Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan asks the education department to withdraw a circular, which suggests that colleges could raise the number of students without permission from the government. That circular is purportedly providing leniency to educational institutions to ramp up the admission number without prior clearance from the government.
The row broke out after the Higher Education Department on 6 November issued a fresh circular easing some norms for autonomous aided and self-financing colleges. According to the circular, autonomous aided and self-financing colleges can now start new self-financing courses and admit students for existing courses without obtaining a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the government, but have to notify the government beforehand.
Vijayan said deregulation would dilute the authority of government regulators and pave the way for the commercialisation of higher education. “The provision of colleges reporting increases in seats after conducting admissions has serious implications on merit and reservation,” he said. “The copy (circular) must be immediately withdrawn, and a full-blown legal investigation into the changes effected is needed.”
Roji M John, the Higher Education Minister, also defended the new guidelines, saying that the new norms aimed at promoting academic freedom and doing away with bureaucratic delay. It had discouraged colleges from innovating and offering new courses as per the evolving interests of students and job market needs, he said. According to John, merit and reservation conditions would not be affected.
The circular has created a stir over where to draw the line between institutional autonomy and control by the government. While the state government considers these measures as a way to enhance academic freedom, Vijayan has demanded that the circular be repealed over its lack of transparency, regulation and access to education.
While the controversy is ongoing, this is yet another important update for colleges and students in Kerala as the new guidelines are implemented and the government is considering the demand for withdrawal.
