Speaking at the launch of student activities at K V Institute of Education here on Friday, the Registrar said that out of 2,500 institutes of higher learning surveyed by the Council, only 22 pc were found to be of higher quality, 42 pc of middle quality and the rest were inferior. He lamented that none of the Indian universities have found a place in the list of 100 best varsities of the world. Jawaharlal Nehru University has been ranked 260 in the global quality order.
National progress
Talwar said the survey report stands testimony to the declining standards of higher education in the country and nation cannot progress without enhancing the quality of higher education. The educational institutes shoulder greater responsibility in this behalf, he noted.
High schools have been opened in every three kilometres and pre-university colleges every ten kilometres. Degree colleges have been established at every 15-20 km and universities in a range of 30 to 50 km. However, there has been no improvement in the quality of education. The task cannot be achieved unless teachers make honest efforts in this behalf.
Talwar disclosed that 23 pc of the teachers are not taking classes in spite of coming to school. Bihar tops the country in this regard with 32 pc. According to a World Bank survey conducted in 2007, fifty percent of the children have still remained illiterate even after introduction of schemes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. “This is an alarming situation and calls for serious action on the part of Education Department,” he noted.
Deputy Director of Public Instruction, C U Chandrashekhar said that Chikkaballapur district has been selected for National Secondary Education Campaign and the programme is being implemented in 104 high schools in the district. Steps have been taken to provide quality education at high school level. Infrastructure will be provided to all high schools within three years.
While the 3-4 per cent of students are dropping out of school in the primary education level, the number is almost ten times - 30 to 40 per cent in high school levels. This calls for comprehensive changes in secondary education, he said.
Principal of Dr Ambedkar Institute of Education, Dr Somashekhar said that the prevailing scenario in the state is not conducive for imparting quality education. He attributed the poor state of affairs to mushrooming of BEd and DEd colleges. While the number of BEd colleges stood at 69 four years ago, it has crossed 250 now. Students who secure admission are not attending classes. “They are being allowed to attend for the examination at once. This phenomena has resulted in dwindling quality of education,” he lamented.
Chairman of K V and Panchagiri Endowment K V Naveen Kiran said that rather than unemployment, the factors contributing for unemployment were on the rise. He opined that there was a need to conduct a study to look into such factors and seek remedy for the malady.
Principal K R Nagabhushan, education expert Prof N Shivarama Reddy, lecturers Shekhar, Lakshminarayana and others were present.