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The success of the course-credit-semester system in Kerala is significant in the light of the prolonged stir by Delhi University teachers against the introduction of the new semester system last year.
Higher education reforms in Kerala, with focus on equity, have created around 1,800 new teaching posts so far, impacting the lives of four lakh students and 20,000 teachers across the State.
Elaborating on the Kerala model, based on democratic participation by the education community, especially teachers, Prof K.N. Panikkar, Chairman of the Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC), said, “There can be no excellence without equity”.
Prof Panikkar was participating in a panel discussion on ‘Emerging Trends in Higher Education' organised jointly by the Pearson Education India and KSHEC here on Wednesday, along with the Human Resource Development Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal; President of Pearson India, Mr Khozem Merchant; educationists Ms Anita Rampal and Prof S. Irfan Habib.
Later, Mr Sibal released two books on reforms in higher education in Kerala, published by Pearson India.
Advocating the need for private investment in education and not blanket privatisation, Prof Panikker said the collaboration model was seeing results in the State, even in the case of foreign universities.
He, however, was not in favour of foreign universities setting up campuses in India because of “cultural implications.”
Mr Sibal, while lauding the Kerala Government's initiatives said higher education reforms were a sticky subject and admitted that there was need for more investment, especially in infrastructure.
“But where do I have the money? If we have to meet the fiscal deficit target of 4.6 per cent of GDP, we have to curtail expenditure. We have to look at MGNREGA wages, the huge subsidy bill etc. So higher learning institutions like Delhi University should raise the money themselves,” he said.
Mr Merchant said the collaborative journey with KSHEC in putting together quality content and training teachers was a great learning experience.
“We have invested £4 billion in India and will continue to do so, especially in the field of digital knowledge, which is the future of education world-wide,” he added.
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