Is Brazil blazing a new path for low-cost and high-capacity higher education that countries like India can follow?

Last updated on July 1st 2014

Notes from http://www.economist.com/news/business/21605925-two-big-brazilian-education-firms-now-process-merging-show-how-universities-can-do.

* Brazil's for-profit higher education companies have around 75% of the market! [Ravi: I guess that means that around 75 % of student enrollment in higher education in Brazil is in the for-profit higher-education sector. That is a great surprise to me!]

* The fees of Brazil's for-profit higher education companies are low. [Ravi: This is truly a pleasant surprise to me. Some private deemed universities in India have gained a strong reputation for excellence in education but their fees are exorbitant. It is great to see that in Brazil private  higher education companies provide low-fees education to around 75% of the country's students.]

* Online education model, adaptive learning materials, local teaching centre franchises with moderators etc. seem to be the ingredients of the winning formula of these for-profit low-fees higher education companies in Brazil.

--- end Notes ---

Ravi: India already has a widespread computer education private franchisee model network for decades (NIIT, Aptech etc.). Can they along with Ministry of Human Resource Development, UGC and AICTE, replicate this success of Brazil?

P.S. The same post has been put up on Google+ here, which has some interesting discussion captured in 5 comments. I have given below my part of the discussion:

Thank you for your very interesting views, Dr. Ramani.

I think it will be truly wonderful if CSR funds aid existing and create new top-notch universities & colleges focusing on research excellence as well as teaching excellence, which will charge reasonable fees from students (as against very high fees by some flourishing private deemed universities).

But I have serious concerns about whether such CSR funds will be able to cater to the huge number of students in India who are interested in pursuing higher education, many of whom do so in the hope that the degrees earned and knowledge gained will land them well paid jobs.

Perhaps the solution may lie in a mix where we have:
a) Government and/or CSR funded elite universities focusing on top quality research and teaching, while charging reasonable fees.
b) Top-notch private universities (and colleges) charging high fees but delivering great quality in teaching and decent research perhaps.
c) Low-fees, decent-quality, job-oriented for-profit institutions using online education technology, teacher centre franchisee model etc. which caters to a majority of the large section of students in the country seeking affordable job-oriented higher education (similar to what has been described in the linked article about Brazil).

....

I entirely agree that educational institutions should not be merely profit-oriented. Their emphasis must be service to the community by educating the community. In this context I think for-profit educational institutions would be like private hospitals in India. The private hospital must have service to the community as the foremost objective and not profit as the foremost objective.

The problem with not-for-profit educational institutions is that many of them descend into bureaucratic apathy and inertia. In a for-profit setup excellence gets rewarded via career growth and/or financial rewards which perhaps acts as a strong deterrent to bureaucratic apathy and inertia. Further, a for-profit setup cannot tolerate non-performers as competitors would then score over them in service quality.

However, like in the case of private hospitals, for-profit educational institutions run the risk of losing the community service focus and concentrating only on profit making, which would make them institutions that exploit society rather than serve them. Top level education regulators should have some monitoring mechanisms, backed by suitable acts in parliament, if required, to ensure that exploitative for-profit educational institutions are spotted quickly and forced to mend their ways or to close down.

The co-operative model for a university which you have described is interesting. During my nine year voluntary service stint (as Honorary Staff, Honorary Faculty and then Visiting Faculty) in a deemed university which offers free education to under-graduates going up to Ph.D., I came across many teaching and research faculty as well as non-teaching staff who offered voluntary services, usually as a short stint of some weeks, but sometimes full-time, to this free education university. I think people feel good about contributing in kind to such noble efforts. The backbone of the setup was full-time paid faculty and non-teaching staff who held everything together. I mention this as a practical working example of these type of community service oriented universities. The challenge, however, may be that replicating such institutions on a large scale may be very difficult, if not impossible.

But the co-operative model has share-holding and returns on these shares (investment). So that may help in significantly improving possibilities of replication of the model on a larger scale.

However, this co-operative model is also a for-profit educational institution. So this would be possible only when the law in India changes to allow for-profit educational institutions (with oversight by higher education regulators to prevent exploitation like charging students' exorbitant fees).

...

A correspondent responded over email as follows after the first exchange between Dr. Ramani and me (the correspondent was OK with me sharing it):

Re: what you and Ramani have said, I think we should not so easily shift the onus of providing high quality education from the government to companies. Education is one of the key markers of a liberal, progressive society and providing it must remain one of the main objectives of any government. They may choose to provide it themselves (through central universities, IITs etc) and/or to create the conditions under which other bodies can provide it. They must continue to set standards and monitor the development of education.

You may well ask, 'What's new? That's what we have now.'

We need to demand that the bodies that control education are headed by genuine scholars and enlightened administrators. There should be publicly accessible evaluations and the bodies must measure themselves by international standards. Reports of accreditation must be made public.

Companies have other core activities. It is not realistic to expect them to also run educational establishments without seeking some payback: branding, loyalty, training a workforce and so on which are all contrary to an open educational environment. If their CSR activities channel funds into good institutions (not run by them) that is a bonus.

--- end correspondent response ---

I wrote back as follows (slightly edited for clarity):

[Ravi: Referring to correspondent's view that government may choose to provide high quality education themselves (through central universities, IITs etc) and/or to create the conditions under which other bodies can provide it, I wrote:]
I tend to agree with the qualification that "other bodies" can be for-profit educational institutions (under oversight of top level higher education regulators).

I should also state that the government seems to just not have the money to create and run large number of higher educational institutions. I read/heard at least one HRD minister of state of UPA-II talk of PPP (Public-Private partnership, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public%E2%80%93private_partnership) model in higher education. So, it seems to me, private funding is vital for meeting higher ed. needs in the country.

In the absence of for-profit education entrepreneurs (due to the law of the land not allowing them to operate), the private funding and private owned colleges by supposedly not-for-profit trusts, are from other sources, which do not seem to be very professional. I think that may be contributing, in a not insignificant way, to poor teaching standards in many private colleges in the country.

[Ravi: Referring to publicly accessible evaluations, measurement by international standards and reports of accreditation being made public (of higher ed. institutions i.e. universities and colleges), I wrote:]
This will be just fantastic. International standards accreditation with reports available on the net for anybody to view (and so, question) will be a great step forward for Indian higher education. I think NAAC and NBA, the premier assessment and accreditation agencies in our country, may be working towards these goals (like Washington Accord goal achieved by NBA recently), but there seems to be quite some distance to be covered before these goals are met.

[Ravi: Referring to companies being involved with educational institutions having danger of companies seeking some payback like "branding, loyalty, training a workforce and so on which are all contrary to an open educational environment", I wrote:]

I tend to agree. Shareholders want dividend and other kind of returns. They are not so bothered about service to society. And ultimately the board of directors (of a company) is answerable to shareholders. So companies who invest in educational establishments even as CSR may not be able to avoid influencing that (educational) establishment to suit the company's interests.

--- end my response ---

The correspondent wrote back:

>> the government seems to just not have the money to create and run large number of higher educational institutions

The question to ask is, why not? Today the government spends less per capita on higher education than it did 20 years ago (see the UGC website). Instead of spending on sloganeering schemes that do little to change the economic situation or the hardship faced by the poor (since most of the money gets siphoned off before it gets to its target) it should be trying to improve their employment capabilities and, simultaneously, creating job opportunities.

Today, a lot of urban poor (say, housemaids, manual workers, etc.) spend from their own pocket to send their children to what they decide are better schools. There is so much commitment and drive there that could be channeled into effective job-creation avenues.

As tax payers, we should be demanding that the government spends more on education. Politicians will change policies only when there is pressure from the electorate.

