The Galgotiaisation of learning
Private universities space in India is a mess; it calls for a clean up
Alok Tiwari
In Greek mythology, Orion was a hunter
roaming the sky. Astronomers named one of the striking constellations after him
for it signifies strength and a rising power. In new India, it was the name
given to a Chinese made, commercially available robodog that Galgotias
University tried to pass off as developed by its own centre of excellence at
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Impact Summit that concluded in Delhi last week.
When the bubble was burst by a Chinese
handle on X, the dog proved worthy of its given name. Orion completely
overshadowed the galaxy of prominent tech experts and silicon valley CEOs
attending the summit. It even pushed to the background disruptions caused by
unscheduled appearance of PM Narendra Modi at the summit and due to security
during the dinner he attended. To prevent further embarrassment, the Zeuses of
the summit finally banished Orion and Galgotias from the summit. Following
finest Indian traditions, Galgotias immediately scapegoated the junior lecturer
tasked with presenting Orion to the world. Everybody then lived happily ever
after, or so it is hoped.
If only it were so simple. What happened at
the AI summit was symptom of a far bigger malaise. Galgotias is a private
university the likes of which have sprung up virtually all over the country. It
is one of the more prominent ones and among the dozens in the state of Uttar
Pradesh, many of them located in national capital region. They are the living
examples of continued abdication by the state of its basic responsibilities.
Just like in healthcare, the role of state in education is shrinking in most of
the country.
Private schools have long dominated the
lower rungs of education. There it still works to an extent as parents closely
monitor the learning. But now it has spread in higher education where it is
proving to be an unmitigated disaster. Except for the most premier institutes
like IITs and IIMs, where access for ordinary students is anyway impossible,
state-run universities have become mostly irrelevant. They are hidebound and
stifled by bureaucratic and political control.
The job of running professional courses
like engineering and medicine has already been taken away from them and they
are reduced to affiliating pure science, arts, and commerce colleges. Learning
from the West, Indian states began allowing private universities on a massive
scale. In addition, many existing professional colleges, or chain of colleges,
were allowed to go autonomous first and then turn into universities.
Effectively, they are arbiters of their own destiny. They are doing everything
from setting syllabus to conducting examinations in-house. It has been like
letting fox run the chicken coop.
This has been a recipe for trouble. On
paper, there is regulation. Right from University Grants Commission to apex
bodies like AICTE and NMC have oversight over different aspects of these
universities. There is National Assessment and Accreditation Council that
inspects and rates them. These players are pretty much free to do as they
please, as came out so glaringly in Galgotias episode. These institutions are
often backed by big industrial houses or education barons having strong
political connections. These connections are nursed through mutual benefits.
Every convocation, the universities invite as speakers or confer honorary
doctorates to people of influence. They extend resources and facilities to
powerful political families which protect them from regulatory troubles.
Since they have poor research track record,
their linkages with industry are thin. They are almost solely reliant on fees
from students and cuts taken from everyone from textbook publishers to uniform
vendors. Money involved is big. Even ordinary courses cost several lakhs to
pursue. Hence, enrolment is of paramount importance. Everything is directed
towards pushing up enrolment. To make students and parents to shell out such
serious money, they are lured with made up accomplishments. Robodog Orion was
doing just that.
Parents are told of patents filed. They are
not told how many were actually granted. They are told of papers published by
faculty and students but not that many of these serious sounding journals are fake
and publish papers by accepting money. There is no peer review to speak of. Placement
figures are fudged. Fancy buildings, labs, and campuses exist but there is
little substantive research work done. The quality of PhDs from these
universities is no better than those produced by the dozen in state run universities.
Instead of serious academic pursuits, staff spend much of the time pursuing
enrolment. Admission standards are lowered, almost no student is turned away. They
know they are not getting paid unless classrooms are filled.
It is a pretty dismal scene, and one that
everybody is intentionally looking away from. When you are drunk on vishwaguru
Kool Aid, such realities can be too grim to acknowledge. We should be thankful
to Galgotias for serving us an eye-opener. If the episode serves to focus on
the shortcomings of the system and ways to improve it, even that embarrassment
would be worth something. Given the general lack of integrity in the society, it
is going to be difficult. But it can be done.
Government can begin by making regulators
accountable. Review whether ratings given and performance of the institution match.
The criteria for rankings must also change from efforts to outcomes. For
example, do not consider the number of patents filed but the number granted.
Papers published only in recognized, reputable journals should be considered
while approving faculty. Most importantly, feedback from both past and present
students should be considered. After all, the entire academic universe exists
for the students. They should be asked if the learning they received equipped
them properly to face the world. Did they learn the requisite skills? What was
the quality of teaching? This should be taken directly by the regulators anonymously
so that opinions are given frankly and without pressure.
This column appeared in Lokmat Times on Feb 26, 2026

The basic education in schools seem to have deteriorated. as such when we grow up, it is fear, doubtful integrity of each person/organization
ReplyDeleteCan't agree more but the broblem is regulation if any would again be done by people belonging to the same society. As such, no possibility of any change. Today is Galgotia, tomorrow it would be some other gotia. The story will return to haunt us perhaps with a biting robo dog next time.
ReplyDeleteSigh!
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