DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22465#0116
Ten
March !7, 1967
-0-
UNIVERSITY EDUCA-
TION IN INDIA
(Continued from paj;e 7)
I need only mention the
reputation which, for
instance, the Departments
of Applied Physics in Cal-
cutta and nf Applied
Chemistry in Bombay
enjoy in the world today.
Madras has perhaps con-
centrated less on the
scientific! and technical
sides than the other two,
possibly owing to the
proximity of the famous
Scientific Research lnt>-
titut» at Bangalore- But
this has probably helped
to maintain an all round
standard in the various
faculties, which has long
made a first class Madras
degree in almost any sub-
ject a real aoademic dis-
tinction.
The Future
Looking to the future
what tan one suy about
the prospects of still fur-
ther healthy growth on
the part ol our centt na-
riauB ? From the point1 of
view of numbers they are
in my opinion already fur
too large It is true that
the creation of several
new Universities and the
alteration of state bounda-
ries since 1947 may alle-
viate) this But the real
problem is not so much
total enrolments as tbo
distribution of students
between faculties. Before
1917, for various reasons,
of wjjiob^ financial string-
ency was as a rule the
most compelling, there
was a strong tendency to
encourage enrolment in
the arts faculties, which
could be self-supporting,
as oompared with the
technical and scientific
departments, which for
obvious reasons could not.
Another problem aris-
ing primarily from ina-
dequate finance has been
the policy during the
British regime of leaving
education as far as pos-
sible to private enter-
prise. The result only too
often has been that pious
benefaotors have erected
impressive, if not always
suitable, building but
have made little or no
provision for their main-
tenance. This has meant
un-attractive conditions of
service for teachers and
the denial to students of
many (oT the amenities,
which in the West are
accepted as essential to
the realisation of the Uni-
versity ideal.
Financial Aspects
One can only hope
that the financial bogey
will be laid before long
by the increasing pros-
perity of India and, more
direotly, by the establish-
ment of a University
Grants ^Commission on
similar lines to that which
has functioned so success-
fully in this country for
the last thirty years.
This has now been set
up.
TJiere is one consi-
deration which must be
ever present in the minds
of those people inside a'nd
outside India, who wish
for the sucsess of the new
Republic. The urgent
qeed is for leaders and
experts in all walks of
life. For most of these
one naturally looks to
Universities or institu-
tions of similar rank. But
Universities of themselves
connot ensure that their
places are filled by stu-
dents of the requisite
calibre. At the moment
eighty per oent or. more
of the population of India
is illiterate and Universi-
ties can only draw on the
still smaller portion who
reach matriculation
standard. Anyone who
knows India will be
aware how many "village
Hampdens and mute in-
glorious Miltons" must
languish in the "700,000
villages of India because
the doors of educational
opportunity have not yet
been opened to them.
Once these untapped re-
sources of brain-power
have been made available,
Indian Universities will
be able to draw upon an
almost inexhaustible sup-
ply of students of an
intellectual calibrc-B.I S.
• • »
March !7, 1967
-0-
UNIVERSITY EDUCA-
TION IN INDIA
(Continued from paj;e 7)
I need only mention the
reputation which, for
instance, the Departments
of Applied Physics in Cal-
cutta and nf Applied
Chemistry in Bombay
enjoy in the world today.
Madras has perhaps con-
centrated less on the
scientific! and technical
sides than the other two,
possibly owing to the
proximity of the famous
Scientific Research lnt>-
titut» at Bangalore- But
this has probably helped
to maintain an all round
standard in the various
faculties, which has long
made a first class Madras
degree in almost any sub-
ject a real aoademic dis-
tinction.
The Future
Looking to the future
what tan one suy about
the prospects of still fur-
ther healthy growth on
the part ol our centt na-
riauB ? From the point1 of
view of numbers they are
in my opinion already fur
too large It is true that
the creation of several
new Universities and the
alteration of state bounda-
ries since 1947 may alle-
viate) this But the real
problem is not so much
total enrolments as tbo
distribution of students
between faculties. Before
1917, for various reasons,
of wjjiob^ financial string-
ency was as a rule the
most compelling, there
was a strong tendency to
encourage enrolment in
the arts faculties, which
could be self-supporting,
as oompared with the
technical and scientific
departments, which for
obvious reasons could not.
Another problem aris-
ing primarily from ina-
dequate finance has been
the policy during the
British regime of leaving
education as far as pos-
sible to private enter-
prise. The result only too
often has been that pious
benefaotors have erected
impressive, if not always
suitable, building but
have made little or no
provision for their main-
tenance. This has meant
un-attractive conditions of
service for teachers and
the denial to students of
many (oT the amenities,
which in the West are
accepted as essential to
the realisation of the Uni-
versity ideal.
Financial Aspects
One can only hope
that the financial bogey
will be laid before long
by the increasing pros-
perity of India and, more
direotly, by the establish-
ment of a University
Grants ^Commission on
similar lines to that which
has functioned so success-
fully in this country for
the last thirty years.
This has now been set
up.
TJiere is one consi-
deration which must be
ever present in the minds
of those people inside a'nd
outside India, who wish
for the sucsess of the new
Republic. The urgent
qeed is for leaders and
experts in all walks of
life. For most of these
one naturally looks to
Universities or institu-
tions of similar rank. But
Universities of themselves
connot ensure that their
places are filled by stu-
dents of the requisite
calibre. At the moment
eighty per oent or. more
of the population of India
is illiterate and Universi-
ties can only draw on the
still smaller portion who
reach matriculation
standard. Anyone who
knows India will be
aware how many "village
Hampdens and mute in-
glorious Miltons" must
languish in the "700,000
villages of India because
the doors of educational
opportunity have not yet
been opened to them.
Once these untapped re-
sources of brain-power
have been made available,
Indian Universities will
be able to draw upon an
almost inexhaustible sup-
ply of students of an
intellectual calibrc-B.I S.
• • »