--- end correspondent 2nd response ---

Ravi: Here is my edited response to the above:

[Ravi: Referring to why the government should not be directly involved in improving employment capabilities of the poor, I wrote:]
I think that (improving employment capabilities of the poor through education, and govt. getting directly involved in higher education in general) is a very complex area with huge challenges. Some of the reasons involved as per my opinion, are quite sensitive and so I prefer to not cover that topic in a publicly accessible Internet post.

As an example (of failure of govt. initiatives to improve employment capabilities of the poor), a local Puttaparthi youth came up to me a few days ago and asked whether I could teach him Microsoft Word, Excel etc. which might improve his chances of getting some assistant job in some Puttaparthi shop/small office, he said. I told him about some government efforts to provide free training in such subjects conducted in Anantapur, based on what I had read in the newspapers. He informed me that he had been through that course and got over 60% marks in the exam (and so, presumably, has the certificate) but that they did not teach anything much!

That was very disappointing for me to hear. I guess I should not form an opinion about this AP govt. initiative till I get more feedback but I must say I was not too surprised to hear it.

I guess I have given up on government only initiatives in the area of computer education to youth. They seem to carry some curse of failure with them.

On the other hand, a PPP model seems to be delivering some results, in areas like computerized services being made available to citizens at low cost. The Mee Seva program of AP (and Telangana now), http://www.meeseva.gov.in/Meeseva/intro.html, has been delivering good results in Puttaparthi.

The AP govt.'s computer education initiative for youth may have delivered better if it had been done in partnership with established (private) computer training houses like NIIT.

But then higher education is different from basic computer training. However, I now feel that increased govt. participation in running it, as against only regulating it from a top level, is doomed to failure. I can't spell out clear reasons. I feel I have seen enough of govt. failures and it will be money down the drain, or worse (as the govt. would not look at alternative solutions then).

I feel private companies using online education technologies may do a far superior job (than govt. directly) in delivering low-cost medium quality higher education to vast majority of poor and lower middle class Indians. I repeat, govt. must play a top-level regulatory role where it can boot out (private for-profit) companies that become exploiters of students.

[Ravi: Referring to the urban poor spending from their own pocket to educate their children and there being so much commitment and drive that could be channeled into effective job-creation avenues.]
Agreed. And I think these people would jump at Brazil type low fees private higher education model if it delivered job oriented skills. [And I see similar commitment and drive in small town Puttaparthi poor when it comes to educating their children. They desperately want their children to lead more comfortable lives than theirs and are willing to slog away for it.]

[Ravi: Referring to the tax paying electorate demanding from politicians that they spend more on education/improve education, I wrote:]
Having done some reading up on articles, interviews and speeches of some of the top HRD associated politicians, who were ministers/ministers of state in the HRD ministry, in the past couple or so years (Shri Kapil Sibal and Dr. Shashi Tharoor mainly), the situation is that the ministers themselves despair of the bureaucratic apathy of Indian academia (viewed as a whole; there certainly are islands of excellence like IITs, IISc, IIMs etc.). Dr. Tharoor wrote a (mainstream newspaper) article referring to (govt. funded) academic jobs as 'sarkari' naukris (where one's job is fully protected)! My view today is that we cannot expect too much from the politicians. The academic bureaucratic system is a monster that can take on powerful politicians too like how the IITs blocked some moves of Shri Sibal (I do not know whether the Shri Sibal backed moves were good or not good; I am just pointing out the limits that HRD ministers have in bringing in change in Indian academia).

I think too much of govt. involvement in funding and running higher ed. institutions creates institutions of apathy as against institutions of excellence. [Somehow, the accountability part of the govt. funded higher ed. institutions gets lost. Private higher ed. institutions depend on money paid by students (their customers) and so have to perform in providing decent education to their student-customers to survive in the private higher ed. market.]

--- end my 2nd response to correspondent ---

GATE and UGC NET CS & IT exams can be employability measures if they include practical knowledge assessment

I made the following comment (slightly edited) to a recent post, How well does a college teach its students?, http://www.obvioustruths.blogspot.com/2014/06/how-well-does-college-teach-its-students.html, by Srinivasan Ramani, http://internethalloffame.org/inductees/srinivasan-ramani :

Interesting views. More transparency in Indian academic system in general will do wonders in giving students and parents some reasonable picture of the teaching and research quality of Indian academic institutions. As of now, most Indian academic institution websites do not carry significant information on course material related to courses taught by its faculty, though many carry the academic's research publication list. I think if the course material for courses taught by academics is put up on their website, students, parents and even employers will be able to get some idea of what is really taught in those courses. In great contrast to Indian academia, many US academic websites have detailed course material - Indian academia should follow their lead in this regard, IMHO.

Regarding standard exams that assess how well a college teaches its students, for engineering in India, we have the GATE exam, which is quite widely accepted by academia (for further education like M.Tech.) as well as government employers as the key measurement criteria for knowledge level of engineering graduates. Perhaps it would be a great idea to have its results available in the public domain but there may be moral and legal issues related to protection of privacy rights of students who got poor scores. The wiki page states, "The score cards are issued to only the qualified candidates."

As somebody who is interested in improving the practice of software development in Indian CS & IT academia, one issue I have with examinations like GATE, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_Aptitude_Test_in_Engineering, is that they, I believe, focus on the theory part of the knowledge of the candidate, as that may be easier to assess. Even the National Eligibility Test for Lecturers (Asst. Professors) for UGC/AICTE regulated colleges, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Eligibility_Test. for the CS & IT field does not seem to have a practical component for the test! What is badly needed by youth in colleges nowadays is employability, and employability needs the right blend of theory and practical knowledge. Once our national examinations including GATE and UGC NET improve their assessment techniques to properly assess practical knowledge then they may become an important measure of the employability of engineering college graduates.

Tough talking articles about USA Higher Education's 1200+ percent tuition fees increase over past 30 years and Student Debt Trap

a) "Colleges are full of it: Behind the three-decade scheme to raise tuition, bankrupt generations, and hypnotize the media", June 8th 2014, http://www.salon.com/2014/06/08/colleges_are_full_of_it_behind_the_three_decade_scheme_to_raise_tuition_bankrupt_generations_and_hypnotize_the_media/

The article refers to USA higher education. Some notes on it:
* 1200+ percent increase in price of college tuition over last three decades, rising twice as fast as medical care costs
* Over the decades, universities (administrators) have given the reasons for steep rise in tuition fees as utility bills, libraries, professor salaries (top professors costing top money), students demanding luxuries (carpeting, furniture, gymnasiums ...) etc.
* Actually teaching duties in universities were/(are?) handled by graduate students and adjunct professors! [Ravi: This clearly has some exaggeration. For effect perhaps. The reality may be that a significant part of the "teaching load" is handled by adjuncts and grad-students freeing up professors for research.]
* In 1986, a spokesman of a higher-ed accreditation group told the New York Times, “A grant conveys the message, ‘We value you and will invest in your future,’ ” ... “The message of a loan is, ‘Go forward if you want, but on your own nickel.’ Loans reinforce privatist, instrumental values, a sense that you’re in college for yourself and that college studies have as an end only what comes later—a job and paying off the loan.” [Ravi: Now, it seems to be almost all loans and preciously few grants for students in US higher-ed.]
* The tuition fee big upward spiral started in 1981 with deregulation and free market principles sweeping higher education field.
* Purpose of college education has become a pathway to a high paying job (one million dollars more, supposedly, over working lifetime with a college degree) and not serving the nation (being of benefit to the nation).

---- end notes ---

Ravi: India seems to be going down the same road in the case of private professional (higher) education! Can India learn from the mistakes of USA higher education and chart a different path?

b) College costs expose the false meritocracy of the American dream, June 18th 2014 http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/jun/18/college-cost-false-meritocracy-jobs-wealth-education

Notes: PhD qualified Wall Street Banker who graduated from a Florida public college in 1987 paying $2,500 a year, discusses how steep rises in college cost are making it an exclusive path for the generation of his children, limited to the rich and those willing to get into big debt. And the top white collar jobs, including Wall Street jobs, have become the exclusive domain of Ivy league or similar schools. 

