UoP’s cosmetic exercise only to impress Naac committee?

Naac was formed with the idea of looking into total quality management
The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (Naac) is my idea and it was established in 1994. I have framed the rules, methodology and the entire process of Naac. Actually, way back then, people were not aware of what quality education meant. However, across the globe, the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education has been there to ensure quality education in universities.

I had written concept notes to around 3.6 lakh teachers across the country for their feedback. As many as 183 universities existed that time. I personally visited 85 varsities, made presentations and sought their views.

There are seven beneficiaries to this exercise — including students, teachers, support and technical staff, employers, parents, those who fund educational institutes and society.

It is critically important to decipher the aspirations and demands addressed by stake holders. Infrastructure, core infrastructure (academics), hostel, laboratory and library — everything becomes important. For example, if a boy has to report to the hockey ground at 6 am, the hostel management has to take care that the water pumps are switched on by 4 am. Similarly, if there is a class at 8 in the morning, but the peon has not opened and cleaned the classroom, then along with students even the teacher has to suffer. So, total quality management has to be looked into. Naac is expected to interact with students, parents, industry, teachers and peons — every ingredient for that matter.
Arun Nigvekar, former VC, University of Pune
& former chairman, University Grants Commission

During my tenure, I wouldn’t allow any outside interference in my university
Naac was started during my tenure. It was a good concept, but it became dependent on the report. I believe the UoP should be a self-governing institute. Thus, there should be continuous evaluation. There are many committees like the academic council in the UoP, but is there any deliberation happening there? If not, then why should an external committee step in to evaluate the institute?

The academic council should be keeping a close watch on the courses, content, teaching methodology and books that are used rather than depending on a committee to judge them. I believe in a free and unsuspicious environment in the university, so everyone can work without pressure. The feeling that the governor is the boss should be done away with. During my tenure, I wouldn’t allow any outside interference in my university. The UoP has a vice-chancellor and other members to take care of it.
PR Dubashi, former VC, Goa University

The periodic evaluation helps us upgrade ourselves in all aspects
The accreditation by Naac through internal and external quality evaluation has a long-term benefit for not only the university, but also the students and people in general. It is good that a higher authority monitors, checks and supervises the quality of higher education in India.

This evaluation is carried out compulsorily every five years. The first time the accreditation of the UoP took place was in 2001. Now, it is 2010 that the Naac peer team is visiting the campus for the second time.

The periodic grade awarded to the university helps us update ourselves and we can evaluate how much we have contributed to research and the curriculum, whether we have achieved our potential and our success in collaborating with universities in India and abroad. The most important aspect is finding out whether research studies are taken up and assessed properly by the UoP.

I am confident that the UoP will get an ‘A’ grade this time as well. The university has great and diversified potential with some really unique courses that no other varsity in the state can offer.

The UoP is recognised for its strength of students and stakeholders all over Maharashtra. For example, 288 colleges are affiliated to the National Service Scheme (NSS) and around 4,500 volunteers have been enrolled along with 450 programme officers. The UoP is also one of the best managed universities.

The cosmetic exercise of refurbishing departments before the Naac peer team’s visit is nothing unusual. The team is an intelligent lot and is aware of the reality. The visit involves an interaction with students and the team insists on an authentic self-study report by the institution.

I agree that the media does a good job of pointing out where we lack, so we know which areas need improvement. However, it must also showcase our initiatives, successes and good work.

With the Naac accreditation, there is greater responsibility on the UoP and this becomes a continuous process of improvement and upgradation. Our work should be measured by its quality, not the work hours. However, there is always scope for improvement.
Shakera Inamdar, programme coordinator, National Service Scheme, UoP

We are doing more than enough for the welfare of students
The Naac peer team will do a comparative assessment on the development since the last visit. It will look at whether we have taken steps towards specific improvement to reach the required level of quality in areas like student development, teaching and overall standard of education.

The progress that the UoP has made since the last assessment by Naac is visible in its growth, additional departments and projects that have been undertaken. Due to a rise in competition in the field of education in India, there is tremendous scope for development. I would say that besides Naac, students and parents are the best evaluators of the work done by the UoP. There is no question of the UoP making aesthetic changes before the team’s visit to the campus. The team knows how to evaluate and assess the performance on all parameters. The number of reports the media has carried over the years about our achievements is proof of our performance.

Students from all over Maharashtra, especially rural areas, study in the UoP. We charge every student a nominal fee of Rs2 against the admission under the earn and learn scheme, while offering them Rs50,000 cover as financial support in case of an accident on the campus. On the academic front, we have been consistently winning the Avishkar research competition for the last four years.

We are doing more than enough for students’ welfare. The amount sanctioned for their welfare in 2005 was Rs1.5 crore; this has gone up to Rs8 crore in 2010. Out of this amount, Rs5 crore is used for our earn and learn scheme. The UoP is not a residential institute, but we still provide hostel facility for a nominal fee of Rs215 to students under the earn and learn scheme and Rs500 per term for regular students.
UoP official, working for students’ welfare
(name withheld on request)

The campus is spruced up and students follow discipline when the Naac team visits
All the sprucing up and discipline that one can see at the various departments in the UoP right now is a temporary phase that will vanish once the Naac peer team leaves the campus. Since the team is here, students of MCA, MCS and MBA are wearing their uniforms and identity cards on the campus; this is not the case on regular days. In fact, a few administrative officials are also seen in formals with their identity cards as well. It is true that all this is a cosmetic exercise, with a view to get the top grade from Naac.

