-plicity is the greatest virtue. If informa-tion is not relevant and understood by the common man it has no use,” he speaks out against pseudo intellectualism.

Seeking the mean in Life The professor whose area of specialisation is a strange alchemy of marketing, spiritu-ality and data mining, says, “Even in spiri-tuality, I can break complex concepts down to a simpler level so that anyone and every-one can understand it.”

It is because of his understanding of the importance of the disparate elements in the holistic development of individuals that Prof Xavier puts great emphasis on Yoga, meditation and inner development in the institutions where he takes up the charge.

The most important lesson that he would wish to share with other leaders hinges on this principle: “I believe in role-orientation rather than goal-orienta-tion. This way I practice detached attach-ment. I do my duty and leave the rest to the supreme power. If things do not work out, I do not blame myself. I see a lesson in every failure. They make you stronger and better.” He shares his life’s positive philosophy.

When armed with a management degree from the prestigious IIM Calcut-ta, Prof Xavier went on to join the indus-try, he was also armed with these per-sonal lessons from life that helped him keep grounded. He never forgot for a moment that he had come so far from a lower middle-class family.

Alternating between academia and industry, the professor brings with him a judicious mix of both to his experience tempered by global exposure and rooted in native reality. Talking about his vast and mixed experience the professor says, “I have been inside the IIM system. My private sector experience is a huge advantage too. I worked in the US and the UK and taught in Armenia.” And this, he says, is the key to his ‘strangeness’. He explains, that while others are either wholly IIM-oriented or US-oriented and “then you have a problem, my thinking is different.”

As far as administration of an institution is concerned, he believes in calling his industry experience to fore. Talking about his administration style

(Clockwise) 1. honour pours in: Receiving the Amity Academic Excellence Award on the occasion of the 14th International Business Horizon-INBUSH 2012

2. Simplifying a point to explain: In his office at IIM Ranchi 3. One for the album: With wife Jaya and students of American University of Armenia


PrOFiLE MJ Xavier

vis-à-vis IIM Ranchi he says, “I don’t oper-ate it like a government institute because I consider myself an entrepreneur. Five years is my term and at the end of it, I want to create a corpus of Rs 100 crore.” But it is not setting up a new IIM in the boondocks of Jharkhand that he consid-ers his most challenging assignment. In fact, it was an earlier stint in Coimbatore. “My two years as the principal of an engi-neering college during 1996-98 were very trying. I was young. The first and the only strike I had to face happened there in 1997.”

She’s a Wonder Woman…How can there be a successful man without a strong woman like a bulwark behind him? Prof Xavier too credits his wife for much of his success. “Family life does take a toll,” he rues. “But if your intentions are good, things fall in line,” he add thoughtfully. It is perhaps this firm belief that has kept his personal equations on an even keel. “I don’t know if there is God, but some balancing keeps on happening always.” The professor got married on May 9, 1980 to Jaya, who he says “sacrificed her career for my sake.”

Prof Xavier has an ingrained sense of family duty. He began supporting his sib-lings soon after he started earning. “I have two brothers. Since my father retired by the time I took up a job, I had to support them. By God’s grace, one is in Singapore and the other is in Bangalore, and both of them are doing well,” he says with a smile. The profes-sor’s son is also married and well-settled. But it is his wife to whom our conversa-tion veers back.

“Jaya is a postgraduate with a bachelor’s in education. She had to quit many good jobs down the years because of me, often settling for low-paying options,” he admits ruefully. Her sacrifices have paid off though. Today she is very happy and a proud wife.

No fancy lifestyle for this down to earth couple. “We come from small and hum-ble background,” reiterates the Prof. For couple time, they set “aside a day every fortnight. I take her out for shopping or we watch a movie at home. We don’t go to theatre.”

One mission is clear on the professor’s horizon. “I will continue all my life to work for the less privileged,” he says. A satisfied man—happy in his own skin, he says, “I don’t think I need to change. My values have worked for me...I have achieved everything in life...I enjoy doing what I am doing... That is my driving force…

Profound words indeed, from the vil-lage postmaster’s son who didn’t dream big, but only ever wanted to teach.

