ACADEMIC AUTONOMY TO 13 COLLEGES IN KERALA

ACADEMIC AUTONOMY TO

13 COLLEGES IN KERALA

The government has selected 13 colleges to be granted academic autonomy. The final list, which includes two government colleges and 11 aided ones, will be forwarded to the University Grants Commission (UGC) for approval.A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb here on Monday.  According to sources in the Department of Higher Education, the two government colleges which will be granted academic autonomy are University College, Thiruvananthapuram, and Maharajas College, Ernakulam.  Among aided colleges that will be recommended to UGC for autonomy are: Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram; Fatima Mata National College, Kollam; St Teresa’s College, Ernakulam; Sacred Heart College, Thevara and Rajagiri College, Ernakulam; SB College, Changanassery;  Christ College, Irinjalakkuda; St Thomas College, Thrissur; MES Mampad College, Malappuram; St Joseph’s College, Devagiri, Farook College, Kozhikode, sources said.

“The Autonomy Approval Committee will also consider the applications of a few colleges, which have received accreditation after the autonomy process was kick-started,  before sending the final list to the UGC,” said a senior official.  Colleges which will be given autonomy can frame their own curriculum, prepare question papers, conduct examinations and submit the mark lists to the University. The University will approve it and grant degree and diploma to candidates recommended by the colleges.  However, the University to which the colleges are affiliated can cancel or suspend their autonomy and impose fines in case any irregularities are detected or in case of any violation of UGC norms.  The rules governing the Universities are in for an amendment as a separate charter for autonomous colleges will have to be incorporated. Colleges will have to set up their own governing and academic councils, board of studies and finance committees which till now existed only in varsities. Autonomous colleges will also have their own Controller of Examinations.

Left-affiliated students and teachers’ organisations are up in arms against the government’s decision to grant academic autonomy to 13 colleges in the state.Members of the Students Federation of India (SFI) on Tuesday organised several protest marches in all district headquarters of the state.During the march taken out in the capital, SFI activists burnt Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb in effigy outside the state secretariat.“By granting autonomy to colleges and empowering them to admit students, decide the fees and conduct examinations, the government is facilitating their conversion into commercial establishments,’’ SFI state president Shiju Khan said.Left-affiliated All Kerala Private College Teachers’ Association (AKPCTA) has also flayed the government decision on autonomy. “Autonomy is a ploy on the part of the government to slowly withdraw from the higher education sector. By granting autonomy, the colleges will be empowered to raise tuition fee and make higher education out of the reach of financially-backward students,’’ AKPCTA state secretary K L Vivekanandan said.He said the Common Allotment Process followed by universities to ensure transparency in admissions will be undermined by the colleges and this may lead to denial of reservation benefits to students.“It will also lead to a pre-1972 situation where the onus of paying salaries to the teachers will rest with the managements and not with the government. Already in many autonomous colleges outside the state, only guest lecturers are recruited to fill vacancies and they are being paid a paltry amount,’’ Vivekanandan said.

Prof. John Kurakar