Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

University yet to move the ‘school’ way

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A brief discussion about the introduction of the ‘school’ system in latest meeting of the Senate of the University of Kerala has once again focused attention on an academic reform that the varsity has relegated to the back burner for the past six years.

This system is about grouping academically synergic departments under one school. A School of Letters for instance would have under it all the departments that teach languages and literature.

The vision statement published by the University of Kerala in January 2002 speaks of setting up 11 schools in different areas including life sciences, physical sciences, business studies, fine arts, juridical sciences and medical sciences. Though this statement was approved by the then Syndicate, the varsity is yet to take the next logical step for the establishment of such schools — initiate the process for amending the university’s regulations and statutes.

The reordering of departments under schools, say university sources, has obvious academic and administrative benefits. At one stroke, this system will queer the pitch for inter-disciplinary teaching, learning, research and extension activities in the university. The flip side of the current clutch of mutually exclusive departments is the territorial approach to teaching, learning and research practised by most of them.

Sharing of faculty members and academic infrastructure including libraries, computer facilities and classrooms will be possible within a school.

The University of Kerala now has close to 30 ‘centres’ on areas as diverse as Australian studies, marine biodiversity, performing arts and Vedanta studies. Many centres have been criticised by the varisty’s academic community itself for their non-performance and for the fact that many such centres often operate as little more than the personal fiefdoms of professors. Under a school the chances of dovetailing the operations of one centre into that of another can fetch the varsity rich academic dividends.

Each teaching department now has an office where personnel from the university administration are posted. There is a shortage of library staff at the teaching departments. Once the schools are established the administration of the teaching departments would become much more simple and by extension, more efficient. All these factors would also help the varsity make significant monetary gains as well.

According to sources in the university, the proposal to set up schools was put in deep freeze by those in the varsity administration and in academia who fear an erosion of their ‘power and prestige’ once schools come into existence.

“Now a head of a department is more or less the CEO of that part of academia. Once the schools are set up, there will be a director above the head of department. This is seen as a loss of prestige by some teachers. An inter-disciplinary approach will mean more work, more classes. You cannot remain insulated inside a department in one corner of Kariavattom,” points out the head of a science department.

At a time when the university is entering the home stretch of the re-accreditation process by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council of the University Grants Commission, even an attempt to reorder departments under the school system would look good on the varsity’s resume.

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