The other woman who profoundly influenced the professor is his mother. That beauty is only skin deep is a lesson he learnt from his mother. Says Prof Xavi-er, “I was not good looking and hand-some. It’s only now that I have developed some dressing sense. But in childhood, I had a bit of protruding teeth and others used to make fun of me. But my mother only saw the positives in me and gave me the confidence to face the ridicule. I could do a lot of things like leave a job and go out in search of the meaning of life because of this confidence that she instilled in me.” Prof Xavier pays homage to his mother.

Wise Words: Prof MJ Xavier (top) addresses the gathering at the convocation ceremony of the Park School of Management, Coimbatore; Receiving the Most Admired Brand Award Instituted by Dainik Bhasker from Diana Hayden

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V I E W S , R E V I E W S & M O R E


NEW RElEaSES fOR yOuR BOOKSHElf

EdWaRd lucE

“It’s a fascinating moment in America’s saga...a different kind of politics”

fOR SEVEN years, Edward Luce has been reporting on the United States for British and global audiences for the Finan-cial Times. His observations have been compiled into a book—Time to Start Thinking: America and the Spectre of Decline. The book focusses chiefly on the USA’s politics and economy, drawing upon the author’s experiences in a country which he ‘greatly admires’. Luce’s focus is on the American middle-class, what he hails as the ‘greatest mass middle-class of the 20th centu-ry’, which propelled the coun-try’s rise as a superpower.

The underlying assumption is that this middle-class is hollowing out with people getting trapped in debt and dead-end jobs. “America’s middle is increasingly getting lonelier.” Luce points out to a decline of this “solid mass” with its participants being “paid less for doing more”. “Meanwhile, the median American household, which accounts for the bulk of America’s workforce, saw its income decline by $2,000—the first time in the modern

An insightful book on one of the most important countries of the current age

Mindfulness and learning This book explores the link between mindfulness and education and outlines a mindfulness-based affective education (MBAE) programme. It shows how it might

be introduced in educational provision from the early years to adult education. Author: Terry HylandPublisher: SpringerPrice: $139

Becoming Oneself The basic concern of the volume is to determine the preconditions of personality development and show their significance and perspectives for educational science and pedagogical practice. These basic preconditions of becoming oneself are discussed in the book. Author: Käthe SchneiderPublisher: SpringerPrice: $34.81

era that the bulk of Americans were worse off at the end of a business cycle than they were at the beginning.” Luce’s central thesis is that America is slowly rolling into an economic and geopoliti-cal decline and to establish his point, Luce looks at the changing structure of the US economy, increasing polarisation of its politics, desperation of the middle-class and American innovation in technology and business.

The collapse of “social mobility—the main ingredient in the American Dream—is eating into the economy and this slippage is a result of misguided policies. Luce turns attention to Washington—he identifies the city’s lobbying culture, politicians’ need to raise funds, as key stumbling blocks to an organised, functioning political system.

The book raises two primary questions: the first is economic. “Can the United States sustain an open economy while simultaneously review-ing income growth for the majority of the popu-lation? Whether via the Tea Party or a more broad-based descent into apathy and cynicism, middle-class Americans are losing faith in their country’s direction.” The second question is cul-tural. “Can America forge a consensus it would need to respond effectively to growing challeng-es?” Luce finishes by noting that “America’s big-gest challenges are not unique”. An insightful book that leaves you hoping for a bit more.autHOR: Edward Luce PuBlISHER: Hachette IndiaPRIcE: Rs 699 (Hardback)

America and the Spectre of Decline

59July 2012 EduTEch

tIMEOut

gadgEtS

dell Inspiron 14zThis is the second ultrabook from Dell, after the superlative Dell XPS 13. However, the Inspiron 14z isn’t as slim and sleek as its elder cousin. The build quality is impressive. It has a comfortable keyboard, and the touchpad has generous real estate space.Price: Rs 55,000 to 60,000

lg Optimus 3d Max available online The successor to the LG Optimus 3D, LG Optimus 3D Max, is now available in India via online retailer Flipkart. The LG Optimus 3D Max runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system and is powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-coreCortex-A9 processor on the TI OMAP 4430 chipset, with 1 GB of RAM, and a PowerVR SGX540 GPU. The device sports a 4.3-inch 3D auto stereoscopic display with WVGA 800x480 pixels resolution. Price: Rs 28,990

tEcH INSIdER | TushAr

PHONES WERE rather lonely companions, that is, until Apple forced the world to sit up and notice a curious “new” feature in the iPhone 4S: Siri, the “intelligent personal assistant that helps you get things done just by asking”. In all fairness, voice recogni-tion and assistants aren’t exactly “new” on phones and PCs, but with Siri, we were tempted with the futuristic ideal of a phone that had the ability to understand questions (in plain old Eng-

lish) before responding, and even sustain a conversation, for that matter.