The UoP requires an internal bus service to and from places like Swargate and Pune Railway Station for students. There are so many students who come from far-off places in and around Pune. Two years ago, the university had bought two autorickshaws to ferry students from the main gate to the main building. Those autorickshaws may be in the junkyard now because they have not been used for a year. The hostel facility on the campus is inadequate compared to the demand by students coming from rural areas, who cannot afford to rent places in the city. The problems faced by the examination department occur because most of the lower-level staff is employed on contract basis. They have a negligent attitude and are not committed to their work. This department is the soul of the university and thus, should have a permanent staff that is on payroll. I do not know how the administration can be so laid-back about such an important issue.
Sandeep Shinde, general secretary, Rashtrawadi Vidyarthi Parishad & nominated candidate, Senate Election, UoP

This is a rehearsed act to show the UoP in better light to the Naac team
The superficial sprucing up of the UoP departments prior to the Naac team’s visit will not last for long. There is a need for a continuous process of maintaining quality across all parameters. What one sees at present is a rehearsed act to show the UoP in better light to the team. This exposition by a university of repute is least expected.

The hostel capacity must be increased on priority and facilities provided at the hostel should be maintained properly. Students appearing for the MPSC and UPSC examinations must be given priority for the hostel and their stipend should be increased. The SET and NET workshops must be arranged by the UoP itself and efforts should be made towards making the university the main
centre for these examinations.

The UoP campus is one of the biggest and cleanest compared to other universities in the state, but there must be strictures on the external traffic that takes a short cut through the university. This is a big security concern.
Bhausaheb Ghodke, lecturer, UoP affiliated college

Those who wanted to tell Naac team about problems were not allowed to speak
Three days prior to the Naac team’s visit, I was surprised to see that the hostel entrance was freshly painted, the area was cleaned up, the pipes in the bathroom were fixed and some of the geysers were also repaired.

Students were given instructions to talk only glowingly about the UoP if any Naac member questioned us. I have no problem with the department of the women’s studies centre, which I think is the best on the whole campus. However, it does not have a classroom of its own for the MA batch.

Right now, lectures are conducted in one of the commerce department classrooms. The library is also accommodated in that department. We, including some of the faculty, could have given negative feedback to the Naac team.

However, those who were likely to speak in that manner were not selected as representatives to welcome the Naac committee. If this is the approach of the administration, even if the UoP gets an ‘A’ grade, it will not be authentic. This is because it will not be based on an informed review process.
Shrikant Dherange, UoP student

The UoP has been decking up the campus to cover up for its faults
The UoP is putting up its cosmetic face before the Naac team that is visiting the campus. Everyone, right from the topmost officials to the lowliest peon, has put everything else on hold to prepare for the Naac visit. The UoP, after all, wishes to retain its five star ranking, scored during Naac’s earlier visit nine years ago.

The exercise, sadly, is an eyewash. State universities in India, including the UoP, have no place in the world or even Asian rankings of universities. They fare miserably in comparison with universities in the US, UK, Europe, Japan, Singapore and China. This is not surprising in a scenario where mediocrity rules at all levels — teaching, research, publications and projects.

How can it be otherwise, when one half of the teaching faculty is recruited for extra academic reasons? Doctoral research, even if candidates are screened through a cumbersome process of written tests and interviews, will continue to be inferior. Publications are mostly of the backscratching variety. The faculty publish their papers and articles in sub-standard journals whose editors are personally known to them.

Just how insecure the UoP is can be gauged from the fact that departments have been told to dispense with the SWOT analysis that highlights both strengths and weaknesses. Instead they have been advised to project only their strong points. The university openly admits if its weaknesses are brought to the notice of the Naac team, it would affect its score and thereby its collaborations with foreign universities, complete with all the prestige and financial gain that goes with it. What this implies among other things is that the university is so peevish that it cannot stomach
criticism in a bid to do better.

To cover up for its faults, the university has been spending thousands to deck up the campus. Buildings are being painted left, right and centre and potted plants are seen everywhere. Is this what an academic institution of supposed repute should be wasting its time and money on? The message it sends out to the outside world is that since no substantive improvements are possible, all it must effect are cosmetic changes.

The Naac team’s visit this year is nothing more than a whitewashing exercise on the university’s part, both literally and figuratively. However, it is amazing how the university undermines the intelligence of the Naac committee in the process. As if members are so dim-witted that they can be hoodwinked!
UoP professor (name withheld on request)

Students do not even have a representative in the management council
The biggest hitch in the UoP is that students do not have a representative in the management council to voice their problems. Thus, whatever students face at the ground level is never conveyed on that platform because we do not have a representative. The university must conduct students’ elections as per the democratic process in India. There is a students’ council, but no one knows what it does for our welfare. In the hostel, more than three students are crammed into each room. Despite this cold weather, students do not get hot water for bath because most of the geysers are solar powered. The electric geysers are not working. As the hostels are crammed beyond capacity, there is a long queue for hot water every morning. In the last few days, the campus has been decorated like there is a festival. 
Mohan Pote, UoP student