Kannur: Colleges affiliated with Kannur University started their postgraduate classes on August 7, Monday, without knowing the curriculum or what subjects and syllabi to teach, and students not knowing which papers to choose or their credits.
Kannur University, which did not revise its post-graduate syllabi for affiliated colleges for eight years, does not even have boards of studies -- the statutory bodies to revise and modify syllabi -- for the past year and a half.
Vice-Chancellor Gopinath Ravindran formed temporary committees for 27 PG programmes in April and asked them to deliver the proposed new syllabi by July 16. But the university approved the regulation or the framework to design the syllabi on Saturday, August 5, that is, on the eve of the beginning of the classes. The ad hoc committees were informally informed of the approval on Saturday.
Kerala Private College Teachers' Association (KPCTA) has slammed the university for its "sheer ineptness" and casual approach towards education. "This fiasco is another example of authorities trying to destroy the standards of the universities," said KPCTA's Kannur regional committee in a statement.
"When the Vice-Chancellor is cornered for favouritism and nepotism, he talks of bringing in global standards in Kannur University. But he could not even frame the syllabi in time for PG programmes," said Dr Shino P Jose, president of the KPCTA's Kannur regional committee. Dr Jose teaches business management at St Pius X College in Kasaragod's Rajapuram.
The KPCTA statement asked the university to disband the "illegally" formed ad hoc committees for revising syllabi and work with the Governor (chancellor of the university) to constitute the boards of studies.
According to teachers in the know, of the 27 ad hoc committees, around 20 have submitted draft syllabi. "But they did without the framework. So the draft will see further changes in terms of credits and nature of projects," said a chairperson of an ad hoc committee.
In the initial days of the ad hoc committees, the university shared a draft regulation riddled with grammar mistakes and contradictory statements, he said. "One paragraph said there will be no minimum marks for CE (continuous evaluation). In another paragraph, the regulation said 10% was needed for CE," he said.
"The draft regulation appeared to be a cut-and-paste job. That's why these contradictions," he said.
Teachers said they had asked for the final regulation several times but they did not get it.
Teachers said the university's section officials were still correcting the codes for subjects in the draft syllabi. "Kannur University is yet to scrutinise the content of the new syllabi," said another teacher from a college in Kannur.
The teachers, employed with government and private colleges, spoke with Onmanorama on the condition of anonymity.
They said PG programme syllabi should be up on the university's website before calling for applications from students. "Students should make an informed decision of selecting a course or subject based on what the university is offering to teach them," said a faculty member.
Another teacher from a private college in Kannur found the stagnant syllabi for PG programmes more shocking. "How can a university be so inert that it did not revise its syllabi for eight years? Take any subject, and there would be a sea change since 2014," she said.
Kannur University revised the syllabi for undergraduate programmes in affiliated colleges in 2019. "So we have a unique situation where UG students are learning new things and PG students are still stuck with the old syllabi," said the English teacher.
For example, the BA English programme in the university has moved to postcolonial literature but the PG programme is still in the colonial era, she said.
A faculty member of Commerce said the university was teaching students accounting based on Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) but India has been following an accounting standard based on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) since 2016-2017. "Thankfully, they modified corporate tax management and introduced GST in 2018," he said.
Kannur University's MBA in Human Resource Management is still stuck with three types of recruitment: campus, internal and external, said Dr Jose of St Pius College. "But IIMs have introduced analytics in HR management," he said. "And we complain of our students not getting jobs," he said.
Seats for students from Manipur
On Monday, Kannur University Vice-Chancellor Prof Ravindran said in a press conference that the university would create new seats to accommodate students from Manipur, torn by ethnic clashes.
He said students from Manipur would be given time till they complete their studies at Kannur University to produce documents to prove their present educational qualifications. "Such initiatives are a first in the country. But if only the VC has readied the syllabus first so that students from Manipur could make a choice," he said.
Boards of studies and clash with the Governor
Kannur University's boards of studies have a tenure of three years. The vice-chancellor reconstituted 71 boards of studies and constituted one new board of studies for UG and PG programmes in August 2021.
But the Kerala Private College Teachers' Association's Dr Shino P Jose moved the high court accusing the university of infesting the boards with ineligible persons. "There were 800 members in the 71 boards of studies. Of which 60 of them were ineligible. They did not have NET or PhD, or they were not teachers approved by the university," he said. Most of the members made it to the boards because of their political affiliations.
Dr Jose moved the high court challenging the boards of studies of the Faculty of Commerce and the Faculty of Management Studies.
"We did not have money to challenge the constitution of other boards," he said.
Apart from placing ineligible persons, the university also usurped the powers of the Governor to nominate members to the board of studies.
The single bench rejected their plea but the division bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly quashed the university's notification constituting the boards in March 2022. The boards were quashed because the university "did not secure or obtain any recommendation from the Chancellor of Kannur University. They have no right to continue", the order said.
Later, the university sent the same list of 800 members to the Chancellor seeking his approval. "The Chancellor rejected it saying his responsibility as per the Kannur University Act and the statutes is to nominate members to the board not approve the decision taken by the vice-chancellor," said Dr Jose.
The university wrote back again asking the governor to nominate teachers to the boards of studies but the vice-chancellor did not send a panel of names apart from the pre-decided 800 members. "But I prepared a list of around 100 teachers who have the required qualifications to be on the board and sent it to the governor," he said.
The logjam between the Governor and the university continues. In the meantime, the university on April 20 formed 27 ad hoc committees to revise the curriculum and syllabus of PG programmes in affiliated colleges because "the reconstitution of boards of studies" is still under the consideration of the Hon'ble Chancellor". Neither the ad hoc committee nor the university delivered.
