JOIN USThe argument for bifurcation or trifurcation of Bangalore University (BU) has raged on for several years. But, in the absence of any concrete decision, scores of colleges affiliated to BU continue to suffer due to cumbersome procedures and in many cases, outright negligence.
Managements of some of the colleges affiliated to BU had one thing to say. That BU is far too unwieldy for any effective education to be imparted.
“The University Grants Commission (UGC) recommends anything from 100 to 150 colleges per university, and at the most 200. However, BU, with nearly 700 colleges under its umbrella, is simply too humongous. Naturally, efficiency will come down in such circumstances,” the principal of an Arts and Commerce college said.
If one goes by UGC’s recommendations, trifurcation seems to be the ‘ideal’ solution for better management of the colleges. As more and more scandals in the upper echelons of the university come to the fore, college managements are fuming over administrative gaps and the shaky education system, specially the exam schedule.
Many do not buy the argument that a cash crunch will severely impede plans to split the university. K R Venugopal, principal of the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE), says splitting the university will not be a disaster as is being claimed.
“Initially, there will be a problem. But five to 10 years down the line, things will be alright. The government should take a positive step by going ahead with the split. There are several provisions for improvement and to sustain a good system,” he remarked. Venugopal recalled how the Computer Science section in UVCE existed for 25 years without a staff. “We then decided to split it from Electronics and brought over guest faculty. Now, there are 16 teachers and it is one of the biggest Computer Science departments,” he claimed.
Other college managements complain that students are put to unnecessary hardship when they have to get any of their problems addressed. Whether it is paying fee for the exams or thrash out any issued even remotely connected to administration, students have to travel all the way to Jnanabharati campus. If their problems do not get addressed in the first visit, it results in additional hardship.
For autonomous colleges affiliated to BU, financial autonomy or a modicum of administrative autonomy hardly solves the problem. Exam schedules, selection of students for the doctoral programme still lie strictly within the purview of the university. And the cogwheels of BU are remarkably slow.
While the plan to divide BU, owing to problems over administering the large number of affiliated colleges, is still stuck on the drawing board and in council meetings, students, the biggest stakeholders, mostly want to stay away from all of this. Provided that their future is not put in harm’s way. At the top of their wishlist are good infrastructure and faculty, the lack of which is a casualty BU cannot ignore.
Vinaya Shree, a first year MA student in one of the deemed universities still affiliated to BU, is happy.
“I think we are among the best equipped colleges. There is almost no distinction between how our library functions from that of an MNC’s. We have a very sound infrastructure and a good teaching staff,” she said.
The story, though, is not the same with students across the City. Naveen Kumar, a second year BCom student in a City college, complains that there are many things being ignored by the authorities and that not every college is comparable.
“People just believe that infrastructure means benches and toilets, but that is not the case. We need infrastructure on our playgrounds, libraries, transportation and so on. But all of this is ignored,” he says, without naming his college.
Snehin Koundinya, echoing Naveen’s observation, said: “May be it is time all colleges are granted autonomy. I have personally seen the (autonomous) colleges during their cultural festivals and other competitions. The kind of infrastructure they have and the facilities students of these colleges have access to are not comparable to ours at all. We are lagging too far behind.”
There are many voices that echo Naveen and Snehin. From toilets to stairways, lack of elevators to old sports equipment, colleges in the City have a long way to go before they can contribute to Bangalore’s desired goal of becoming the educational destination of India.
The lack of visible infrastructure is just one problem that the students face. Problems related to the colleges’ ability to co-ordinate with Bangalore University, their say in framing of question papers, selection of topics for the syllabus et al also haunt students.
Sujata Vikas, a final year BA student, said: “During our interactions with teachers and some of our seniors, we came to know that there are many things our college wanted to do. But, somehow, they have been lost in transition.”