Is (Seoul Accord) Accreditation using Outcome Based Assessment methods the way forward to improve teaching standards in Indian CS & IT academia?

Last updated June 16th 2014

It seems that the top technical education academic administrators in the country involving Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Board of Accrediation (NBA) are taking steps in the direction of Outcome Based Education being adopted by technical education institutions in the country. This applies to all technical education in which Computer Science and Information Technology are two streams (besides streams like Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering etc.).

Here's a report in The Hindu today, ‘NBA accreditation helps students secure quality education’, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/nba-accreditation-helps-students-secure-quality-education/article6116366.ece, about such efforts in the Andhra Pradesh district of Chitoor. Two small extracts:

"A three-day National Board Accreditation (NBA) workshop on ‘Outcome-based Accreditation’, under the aegis of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University – Anantapur’s (JNTUA) NBA Nodal Centre, was inaugurated at Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering (SVCE) here on Saturday." [Ravi: Here refers to Tirupathi, a city in Chitoor district of Andhra Pradesh.]

...

"They explained about the existing model of NBA i.e., ‘Outcome-based Accreditation’ and spoke on its process, validation and several other issues like how to define vision and mission of a programme, how to map Program Outcome (POs), Course Outcomes (COs) and Program Enabled Outcomes (PEOs) supplemented by its benefits to technical institutes."

--- end extracts ---

From http://www.nbaind.org/views/Home.aspx, "NBA in its present form came into existence as an autonomous body with effect from 7th January 2010, with the objective of Assurance of Quality and Relevance of Education, especially of the programmes in professional and technical disciplines, i.e., Engineering and Technology, Management, Architecture, Pharmacy and Hospitality, through the mechanism of accreditation of programs offered by technical institutions.
      NBA has introduced a new process, parameters and criteria for accreditation. These are in line with the best international practices and oriented to assess the outcomes of the programme."

Ravi: So the stamp of approval from the top level in the country for Computer Science and Information Technology academic programs (e.g. B.Tech. Computer Science & Engineering, M.Tech. Computer Science & Engineering) is the NBA accreditation. NAAC may not be the suitable accreditation organization for CS & IT programs.

Outcome Based Education (OBE) seems to be the big thing for NBA. The two Powerpoint slides' files here: http://www.nbaind.org/En/1055-learning-resources.aspx give some idea of NBA's approach.

I have given below some key content related to OBE from one of its two Powerpoint files (Overview of Outcome Based Accreditation and Outcome Based Education - http://www.nbaind.org/files/oba_nba2.pptx) given in the above link:

[From slide 6]

What are the Outcomes?

Outcomes with reference to Educational Programme are the competencies, skills, knowledge and proficiency a student is expected to get at the time of graduation out of the programme.

Outcomes in educational terms could be Program Outcomes and Course Outcomes.

Program outcomes are statements that describe what students are expected to know and be able to do by the time of graduation.

...

[From slide 19]

Outcome Based Education

Starting with a clear picture of what is important for students to be able to do ...

Then organizing the curriculum, delivery and assessment to make sure learning happens ...

...

[From slide 20]

Outcome Based Education -> Outcome Based Curriculum (What the student should be able to do?) -> Outcome Based Learning & Teaching (How to make the student achieve the outcome?) -> Outcome Based Assessment (How to measure what the student has achieved?)

--- end slide extracts ---

Ravi: The above extracts seem to be really great on the face of it. But the wikipedia page for Outcome Based Education gives a mixed account. It seems that OBE did not go well in some places, and it seems to be not so popular a term in the USA now.

The Washington Accord uses OBE. First about the Washington Accord from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Accord, "The Washington Accord is an international accreditation agreement for professional engineering academic degrees, between the bodies responsible for accreditation in its signatory countries. Established in 1989, the signatories as of 2014 are Australia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong China, India, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States."

Additionally, "The Washington Accord covers undergraduate engineering degrees under Outcome-based education approach". The wiki page links to this pdf explaining OBE - http://www.utar.edu.my/fes/file/OBE.pdf.

Here's an interesting recent Indian news item "Boost for engineers: India now part of Washington Accord", http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Boost-for-engineers-India-now-part-of-Washington-Accord/articleshow/36519279.cms.

Some notes and comments:

India has become the 17th member of the Washington Accord after a lot of effort including some failures.
...
Washington Accord seems to exclude CS & IT which are covered by Seoul Accord.
...
"Becoming part of Washington Accord also does not necessarily mean that all engineering degrees by all Indian colleges will get equivalence with those of other member countries. NBA has shortlisted 220-odd engineering colleges as Tier-I institutes whose undergraduate engineering programme is in tune with what is required under the Accord."
[Ravi: This effort by NBA sounds encouraging. IT is excluded - so that is not good news. Hopefully NBA and MHRD are working on becoming a member of the Seoul accord too. BTW I did not know of these Washington and Seoul accords till I read news reports about the Washington accord recently.]
...
Extensive verification of these Tier-I institutes will need to be done prior to them being deemed as Washington Accord educational institutions. It is expected that courses will be redesigned to focus on outcomes and students given freedom to explore and innovate.
[Ravi: Excellent! I love the emphasis on outcomes (presumably involving a large component of learning outcomes). This kind of initiative will force engg. colleges to reorient their thinking towards improving the learning outcomes of their undergraduate programs.]
...
Other educational institutions have been given a roadmap by NBA to be followed if they want to attempt becoming institutions covered/approved by Washington Accord.
[Ravi: Sounds good.]

---- end notes and comments ---

Here is a link with Washington accord listed member countries (India is still shown as provisional status member), http://www.ieagreements.org/Washington-Accord/signatories.cfm

Here's another article about India becoming a signatory to Washington Accord: http://www.livemint.com/Politics/Rf8g7vPOsU2A9cZmpYnHMN/India-gets-permanent-membership-of-Washington-Accord.html

[Ravi: The above link seems to give inside info. about how it was pushed through. It seems that former HRD ministers Shri Kapil Sibal and Shri Pallam Raju deserve congratulations for having pushed this through from a political and administrative will point of view. Separation of NBA from AICTE may have been the real big decision that paid dividends. NBA chief and former IIT Delhi Director Prof. Surendra Prasad, Dr. D.K. Paliwal and Shri Ashok Thakur of MHRD are reported to have been key contributors for this effort and deserve to be congratulated (perhaps congratulated more as they may have been doing the real hard work). ]

Ravi: Now about the Seoul Accord as that is what comes into play for CS & IT field. I struggled a little to get quick overview info. of the Seoul Accord. Here's what I have been able to garner:

From http://www.abet.org/computing-mra-seoul-accord/:

The Seoul Accord, established in 2008, is a mutual recognition agreement pertaining to computing and IT-related programs accredited by its signatories within their respective jurisdiction. Signatories to the Seoul Accord are organizations responsible for accrediting computing and IT-related programs in Australia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

[Ravi: That's pretty recent - around 6 years ago. No wonder it is not so well known.]
...

Graduate attributes form a set of individually-assessable outcomes that are indicative of a graduate's potential competency. The graduate attributes are exemplars of the attributes expected of a graduate from an accredited program.

The Seoul Accord has identified the characteristics of graduates of all computing programs that fall within the scope of the accord. A signatory may identify additional attributes that differentiate specific programs accredited by the signatory.

--- end extracts from abet.org ---

Details of the graduate attributes are available at the Seoul accord website here: http://www.seoulaccord.com/accord/contents.jsp?menu_l=144&menu_m=195&menu_s=236 but it is not an easy first read.

Ravi: Perhaps one can say that the graduate attributes of the Seoul accord are roughly the outcomes expected, and so the Seoul Accord could implicitly promote Outcome Based Education.

