No land for Vice-Chancellors

For some long, the state government has been boasting about making higher education in Kerala on par with elite standards. The higher education minister is hopeful of stopping the exodus of Kerala students to foreign countries for education. The officials are still making vainglorious statements about the higher education sector in Kerala but are shrewdly turning a blind eye to the ongoing predicament within Kerala universities.

The universities have turned into a battleground to settle scores between the governor and the government. The tussle over selecting the vice chancellor has surpassed a year and both sides are showing no signs of relenting. The governor and the government have yet to agree on who has the authority to form the search committee. Even the court failed to settle the matter for good, resulting in ambiguity over leadership in universities.

Perhaps only Kerala has so many universities in the country without VCs. If the situation continues, it won’t be long for a new argument to surface asking about the need for vice-chancellors at all.

Kerala University, the first university in the state, functions with a vice-chancellor. He too is vacating the chair at the end of this month. At present, only the University of Health Science has a permanent VC. Now the university administration is moving forward by giving temporary charge of VC to senior professors. To appoint permanent VCs, legal procedures for the same have to be completed. For that, there should be reconciliation between the governor and the government. Considering the present state, a détente is nowhere in sight.

The university governing bodies are currently enjoying the perks of being under their political masters and are slowly turning to loathe the appointment of vice-chancellors, which may disrupt their current jovial days. All its shortcomings and inadequacies are evident in the university administration. Meanwhile, the political elites pretend not to see the damage happening in the academic field.

On another note, no agreement has been reached regarding the four-year undergraduate courses implemented this year with much fanfare. Despite the Governor-Government war, both sides are putting in serious efforts to appoint VCs of their choice in universities.

A move is underway to appoint a person as Digital University VC. Interestingly, the same person carries a dubious track record and was earlier dismissed by the Supreme Court from the position of Technical University VC.

A recommendation in this regard has been given to the Governor. One should not miss the abominable government action of retaliation by not giving pension benefits to KTU Vice Chancellor Ciza Thomas, who started the governor-government war. It is shameful that the government is using all its machinery to harm someone out of political vendetta.

Making our higher education standards on par with elite standards can wait but it is pertinent for universities to function under vice-chancellors. Considering the political climate, it will be possible only when the current governor resigns from office.