Management and Organization of Indian Universities

The Indian Institute of Advanced Study organized some decades ago a seminar on management and organization of Indian universities, with the University of Mysore, in Mysore. These are being republished again because the topics are very relevant today although the knitty gritty of numbers and other data statistics has certainly changed; quantitatively this is true but qualitatively the issues remain the same despite the new educational policies and commissions. The essentials of various conflicts within the system, because of a fragmented approach, continue to disrupt the implementation of new educational ideas, policies and commissions. It is a truism to state that educational needs are imperative and their problems need to be dealt with urgently. And yet today, apart from quantitative expansion, we remain substantially where we were at the time of India’s Independence, as far as management and organization of Indian universities are concerned.

There is an increasing need for a practical and detailed consideration of the problem of higher education in the context of its organizational framework. The problems of basic reforms which involve curricula, examinations, research quality and scope of facilities, faculty and student unrest, the problems of denominational institutions, medium of instruction, etc. are also of immediate relevance. One of the major areas in this context is the governance of Indian universities. The pattern of university administration has become obsolete and has never received the kind of specialized consideration and planning. Rules, regulations, techniques and red tape have hampered the real purpose of university education.