I guess NBA would be trying/will try to get on board with the Seoul Accord too. Once that gets done then Indian Computer Science and Information Technology departments of technical education institutions can strive for Seoul Accord accreditation through NBA. That may lead to emphasis on well defined learning outcomes of CS & IT graduates and post-graduates in India. These learning outcomes would also include, I presume, the practice of software development.

So, it seems to me, the Seoul Accord may be a great thing for NBA and then Indian CS & IT academic departments to get on board from a perspective of improvement in knowledge of and skill in the practice of software development of Indian CS & IT graduates & post-graduates. Here's the link for NBA's manual for accreditation of UG engineering programs, first edition, dated March 2012, 93 pages: http://www.nbaind.org/Files/engineering-programs.pdf. But in my quick browsing of this doc. and of the NBA site, I did not get well defined course specific outcomes for courses in CS & IT (e.g. C++ programming or Network programming lab. courses or even more generic courses like Operating Systems).

ABET seems to be a big accreditation organization in the USA (and other countries). Interestingly it has a find accredited programs link: http://main.abet.org/aps/Accreditedprogramsearch.aspx. Computer Engineering, Computer Engineering Technology and Computer Science are three separate listed programs. Similarly Information Engineering Technology, Information Systems and Information Technology are three separate listed programs.

Searching for Computer Science in India lists only VIT university in its results, http://main.abet.org/aps/AccreditedProgramsDetails.aspx?OrganizationID=1049. But its CS entry does not show Seoul Accord status, as expected (since India (NBA) is not yet a signatory to Seoul Accord).

Searching for Computer Science in USA lists 265 results! I checked out a few for Seoul Accord status for its CS program. All the ones I checked - Arizona State University, Florida State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michigan State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, State University of New York at Binghamton, Texas A&M University, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Riverside, University of Massachusetts Boston, University of New Hampshire, University of Virginia and Washington State University - have Seoul Accord status for its Computer Science program(s)! [Some have Computer Engineering programs having Washington Accord status not Seoul Accord! But I will skip that detail for now.]

Clearly the way forward for Indian CS & IT academic departments is to get their programs under Seoul Accord. For that, first MHRD and NBA (and AICTE implicitly) have to engage with Seoul Accord folks like they engaged with Washington Accord folks, and do the needful, even if it involves lots of hard work and some failures, for India (NBA) to become a signatory to the Seoul Accord.

To conclude this post, let me return to the title question, is (Seoul Accord) accreditation using Outcome Based Assessment methods the way forward to improve teaching standards in Indian CS & IT academia? I think the answer seems to be Yes. In any case, MHRD, AICTE and NBA are going the (Washington Accord) accreditation using Outcome Based Assessment methods way from an entire technical education perspective. So, it seems to me, technical education institutions of India do not have much of a choice and will have to follow Outcome Based Education and then get accredited by NBA.

I hope that the learning outcomes for CS & IT field in NBA accreditation, in terms of both program outcomes as well as (individual) course outcomes are defined well. In particular, I hope that the learning outcomes for software lab. courses are defined well.

Education and IT related excerpts from PM Narendra Modi speech in Lok Sabha on June 11th 2014

This speech was, if I am not mistaken, the concluding speech on the motion of Thanks for the President's speech on June 9th (here's my blog post on it: https://eklavyasai.blogspot.com/2014/06/education-and-it-related-parts-of.html). Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi mentioned in his speech that around fifty speakers (from various political parties) had spoken on this motion.

I could not locate a full text (translated to English) of this speech of Shri Modi so far. This link gives a lot of points from the speech: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/narendra-modi-speaks-on-president-s-motion-of-thanks-in-parliament-highlights-539796

Some excerpts of the speech and associated timestamps, mainly related to education and information technology, transcribed from this speech video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vUMYUaaY40, 1 hr 1 min 30 secs, are given below. These excerpts are a mix of full translation of Hindi sentences as well as only mention of key points.

[I added the excerpts given below as a comment on the above youtube video. Here's the comment link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vUMYUaaY40&google_comment_id=z13stzehtxmozfcw304ci1bpmnbgipprpxs0k. In this comment, clicking on the timestamp (which appears by default in blue colour) positions the video at that timestamp.]

Around 11:35 - Government's first responsibility is towards the poor

If the rich need to teach their children they can send them to any school in the world/hire any teacher in the world. If somebody in the home of the rich fall ill, many doctors can come to his home. Where will the poor go? In his destiny (naseeb) he has (only) government schools and government hospitals. Therefore it is the first responsibility (daayitva) of the government that they listen to the poor and live for the poor. If we do not run the government machinery (karobaar) for the poor, for the benefit of the poor, then this country's people (jantha) will not (never) forgive us.

Around 13:25 - Empower the poor to fight poverty through education and liberation from blind belief

(Hindi: Garib ko garibi se bahar lane ke liye, Uske andar wo taakath lani hai taaki wo garibi ke saath jujh sake. Garibi ke khilaaf ladaai ladne ki sabse bada (aujaar?) hota hai - shiksha. Garibi se ladne ka sabse bada saadhan hota hai - andh shraddha se mukthi. Agar hum garibi me - jo aaj andh shraddha ke bhaav pade hai, ashiksha ki avastha padi hai, agar usme se use bahaar lane me safal hote hai to is desh ka garib kisi ke tukdo par palne ka iccha nahi rakhta hai. Wo apne bal bute par apni duniya khadi karne ke liye taiyaar hai. Sammaan aur gaurav se jeena garib ka swabhaav hai. Hum iski us moolbhoot taakath ko pakad karke agar usko bal dene ka prayaas karte hain - Aur isliye sarkaar ke yojnaaye garib ko garibi se bahaar aane ki taakath de. Garib ko garibi ke khilaaf ladaayi ladne ki taakath de. Aur shaashan ki saari vyavasthayein garib ko shashakth banane ke liye kaam aani chaahiyein. Aur saari vyavasthaon ka antim nateeja us aakhri shor par baithe huen insaan ke kaam me aaye, us disha me hoga tab jaakar hum uska kalyan kar payenge.)

English translation of above (there may be minor inaccuracies as my Hindi knowledge is of middling kind): To bring the poor out of poverty, he has to be given that strength, that power that will enable him to fight poverty. To fight poverty, the biggest weapon is - education. The biggest means to fight against poverty is liberation from blind belief. If we, within/among the poor who today are (trapped) in an environment of blind belief, in a state of being uneducated, are successful in removing them from that state then the poor of this country (do/will) not wish to live on the crumbs of others. He is ready to create his own world (life) based on his own strength. It is the nature of the poor to live with dignity and respect. If we catch this root strength of his (of the poor) and make efforts to give (more) power to it - and so the plans/projects of the government should give strength to the poor to come out of poverty; give strength to the poor to fight against poverty. And the entire government administration should be of help/use to empower the poor. And the end result of all administration should be in the direction of being useful to the human on the final (distant) shore (frontier), then we will be able to ensure his well being (serve him/serve the poor on the final frontier).

Around 15:58 - Providing best teachers to (rural) villages using long distance education technology

We have used one word - Rurban, for the progress of villages, which I saw in the speech of the president. (Hindi: Jahaan suvidha shehar ki ho aatma gaon ki ho) English: Where the facilities should be of the kind in cities but the spirit (character) should be of the kind in villages. ... The noble character (the noble spirit) of the villages of our country is a priceless legacy which we must preserve. But will we deprive our villagers of modern facilities? And I am saying this with experience that when villages are given modern facilities they are making more contribution to the country's progress. If villages have 24 hour electric power supply, if villages have (Internet) broadband connectivity, (if) the children of villages get excellent education ... (If) we accept that we do not, (as of now), have good (best) teachers in our villages but today's science (and technology) gives us the full power of long distance education. (Using) the best of the best teachers sitting in cities we can teach the children sitting in villages (of the final frontier). Why should we not use the power of satellites, use modern science (and technology) for the education of poor children? If we can bring a change in the life of villages then nobody would want to leave their villages. What does the youth want? If he/she gets employment (in the village) he/she would prefer to stay with their parents. Can we not create industries in villages? ... Agro-based industries ...

