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