Phasing out "high-staking" of entrance tests (evaluation with significant implications), switching to aptitude tests such as SAT, reconsidering the NIRF framework as it is bringing in "distortion" into the equation, and making timely submission of leadership positions in higher education institutions, were some of the proposals put forward by academicians during the annual Visitor's Conference 2024-25.
The two-day meet, organized by the President of India as the Visitor to central universities and higher education institutions, ended Tuesday at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
It was joined by vice-chancellors of central universities, directors of IITs, IIMs, NITs and IISc, along with senior officials from the Ministry of Education, UGC, AICTE, and other important stakeholders.
The final day of the conference saw session on five themes covering flexibility in higher education courses, credit sharing and credit transfer with multiple entry and exit points; internationalisation and collaboration; research or innovation converted into useful goods and services; efficient student selection processes and respect for student choice in the context of NEP; and efficient assessments and evaluation.
The findings of the deliberations conducted by academic panels at the conference were shared with President Droupadi Murmu at the valedictory session, which was attended by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
'Too many' and 'high-stake' entrance exams
Delivering the closing remarks of the session on efficient student selection procedures, IIT Kanpur director Manindra Agrawal stated the dilemmas are multiple when we consider selection of undergraduate tests since there are "too many," and that "high-stake" entry exams and coachings have become an actual burden.
"There are also queries which we badly require very specific subject-wise examination, a lot of the institutions are being hindered by delayed declaration of results," Agrawal added during a presentation.
He also emphasized the importance of "low staking of examinations" and lessening the load of coaching. "This was one of the suggestions of the NEP 2020 also that we should look to move to last or linear on the flight testing model, which is basically an aptitude-based test which can be implemented so that it can be done anytime, and anywhere by students.".
"There are several SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) studies, which is a comparable test, that indicate that after 30-40 hours of coaching, the effect of coaching is negligible."
He also suggested dropping the 75 percent marks requirement in Class 12 for entry into NITs in the Northeast. Also, he noted mental health issues among students and teachers as one of the significant challenges, citing the importance of a joint approach to tackle such problems.
The director of IIT Kanpur also commented that the mechanism of National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) "maybe needs to be examined," with the added thought that it is "injecting distortion into the system."
"A few institutions are just attempting to obtain the parameters, because for sure not the intent (of NIRF)," he said during his address.
The idea was to find out which institutions are performing well, find out their strengths and weaknesses as well, so that they can work on their weaknesses. So perhaps there is a need to revisit the process of how an NIRF ranking is conducted and take necessary steps," he said.
He also pointed out that institutions struggle to execute different initiatives due to the fact that academic leadership is not readily available. "There will also be delays in the appointment of those, so that is something that we request the ministry to take note of," he continued.
Branding of higher education institutions
Presenting the valedictory address on the session dedicated to internationalisation initiatives and cooperation, UGC Chairperson M. Jagadesh Kumar presented some important points. He emphasized the concept of integrating Indian knowledge systems into the curriculum of education.
"Among the ideas that came up was to incorporate, say, Indian knowledge systems into our curriculum. And more Indian case studies must be incorporated—like the recent mass congregation of people at the Kumbh Mela, which can be a case study. And how we handled the COVID-19 pandemic. There are plenty more Indian case studies that must be brought into our higher education system," he added.
Kumar also emphasized the need for branding India's higher education institutions. "Vice-chancellors and institution heads in groups must travel to the Global South nations to market Indian higher education."
Flexible curriculum, credit transfer
In his concluding remarks on the session on flexibility in academic courses, Anand Bhalerao, Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Rajasthan, touched upon several important issues that require to be addressed.
One of the key issues that we recognized is institutional readiness. Several universities are still working in very stiff systems and need to be drastically overhauled to accommodate a more agile curriculum. It's very important to build partnerships and systems alignment for credit mobility, technology integration, and transfer. Of course, also digital platforms facilitating credit transfer, like the Academic Bank of Credits, must be integrated at the international level with effective security levels," he explained.
In his suggestions, Bhalerao stressed the imperative of a comprehensive policy and regulatory framework, establishment of digital infrastructure for credit transfer, and reinforcing university partnerships. He also suggested capacity building of faculty and administrators, student awareness and participation, and industry partnerships for skill building.