Around 19:40 - Agricultural universities' challenges; traditional farmer has to be changed to modern farmer

We have so many agricultural universities. A lot of research is going on. But the unfortunate thing is that what is in the lab. is not on the land. The journey from the lab. to the land, till we do not make (that journey) ... There is a need to change the farmer from traditional farmer to modern farmer. ... Gujarat's soil health card experiment ... (govt.) came to know of inappropriate crops sowed by the farmer for the soil he has ... the farmer came to know (was informed by govt.) of the flaws of his approach and was able to consider better approaches ... Agriculture university students of our country can, during their (summer) vacation (in their home villages/towns) do soil testing in the school laboratories in their villages (or towns). The students will get paid, the school will get paid, (soil testing data will be made available) - can this not become a people's movement?

Around 22:42 - Indians recognized for Information Technology in the world; Yet we don't have real time data on Agri products

Today it is unfortunate in our country. Such a big technology came into being - Information Technology. (Hindi: Duniya mein hum chaaye huve rahein. Software engineer ke roop mein hamari pehchaan ban gayi. Lekin aaj hamare desh ke paas agro product ka real time data nahi hain.) English: We are spread out in the world (in IT). We Indians are now viewed/recognized as software engineer(s). But today our country does not have real time data on agro products. Can we not do that? ... it will help in price control.

Around 29:30 - Very big need for skill development

The whole world in the coming days has a very big need for skilled labour force/manpower. Those who know this knowledge area (shastra) know that the whole world needs skilled manpower. ... So skill development is an important agenda for all countries including the well developed countries. Our country's primary area (prathmikta) should be skill development. ... (Hindi: To hame srameva jayate is mantra ko (charitartha) karna hoga) English: So we will have to (adopt) the mantra of work/effort alone triumphs. ... From an image of 'scam India' we have to make the image 'skill(ed) India'. ... So we have created a new ministry for entrepreneurship and skill development. Our country has a misfortune. If we ask somebody what have you studied, he says I am a graduate or MA or a double graduate. We like hearing that. ... (talks of a book he read during childhood with a real life account of a graduate looking for a job. When the graduate is asked what do you know, the person says he is a graduate but does not answer the question i.e. does not say what he knows. He is told OK you are a graduate but what do you know. The person repeats that he is a graduate - this sequence is repeated one or two times more). (Hindi, around 32:07: Hum is baat se anubhav kar sakte hain ki jindagi ka gujara karne ke liye haath me hunar hona chahiye sirif haath me certificate hone se baath (nahi banthi)). English: From this we can (deduce) that to make a living we must have a skill in hand, just having a certificate in hand will not do.

And so will have to give emphasis on skill development. But we also have to give a social status for the skilled worker. (He gives an example of a 7th standard student leaving the village school and enrolling into a skill development course. But people do not give value to him - they treat him as a 7th standard educated student and ask him to leave.) We will have to bring in equivalence (to academic qualifications) for these (skilled courses). In Gujarat I tried an experiment. Those who do two years ITI course, I made them equal to 10th standard (passed/qualified) persons. Those who came after 10th standard (into ITI course?) were made equal to 12th standard. (For these ITI qualified students) doors were opened for studying (enrolling) in Diploma or Degree programmes. He was 7th pass but he can go upto degree now - the pathway was opened up. We will have to make new decisions with a lot of courage (himmat). If we want to give emphasis to skill development then we will have to give social standing for that.

... Today the whole world needs teachers. Can Hindusthaan (India) not export teachers? If we export Maths and Science teachers - if a businessman (vyapaari) goes abroad then at the most he will come back with Dollars - but if a teacher goes abroad he will bring back a whole generation along with him, this is the power (of teachers). [Applause.]

Around 38:34 - Progress (vikaas) should be a people's movement (jan aandolan)

We should make progress (vikaas) a people's movement (jan aandolan). If we make progress a government programme then (it won't work). But if we make progress a people's movement - in this country, every person must feel - a teacher also must feel, when I teach, I teach for the nation; even if a worker is carrying luggage in a railway station, he should feel that he is doing it for the nation, if a farmer is working on his fields, he should also feel he is working for the nation. Once again, in this country, a movement (aandolan) of good governance (suraajya) is required. ... And it is not that it is impossible. ... It is possible to create this feeling. (Hindi: Aaj bhi hamare desh me desh bhakti ki koi kami nahi hai.) English: Even today, in our country, there is no dearth of devotion to the country. ... (Hindi: Aavashyakta hain ki ham nethruthva pradaan kare. Yahan baithe huen sabhi samarthyavaan hain. Jan-jan ko jagane ki wo taakath rakhte hain - (us) taakath ko lagane ki jaroorath hain.) The need is that we (parliamentarians) should provide leadership. All the people seated here (parliament - lower house) are capable people. We have the power to rouse the populace - that power is needed to be used.

Around 45:04 - Duryodhan quote - I know Dharma but it is not in my DNA!
[Ravi: The following two excerpts are not particularly related to education or IT. However, I felt it was pretty noble stuff and so educative in that sense. So I have included it below.]

(Hindi: Ek baar Duryodhan ko poocha gayaa ki bhai ye dharm aur adharm, sathya aur jhooth, tumko samajh hai ki nahi hain. To Duryodhan ne ye baath .. Usne kaha Jaanaami dharmam nachame pravratti - main dharm ko jaanta hun lekin ye meri pravratti nahi hain. Sathya kya hai mujhe maaloom hain, achcha kya hain mujhe maaloom hain lekin woh mere DNA mein nahi hain. [Laughter.]) English: Once Duryodhan (the arch-villain in the great Hindu epic Mahabharatha) was asked whether he understood dharma (righteous action/living) and adharma (unrighteous action/living), truth and falsehood. Duryodhan said that he knew dharma but (following) dharma was not in his nature. I know what is truth and what is good, but that is not in my DNA.

Around 46:29 - Seniors' blessings will save govt. from arrogance and teach humility

(Hindi: Aur Vijay hame sikhata hai namrata. Aur mai is sadan ko viswas deta hun. Aur mujhe viswas hain yehaan ke jo hamaare seniors hain, kisi bhi dal ke kyon na ho, unke aashirwaad se hum us taakaath ko praapt karenge jo hame ahankaar se bachaye. Jo hamein har pal namrata sikhayein. Yahaan par (gesturing towards treasury benches) kitni hi sankhya kyon na ho lekin mujhe aap ke bina (gesturing towards opposition benches) aage nahi badna hain. Hamein sankhya ke bal par nahin chalna hain hamein saamuhikta ke bal par chalna hain.) English: And victory teaches us humility. And I give this house an assurance - . And I have the faith that the seniors here, no matter which political party they are from, with their blessings we will acquire that strength which will save us from arrogance. Which will teach us humility at every step. No matter how many numbers we have here (treasury benches - massive majority) I do not want to move ahead without you (opposition benches). We do not want to proceed on the strength of numbers but we want to proceed on collective/united strength.

NPTEL - IIT Madras - offers online course and certification in Programming, Data Structures & Algorithms

Last updated on 11th June 2014

Course details in a nutshell

• Duration - 10 weeks, 2 to 3 hours lectures per week + assignments
• Certificate exam at the end of the course is an in-person proctored exam (supervised exam to ensure academic integrity)
• Expected charges: online teaching (+ assignment evaluation, I presume) - FREE, certification exam - Rs. 2000 (less than 34 US Dollars as per current rate of around Rs. 60 for 1 US Dollar), so total expected charges (from online educator - NPTEL) is less than 34 US Dollars (computer/laptop & Internet charges have to be managed/borne by the student).
• FREE teaching service of NPTEL is made possible by funding from Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

I was overjoyed to visit this link today, https://onlinecourses.nptel.ac.in/explorer, and also see the embedded video. The around 5 minute video has experts/leaders from industry and academia talk about the online course followed by certification, in Programming, Data Structures and Algorithms, conducted by NPTEL.