But that’s more the prom-ise of Siri, not the execution. I’ll be honest—I have a love-hate relationship with

Siri. I use it dozens of times a day to take notes, make appoint-ments, and send text messages while I’m driving. When it works straight off the bat, it’s magical. When it doesn’t–and that’s more than a fair bit of the time–it’s annoyingly frustrating!

Which is why I approached the S Voice feature in the new Samsung Galaxy S III with a fair degree of trepidation, despite all that it’s claimed to be. After using it over a rather lengthy weekend, I have this much to say–we’re in a sorry state as far as true voice recognition goes, if this is what the best in the indus-try can churn out. Both Siri and S Voice demand you enunciate perfectly, and when they fail, it’s rather hilarious and downright exasperating, more so if you’re driving and want to call/text someone. While Siri is distinctively faster to fetch results and has a personality of it’s own, S Voice does a better job of understand-ing my accent. But it’s a long way off from being polished enough to make voice assistance a real selling point for either of these phones.

Great as a gimmick or a party trick, pointless on a daily basis!

Talk to Me

A self-confessed gizmo-holic, Tushar Kanwar is a technology columnist with the Telegraph and Business World, and contributes to a variety of technology and lifestyle publications. Tushar’s interests lie at the intersection of consumer technology, internet trends and products that change the world.


legacy

Mahadevi Varma

Mahadevi Varma is a renowned Hindi poet, freedom fighter, women’s rights activist and educationist. Belonging to the coterie of India’s intellectual luminaries, no kavi sammelan was deemed complete without the presence of this modern Meera; a prominent figure of the romantic period of modern

Hindi poetry. Varma was born on March 26, 1907, in Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh in a family of lawyers. Eldest child of Govindprasad and Hemrani, Varma was sent to Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh for her studies. Though married at the age of seven to Dr Swarup Narain Varma, the couple mostly lived separately in order to pursue their respective interests. In 1929, Mahadevi Varma passed her BA examination from Allahabad University and later in 1933 she completed her Masters degree in Sanskrit. Varma went on to become the principal, and later on the vice chancellor of Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth, a woman’s residential college in Allahabad. Recognised as an academic par excellence, Varma received several awards and citations. She was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 1979, followed by the Jnanpith Award in 1982. She is also the recipient of Padma Bhushan in 1956 and Padma Vibushan in 1988.

Mahadevi Varma’s renown as an author came later when she turned to writing, public service and teaching as a way to express herself and to tackle women’s issues. She wrote incisive essays on the role and predicament of women. The best of these essays appeared in Chand, a women’s magazine of the time, which was compiled into a book, Shrinkhla ki Kadiyaan in 1942. She is considered among the four pillars of the Chaayavad Movement. In 1934, she received Sekseriya Puraskar from the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan for her work, Niraja. Her poetry collection (Yama-1936) received the Jnanpith Award. Varma penned a biographgy on her childhood, Mere Bachpan Ke Din, which was inducted into the syllabus of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for Class IX. In the book, she has written that at a time when a girl child was considered a burden upon the family, her birth was welcomed. Varma credited her mother for inspiring her to write poetry, and also for encouraging her interest in literature. She started writing secretly until the hidden stash of her poems was discovered by her roommate and senior Subhadra Kumari, exposing Varma’s unknown talent to the world. She was also a noted painter. She drew a number of illustrations for her poetic works like Deepshikha and Yatra. Her amazing poetry collection Yama brought her immense appreciation. Her other works include short stories such as Gillu which talks about her experience with a squirrel. She died on September 11, 1987.

“Only when people adopt compassion as their religion will life be joyous”-Mahadevi Varma

(1907-1987)

1934 Received Sekseriya Puraskar

from the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan for her work, Niraja

1942 Her best essays on the plight

and role of women were compiled into a book Shrinkhla ki Kadiyaan

1956 Padma Bhushan

1982 Jnanpith award

1979Sahitya Akademi Fellowship

1988 Padma Vibhushan

High Priestess of Modern Hindi Poetry

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