By Pradnya Gaonkar

Numerous educational institutions are under the Directorate of Higher Education’s scanner.

NON-government institutions offering higher education degree courses have come under the scanner of the Directorate of Higher Education, Goa. The severe jolt was felt after the Directorate of Education cracked the whip against two institutions in the state for not fulfilling the required criteria to start a higher education institute in the state. The two institutions, IIAS Miramar and Pragati Women’s College of Education, have been issued show cause notices and ordered to submit a reply to the Directorate of Higher Education for not fulfilling the required norms. In addition to other shortcomings listed by the Directorate of Higher Education with regard to the two institutions, the main point that has come to the forefront is the affiliation of an education institution in the state to Goa University in terms of Section 6(1) and (2) of the Goa University Act, 1984.

According to the Act, ‘no institution situated within the state of Goa shall be associated in any way with or be admitted to any privileges of any other university, and any such privileges granted by such other university to any educational institution within the state of Goa prior to the commencement of this Act shall be deemed to be withdrawn on the commencement of this Act. Provided that, the Government may by order in writing, direct that the provisions of this sub-section shall not apply in the case of any institution specified in the order.’

UNIV ACT

THE conditions of this Act dents the ‘credentials’ of the various private educational institutes running the business in the state claiming to be recognised by universities from other states. This move of the Directorate of Education has gained more significance after the central government’s step to cancel the recognition of 44 deemed universities in the country on January 18, 2010. The government’s decision spurred protests by around two lakh students across the country who acquired higher education in the blacklisted universities. But the process for cancelation came to a halt after the Supreme Court directed the government to maintain status quo on the decision to cancel the recognition earlier issued by the Ministry of Human Resources. A bench of justices Dalveer Bhandari and A K Patnaik passed the order despite the Government’s assurance that no follow-up action would be taken against these institutions without the consent of the court.

The apex court also issued notices to all the 44 deemed universities as also their parent universities to file their response to the government’s decision to de-recognise them. The apex court has assured them that it will not pass any adverse order without hearing them as the issue not only involves several institutions but also two lakh students. It further directed the union government to place on record the reports of the Review Committee and the Task Force on the basis of which the Human Resource Development Ministry had decided to crack the whip on the 44 universities. It also asked the University Grants Commission (UGC) to place its earlier report on the basis of which the Ministry had accorded deemed status to these institutions.

There are no deemed universities in Goa, but there are learning centres affiliated to these universities. All universities outside Goa claiming recognition from UGC declare that they have no agents to enrol or admit students on their behalf. But there is still a boom in private correspondence and tutorial colleges in Goa promising easy degrees within the shortest possible time. The Directorate of Education is now checking on the credentials of an institute run by the Vinayak Mission. According to media reports, Director of Education, Bhaskar Nayak, claimed that ten illegal institutes are under the scanner of the Directorate of Higher Education. The majority of these are offering hotel management and catering technology courses. “We are in the process of finding out if more academies are in operation,” informs Bhaskar Nayak. Nayak told Goan Observer that it was brought to the notice that these institutions have failed to obtain a no objection certificate from Directorate of Higher Education, which is the initial criteria to set up an education institution in the state. He pointed out to Section 6 of the Goa University Act, 1984 and said that they have initiated the drive against these unauthorised educational institutes who have been running ‘agency business’ in the state.

CREDENTIALS

WITH limited seats available and many aspirants to get higher education degrees, students approach private institutes by paying fees extending to lakhs of rupees. Reportedly most of the 44 deemed universities to be de-recognised are run by politicians or their heirs. The claim is that the institutes are recognised by the UGC but most admission seekers forget to scrutinise their authenticity. Every year, 5-10,000 Goan students purchase various degrees and diplomas. At times, the facilities provided at these institutes are not on par with the fees paid. In case of Pragati Women’s College of Education (B.Ed) of the Sarvodaya Shikshan Sanstha, Devgad, Bhaskar Nayak found that the college has poor amenities in all aspects such as infrastructure in terms of library, toilet blocks, etc. The whole college is housed in a small three-storied building in a plinth area of about 300 sq ms with the top floor as open air terrace rooms, which is also used as classrooms or examination halls. None of the teachers are qualified in terms of the eligibility criteria prescribed in the recruitment rules. The teaching faculty is working on contract basis on meagre salaries. Despite the pathetic facilities available, the institute charges its students Rs.50,000 as fees!

There are around three centres running in Goa having affiliation to the 44 ‘to be de-recognised’ deemed universities and one of them is IIAS School of Management, having offices at Miramar and Porvorim. Last year many parents whose wards studied at IIAS complained that the institution had failed to issue degrees even after completion of the course. IIAS had initially shown affiliation to IASE University, Rajasthan, and now claims to be associated to Madhurai Kamraj University. It is learnt that IASE University was one of the deemed universities listed for de-recognition. Nayak has asserted that Madhurai Kamraj University is a regular varsity and the IIAS which calls itself a distance-learning centre cannot be affiliated to this university. The Directorate had issued a show-cause notice to IIAS on January 12, 2010 to which the institute has asked for some more time to submit the details.

Hundreds of the students feel cheated and want to file police complaints. There is no ‘educational offences cell’ in the police department. Governments in states like Tamil Nadu have banned institutes offering MPhil and PhD by distance education. There is no such ban in Goa. Since it is not likely that the government will act quickly, parents and students must investigate into the credentials of all educational institutions before seeking admission.