Some points from my going through the above link:

• The online course is free for all and the certification exam has a nominal fee (maybe around Rs. 2000 (currently 1 US Dollar is around Rs. 60. So Rs. 2000 currently is less than 34 US Dollars). [Ravi: That is very, very affordable. Fantastic!]

• The Programming, Data Structures and Algorithms online course is aimed at undergraduate college students of any engg. or science stream in their 2nd year or above, but it is open to everyone (as per my understanding of the FAQ). [Ravi: Terrific! So even commerce and arts students who are willing to go the extra mile to pick up any math needed for the course, can do the course and get the certification. I am really overjoyed to know about this.]

• The online courses certification portal, onlinecourses.nptel.ac.in, is powered by Google who is partnering NPTEL for this effort. NASSCOM members like TCS and CTS have participated in syllabus and content creation. [Ravi: In the embedded video a NASSCOM leader (executive director) talks about job opportunities (employment facilitator, job ready ...) opened up by these certificates. I find that very exciting. I mean, now any graduate or under graduate student who wants to acquire a NASSCOM recognized certificate in this software development foundation course, has a very affordable means to do so, provided he/she has the requisite aptitude and is willing to do the hard work necessary to finish the assignments and clear the certification exam. Software companies may start recognizing this certificate as a key statement of software development foundation skills having been acquired by the certificate-holder, if the assignments and certification exam are good in testing and validating the skills of the student. As it is an academia-industry collaborative effort any lapses, especially in the initial course executions, can be fixed via suitable feedback. Industry run in-house training courses for freshers in the mid 80s had, and it probably continues to have today, a strong feedback mechanism to ensure that suitable skills needed by industry are imparted to students. (I underwent training for COBOL programming and Systems Analysis for 4 to 6 months - 5th and 6th month being more on-the-job training type (in 1984), and then was a trainer in COBOL programming for a fresher batch (in 1985) in my first company, Datamatics Consultants in SEEPZ, Mumbai, and so have direct experience of industry training in programming for freshers).]

• Course duration: 10 weeks; 2-3 hours of lecture per week; involves online assessment & programming assignments; has in-person proctored examination (supervised exam to ensure academic integrity) with certification. [Ravi: 2 to 3 hours lecture time per week should not be a problem for any interested (and Internet connected) student. The first weeding out test will be the programming assignments. Only those who are able to follow the lectures, have the aptitude and make the time & effort to finish the assignments will be able to continue on in the course.]

• A sample certificate is shown in the above link. [Ravi: The certificate mentions the course name, "Programming, Data Structures & Algorithms", and has the names of IIT Madras, NASSCOM, MHRD and NPTEL! That makes it a pretty impressive certificate, IMHO.]

From the dates info. provided on the site, it seems that the first batch of students doing this certification course will appear for the certification exam in July 2014. Hopefully, NPTEL will share statistics of how many students enrolled, how many continued through the course and took the certification exam, and how many passed the certification. Even if the first time numbers are small this effort MUST be continued as I think it has tremendous potential for giving vital certified software development foundation skills to any interested Indian (and non Indian too perhaps), college student or non-college-student.

I heartily applaud and congratulate MHRD (govt. ministry funding NPTEL and providing top level policy directives, I guess), NPTEL, IIT Madras, and NPTEL's partners like Google and NASSCOM (members like TCS, CTS ...), for this wonderful initiative, and pray to Almighty God to shower His Grace on these efforts.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Update on 11th June 2014

As I thought about it more and discussed it with some locals in Puttaparthi, I find that my enthusiasm and excitement over the course has not ebbed. Puttaparthi locals face a lot of problems in terms of availability of affordable higher education facilities (the free Sathya Sai educational institutions have limited seats for which there is a lot of competition from all over Andhra Pradesh state and also other parts of the country). Now Puttaparthi locals can consider a combo. of an affordable science (or commerce but with some additional Math learning on their own) degree programme in a govt. funded college and combine it with this certificate course in Programming, Data Structures & Algorithms from IIT-Madras, to give them a decent chance at competing for a software job or even a non-software job which might involve some programming.

For the computer/laptop and Internet facility, I wonder whether the many Internet cafes in Puttaparthi can offer a special package where they make the computer and Internet facility available for a few hours (at less busy times) some days of the week at affordable cost to local students. Elsewhere in small-town-India (and similar other countries) the situation may be similar.

Overall, I think these kind of very affordable (virtually free from higher education provider but with computer & Internet costs to be borne by student/parents), certified courses from top-notch higher education brands like IIT-Madras in collaboration with industry (e.g. NASSCOM) are going to be an awesome game-changer that will democratize the job-oriented skills teaching part of the higher education field (i.e. make it accessible to lower middle class and even some of the poor people of the country).

Education and IT related parts of President Mukherjee's address to Parliament

Here are some extracts and comments of President Mukherjee's speech to Parliament today (here's the full speech - a 14 page pdf document, http://www.pmindia.gov.in/President_Address.pdf):

12. India is the world’s oldest civilization. Today it is also a country with
the largest population of the youth. We must equip and nurture our
youth with the right kind of education, skill-set and opportunity to reap
this demographic dividend. My government will strive to transition from
Youth Development to Youth-led Development. It will set up Massive
Open Online Courses and virtual classrooms. It will formulate a National
Education Policy aimed at meeting the challenges posed by lack of
quality, research and innovation in our educational institutions. We will set
up IITs and IIMs in every state. In order to empower school teachers and
students, a national e-library will be established. With the motto of "Har
Haath Ko Hunar", my government will strive to break the barriers between
formal education and skill development, and put in place a mechanism to
give academic equivalence to vocational qualifications. With the goal of
Skilled India, my government will also launch a National Multi-skill Mission.

[Ravi: I am so glad to see that education has been given significance in this govt's plan. Really great to see MOOCs being mentioned in the speech. MOOCs are the growing waves in higher education worldwide and seem to be going from strength to strength. India MUST get on to the bandwagon perhaps with a tie-up with leading players like edX and CourseEra.

"National education policy" - very interesting. But they must open it up to the public during the discussions stage itself rather than leave it to a small coterie of top academics and industry experts to make the policy, which is what seems to have been the case in the past. Use the Internet to involve all stakeholders including the vital students and parents stakeholders as well as junior faculty who have to deal with the teaching loads.

"academic equivalence to vocational qualifications" - wonder what that exactly means ... National Multi-skill Mission. Interesting. But one needs more information about them to comment meaningfully.

IITs and IIMs in every state - I am somewhat disappointed by no mention of UGC & AICTE specifically (but National Education Policy may involve UGC & AICTE) which cater to the vast majority of higher education students in the country. There seems to be a belief that bringing an IIT and/or IIM to a state will magically improve its higher education. It may do that for the brightest/elite among the youth of that state. But how about the other students who can't get into the IIT/IIM? They are the vast majority. And it is UGC & AICTE regulated institutions that cater to them. The govt. must explore ways to improve such institutions on a priority basis as it affects a vast number of  youth, and not give so much importance to IITs and IIMs that UGC & AICTE institutions get treated as unimportant.]
...
The government will especially strengthen measures to
spread modern and technical education among minority communities
and a National Madarsa Modernization Programme will be initiated.

[Ravi: That's excellent.]
...
22. E-governance brings empowerment, equity and efficiency. It has
the power to transform peoples’ lives. The backbone of my government's
new ways of working will be a Digital India. IT will be used to drive re-
engineering of government processes to improve service delivery and
programme implementation. We will strive to provide Wi-Fi zones in critical
public areas in the next five years. My government will rollout broadband
highway to reach every village and make all schools e-enabled in a
phased manner. Technology will be used to prepare our children for a
knowledge society. The National e-governance plan will be expanded to
cover every government office from the centre to the Panchayat; to
provide a wide variety of services to citizens. Emerging technologies like
Social Media will be used as a tool for participative governance,
directly engaging the people in policy making and administration.

[Ravi: Fascinating! Shri Modi is strongly pro-technology and pro-e-governance. It will be very interesting for an IT guy like me to see how these plans work out over the coming months and years.]
...
36. Our rich cultural heritage is the very foundation on which rests the
unity of our diverse nation. Indian languages are repositories of our rich
literature, history, culture, art and other achievements. My government
will launch a national mission "e-Bhasha” that will develop digital
vernacular content and disseminate our classic literature in different
languages. My government will also provide the required resources for
the maintenance and restoration of national heritage sites.

[Ravi: That's great. Hopefully it will do a decent job, if not a good job.]
...
38. My government recognises the central role of Science and
Technology in raising the quality of life. It will encourage and incentivize
private sector investments, both domestic and foreign, in science and
technology and in high-end research aimed at nurturing innovation. My
government will build world class research centres in the fields of
nanotechnology, material sciences, thorium technology, brain research,
stem cells, etc. The government will also establish institutes of
Technology for Rural Development and a Central University of
Himalayan Studies.

--- end President speech education and IT related extracts and comments ---

Delhi University Four Year Degree Program Mess! Do Indian university administration mechanisms promote dictatorial tendencies?

Last updated on June 27th 2014

A further update:
DU Vice-Chancellor scraps FYUP "in line with the directive of the UGC"

What seemed inevitable, given the huge amount of opposition from most students and teachers and so, the HRD minister, has happened. The FYUP has been rolled back by the DU Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dinesh Singh himself. Notes from http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/duvsugc/delhi-university-scraps-fyup-reverts-to-three-year-undergraduate-programme/article1-1234200.aspx :

Delhi University (DU) vice-chancellor Prof. Dinesh Singh issued the following statement:

"The University of Delhi recognises the need of the hour. It is of paramount importance to protect the interests of the students by ensuring the start of the admission process. In line with the directive of the UGC the University has decided to roll back the FYUP. Consequently the admission process shall be conducted under the scheme of courses that were in force in the academic session 2012-13 in all the colleges ofthe University of Delhi".

--- end notes ---

HRD minister tweeted:
My statement re DU- I respect autonomy of Institutions however institutions were created to serve people of the Nation. (1/2)
within ambit of law this is the time for statesmenship which leads to resolution.don't sacrifice interest of students at altar of prestige.

[https://twitter.com/smritiirani/status/482434357915701249, https://twitter.com/smritiirani/status/482437842145009665]

--- end HRD minister tweets ----

Ravi: My view is that Prof. Dinesh Singh should have realized that as scrapping the FYUP was part of the BJP election manifesto itself, that once BJP came to power, it is going to put pressure on him. If majority of students and teachers had supported him then UGC (under instructions/guidance perhaps from HRD minister) would not have issued these directives.

It is very, very sad that this matter got resolved in this shotgun fashion. But I am glad that the VC himself, in the interest of students caught up in this mess, took the decision to roll back FYUP (in line with UGC directive). That avoids further delay and legal battles giving more tension to the reported 2.7 lakh (270,000) student-applicants and parents. Prof. Dinesh Singh must be commended for this statement.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's an update:

UGC shows Delhi University Vice Chancellor who is the boss; A victory for majority of students & faculty of DU

See UGC Gives Ultimatum to Delhi University over Four-Year Programme, http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/ugc-gives-ultimatum-to-delhi-university-over-four-year-programme-545877. A small extract: "Officials said disobeying the UGC direction could spell trouble for Delhi University as it could stand to lose grants and degrees offered by the varsity could be de-recognised." Ravi: That's it. They can cut the funds supply after which DU may struggle to run the show! The VC will have no choice but to step down from his high horse and get down to mother earth.

I had thought then itself (around June 4th) that it was just a matter of time before the HRD minister used her powers (via bodies like UGC) to force Delhi University to roll back its 4 year degree program. How could a Vice-Chancellor of a government funded university like Delhi University think that he could get away with imposing his vision of a 4 year degree program despite strong opposition from students and faculty bodies? Having had some very unfortunate experiences of power crazy administrators in Indian academia (in a deemed university) and then done some reading up on it, I am afraid I have to say that this Stalin and Hitler type of power craze and power abuse is not uncommon in Indian academic administrators.

I should also say that I don't know enough about the 4 year degree program to say whether it is a good or bad idea. Maybe the 4 year degree program is a good idea. But then the DU top bosses needed to educate and win over its students and faculty about the 4 year degree program. Not force the program down their throats! That does not work in 21st century Indian democracy!

I am so happy to see that the key stakeholders in Delhi university namely the students and the teachers have shown Delhi University Vice-Chancellor that Delhi University is not his kingdom to run as he wants.

In today's Indian academic environment I think it is essential for top academic administrators like vice-chancellor, deans and heads of department of not only government funded universities but even private universities including deemed universities, to involve key stakeholders like students and teachers in high impact decisions that affect them deeply. Broad consensus achieved through informative and educative discussion and debate is the way forward, instead of such high impact decisions being imposed on all students, faculty and non-teaching staff by a few supposedly wise people at the top.

The damage inflicted by bad decisions and faulty vision imposed on a university by a few dictator-academic-administrators in power, especially in the case of private and deemed universities which have very limited scope for dissenting voices to be heard, can take years, perhaps decades, to recover from and to reverse.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's a disturbing article about Delhi University academic administration mess, Students, teachers urge HRD minister Smriti Irani to scrap DU’s 4-year degree course, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/35975554.cms.

Some notes and comments:

* Two teachers unions/associations met HRD minister Smt. Smriti Irani to press for rolling back the four-year degree programme introduced last year in the face of strong opposition.
[Ravi: The fact that HRD minister held meetings with these two teacher groups is a clear indication of her willingness to look into the matter, IMHO.]

* A students union group burnt effigies of vice chancellor Dinesh Singh in DU campus.
[Ravi: My God! VC (vice chancellor) effigies were burnt! This is scary stuff! I mean, during the pro and anti Andhra Pradesh bifurcation movements lots of effigies were burnt but that was a mega-impact issue affecting people of the whole state. This is an academic issue - do things have to go so far to protest academic programme issues? I find this quite disturbing.]

* Teachers and students opposing the four-degree program say that the negatives are an additional year spent and additional financial burden on the students. A students union leader alleges that the vice chancellor was "very autocratic in introducing this programme and has not bothered to consult elected student bodies".

[Ravi: I have watched Prof. Dinesh Singh on an NDTV debate on higher education some months ago where the panel included then Minister of State for HRD, Dr. Shashi Tharoor. Prof. Singh was articulate and came across as very knowledgeable about higher education administration from a pan India perspective. He also is a big shot in NAAC, the key assessment and accreditation organization for UGC regulated educational institutions (NBA does it for AICTE regulated institutions, I believe).

But I must say that I find this furore somewhat disappointing. Can one hold Prof. Singh to blame? Has he become a dictator who is trying to impose his vision on Delhi university? His being made VC for a second term was met with furious opposition and allegations of foul play, http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/delhi-university-vc-all-set-for-second-term/article5757850.ece. Now we have the teacher unions trying to drag HRD minister into DU matters, even though DU is an autonomous university.

Why is it that academic administration creates such furores every now and then? Is it a lack of transparency and a lack of accountability? Are academics prone to becoming dictators when put in positions of power like Vice-Chancellor? Are there not checks and balances in academic administration mechanisms that prevent a VC from becoming a dictator and imposing his/her vision on the entire university?]

Two Hindu articles on Radically reforming higher education, Student loan procedures and concerns; Aspiring Minds employment linkage to edX MOOC courses

Last updated on June 7th 2014

Yesterday The Hindu carried two articles of great interest to me.

First, Radically reforming higher education, http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/radically-reforming-higher-education/article6072426.ece by Prof. PULAPRE BALAKRISHNAN of the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram). Some notes and comments:

* The author writes that Indian higher education system 'cries out for reform' - hear, hear! But he omits the real big issues for most students and parents - better learning outcomes and better employability, both issues dealing with dissemination of knowledge (teaching) as against creation of knowledge (research).

* The writer mentions the UGC regulations requiring college lecturers to teach for around 16 hours a week. Very clearly that will leave little time for research and/or quality of teaching will suffer. But reducing the time to say half would mean many higher ed. institutions would need to hire more faculty. And so that may not work. Here's a suggestion - Have two types of universities: a teaching intensive one where faculty has higher teaching load and so is less expensive to run and a research intensive one with low teaching load and so more expensive to run.

* Appreciate the point about instituting student evaluation of courses in the context of faculty accountability especially after high salaries paid to faculty in those higher ed. institutions that have implemented sixth pay commission. It would help in improving teaching quality though students should not misuse it to penalize faculty for reasons like strict evaluation.

* The author writes, "The purpose of a university is the creation of knowledge." The professor has missed out on teaching i.e. dissemination of knowledge, in the purpose of a university. University has to do both - teaching and research. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University, "A university (Latin: "universitas", "a whole") is an institution of higher education and research which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects and provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education." From http://www.staffs.ac.uk/idr/thepurposeofauniversity.html, "The Oxford and Cambridge Act, 1877 defined the purpose of a university in terms of its duty to foster 'religion, education, learning and research', and these objectives ( though the mention of religion has quietly been dropped) are still to be found in Cambridge's statutes as part of the job-description of University Teaching Officers and in Cambridge's latest publications about the evolution of its governance arrangements".

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[The following comment of mine appears on The Hindu article web page under the name Ravi Iyer and is the latest comment as of June 7th 2014 afternoon:

Appreciate the point about instituting student evaluation of courses. It would help in improving teaching quality though students should not misuse it to penalize faculty for reasons like strict evaluation. Author wrote, "The purpose of a university is the creation of knowledge." The professor has missed out on teaching i.e. dissemination of knowledge, in the purpose of a university. University has to do both - teaching and research...About the 16 hours a week teaching load for Asst. Professors (lecturers) in UGC regulations: Very clearly that leaves little time for research. But reducing the time to say half would mean many higher ed. institutions would need to hire more faculty. And so that may not work. Here's a suggestion - Have two types of universities: a teaching intensive one where faculty has higher teaching load and so is less expensive to run and a research intensive one with low teaching load and so more expensive to run.]

Here's the second article, Interest matters, http://www.thehindu.com/features/education/college-and-university/interest-matters/article6069957.ece. Some notes and comments:

* "As the cost of higher education touches new highs, education loans are nearly unavoidable today. How smooth is the process of getting one?" That's the lead paragraph. I am so disappointed by the powerlessness of society to control the costs of higher education. I think India is going down the USA route in professional higher education costs with the danger of student debt traps becoming a major social and so, political issue.

* The author writes that the student loan ranges from Rs. 4 lakh to Rs. 40 lakh. What can I say? I feel very sympathetic towards poor and lower middle class Indian parents and students trapped under the crushing burden of (professional) higher education costs.

* The student loan interest rates are higher than housing and vehicle loans! That is quite shocking news for me.

* The author gives EMI calc. for a Rs. 10 Lakh student loan as Rs. 19,000 per month for seven years, and writes that therefore the student would target a job that pays (minimum) about Rs. 40,000 per month. If anybody still thinks that education in general must not be job-oriented but prepare students for the noble life etc., etc., they should have a rethink as the above sentences are the reality on the ground. Yes, if there are special higher education institutions that provide free or low-cost education, their case is different. But, in the vast majority of especially professional higher education institutions, enrolling for a degree entails significant investment. It has become a business decision. The students and parents have no option but to think about return on investment for the money spent on the degree!

* The article mentions some relief for economically weaker sections where govt. repays interest during students' study period + some time till he gets a job (six months perhaps). But it is not as if the loan is waived for these students. They still have to pay back the loan after finishing their studies. For that they need to get a job that pays real well.

* The article states that if a student fails then the loan may be discontinued! What a Damocles' sword to keep over the neck of the poor indebted student! If you fail, no money! Scary, real scary!

* The article ends with the sentence, "Can this vicious cycle of overpriced education and overburdened young employees be broken?" The only way to break this cycle, it seems to me, is by bringing in low-cost decent quality (it is OK if it is not top quality) higher education which will act as a competitive force to bring down higher ed. costs. And the only such competitive force that I can see on the horizon is online education that awards government recognized degrees (like Georgia Tech, USA & Udacity's Online Master of Science in Computer Science - OMS-CS.)]

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[The following comment of mine appears twice on The Hindu article web page under the names Ravi Iyer and Ravi Ravi, and are the only comments on the article web page as of June 7th 2014 afternoon:

Very informative article about student debt trap in India...I am so disappointed by the powerlessness of society, so far, to control the costs of higher education. I think India is going down the USA route in professional higher education costs with the danger of student debt traps becoming a major social and political issue. Enrolling for a degree in such higher ed. institutions has become a business decision. The students and parents have no option but to think about return on investment for the money spent on the degree!..The only way to break the vicious cycle of high cost education and indebted passed out students, it seems to me, is by bringing in low-cost decent quality (it is OK if it is not top quality) higher education which will act as a competitive force to bring down higher ed. costs. And the only such competitive force that I can see on the horizon is online education that teaches employable skills for free or at very low cost.]

Around the time I sent out a mail with content similar to the above, I received an email newsletter from Aspiring Minds with this article in it, Bridging the Gap between Education and Employment with Aspiring Minds, http://www.aspiringminds.in/researchcell/articles/bridging_the_gap_between_education_and_employment_with_aspiring_minds.html.

Some notes and comments:

* Aspiring Minds has taken the initiative to connect edX MOOC-takers with jobs. Ravi: That's a terrific initiative. I am so happy to know of this.

* Aspiring Minds offered Indian edX learners (second largest group for edX) to register with them for job opportunities, and that offer was taken up by many.

* The article reports that the first student in this group, a final year computer engg. student with a Rajasthan engg. college that does not have a great placement record, and who took a few edX MOOC courses, including "Introduction to Computer Science and Programming", got offered a software trainee job by a software firm (with USA & Rajasthan offices). The article concludes, "This first example is encouraging, and it demonstrates how committed MOOC learners, even those with limited job opportunities, can be connected to employers. This is a first step in achieving the vision of an ideal education-employment ecosystem through MOOCs and we look forward to learning a lot more from this experiment in the next 3-6 months."

This is utterly fascinating to me! So a CS student from a not-so-great (at least from placements point of view) engg. college took the extra initiative of doing CS MOOC course(s) from edX and also registered with AspiringMinds. That led to a seemingly decent job offer. This can be replicated on a larger scale thereby giving CS students and degree holders from not-so-great (and not-so-expensive perhaps) engg. colleges of India to pick up employable skills from edX (and other) MOOC courses (free, as of now), and then land jobs via organizations like AspiringMinds. In fact, even students doing significantly less expensive degrees like B.Sc. in Physics, Chemisty, Maths etc. can do Computer Science/Information Technology MOOC courses and then shoot for a software job. Great work by AspiringMinds. BTW Varun Aggarwal of AspiringMinds, a joint author of this article, is an MIT alumnus, http://www.aspiringminds.in/leadership.html.