The era we live in is influenced by forces of globalization, knowledge societies, revolution in science and technology and business mergers resulting in synergy of operations. These forces are closely interlinked giving rise to hyper competition in all human endeavours, making new demands and posing fresh challenges to the existing systems. This being so, knowledge has become an essential commodity and the knowledge industry a driving force for advancement of societies. To thrive in this type of rapidly evolving environment, Clustering of Academic Organizations becomes a necessity.
The idea of ‘Clustering Academic Organizations’ seems to have been borrowed from Business and Economics to take care of ‘Theory of Constraints’, ‘Limiting Factors’ and ‘Regional Developments’. A ‘Cluster’, in the context of Knowledge Industry, can be explained as a group of academic organizations that are linked with each other and operate closely to act as a composite Unit (University). The concept combines the best in traditional systems with new opportunities for knowledge enhancement. The idea behind a Cluster University is to delink a few smaller units (colleges) from the main server (State University), consolidate their position and relink these units by merging them into a composite one so as to achieve synergy between the units functioning. Obviously, when smaller units are converted into a cluster, working becomes more flexible and quality is enhanced. The concept of a Cluster University revolves around atleast a set of three objectives:
1. Pooling of Resources;
2. Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) Improvement; and
3. Reduction in State University Student Workload.
It is noteworthy that India is gradually evolving as a knowledge-based-economy. It is a young mens country and has the advantage of ‘Demographic Dividend’ (young working population) which needs to be utilized optimally. But most of the State Universities are overloaded with hundreds of affiliated colleges. In an effort to ease workload of these Universities, the Cluster University System has come into existence as a novel and innovative intervention giving National Education Sector a new direction. Thus, to club together and share physical, technical and human resources for mutual benefit of stakeholders aiming to result in optimal utilization of organizational resources, introduction of Cluster University System becomes an essential. This idea has also attracted the attention of planners to revisit higher education system for holistic reform due to low GER and mismatch between high demand and low intake capacity (demand ratio being high). GER is a ratio of persons enrolled in higher education sector to total population of persons in the age group of 18-23 years. The first eighteen years of the 21st century reportedly witnessed unprecedented expansion of higher educational institutions with a network of 903 Universities, 39050 Colleges and 11,669 stand-alone institutions. Further, 30 Institutes of Eminence are likely to be created in near future. This makes Indian Higher Education System the third largest one in the world only next to the US and China. However, the GER is still low as compared to other emerging economies in the world and thus has been a matter of great concern. Pertinently, during 2014-15 India’s GER (18.80 per cent) in higher education was reported to be the lowest among the BRICS nations– Brazil (46 per cent), Russia (78 per cent), China (43.39 per cent) and South Africa (20 per cent). In view of these figures, the union government is eager to register an increase in the GER which has improved to 25.80 per cent during 2017-18 and is expected to reach 30 per cent by 2020-21. It may be mentioned here that access to education differs widely across states. The GER for the J&K State is even worse (18.2 per cent-Provisional). This speaks volumes about having Cluster Universities, their importance and role in enhancing GER in states like that of J&K. The infrastructure development of these Universities is funded through the National Higher Education Mission (known as Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan-RUSA), the centrally sponsored scheme which aims to achieve equity-access-excellence in higher education.
It is disheartening to note that a major chunk of eligible youth in the relevant age group of our society is unable to pursue higher education due to limited number of seats available in institutes of higher learning. In order to provide them equal opportunities of access to higher education and reap the maximum benefits of Academic Clustering, Demographic Dividend, correct mismatch between High Demand and Low Intake Capacity (demand and supply) and improve GER, the Cluster University Srinagar (CUS) has been established for the purpose under the Kashmir and Jammu Cluster Universities Act, 2016. The mandate of the CUS is reported to provide opportunities to the aspiring students of the State to pursue higher education. Apart from this, it aims to bridge the critical gaps in specialized disciplines and thus ensure highly employable talent pool by up skilling the youth. The CUS is spread over to five premier colleges (conversion of academic institutions in a cluster) like SP College, Srinagar (1905), Amar Singh College, Srinagar (1942); Institute of Advanced Studies in Education (IASE) Srinagar (1948), Government Women College, MA Road, Srinagar (1950) and Government Abdul Ahad Azad Memorial College, Bemina Srinagar (1970) with the strong and adequate infrastructure in the shape of splendid sports fields, rich libraries, laboratories, auditoria, seminar halls and other academic, physical and technical facilities.
It may be indicated here that a society is known for its institutions. Strong societies nurture strong institutions which in turn help in translating challenges into opportunities. They also play a vital role in shaping and securing the destiny of future generations. Dr Haseeb A Drabu (former FM J&K State) is probably correct in his opinion that Kashmir society has only two institutions worth mentioning–the J&K Bank (1938) and the SKIMS (1970)-the Vision Document of J&K Bank was the brainchild of Pochkhanwala and the Founder Director of SKIMS was Dr Ajay Nagpaul– Yes, a point to ponder over. Therefore, it is very essential to promote higher order academic institutions to serve Kashmir society better thus enabling the youth to stand competitive in rapidly changing globalized economy. This naturally calls for more sustained efforts in addressing the disparities of access to knowledge. In such a scenario, the CUS is expected to play an added role in removing the disparities and sharpening the competencies of its clientele. To make the functioning of the Cluster University Srinagar vibrant, the following observations are put forth:
• Prepare itself for the NAAC Assessment and Accreditation as an independent entity and a composite unit with due recognition under Section 2 (F) and 12(B) of the UGC Act, 1956;
• Meetings regulating academic governance may be held which reportedly have not been organized as of now;
• Right from day one, the core functionaries (Vice-Chancellor, Registrar, Controller of Examinations, Deans and Principals) understandably have not worked in unison to shape the new concept so as to realize its objectives;
• Until now the University has not come out with any academic document (viz Vision Document, Annual Activity Report, Annual Accounts Report, etc.) either in print or in digital form to share the functioning of the University with the society;
• The University culture does not appear to have been created on the campus. Further, the student movement intra-university (one school to another) may be ensured to earn credits under choice based credit system;
• The positions of Principals may be converted into Directors-cum-Deans for all the five schools as the positions of Deans have not been created as yet;
• Efforts need to be put in for real conversion in terms of different schools of intellectual pursuit like School of Sciences; School of Social Sciences; School of Humanities and Liberal Arts; School of Engineering and Technology; and School of Education;
• No critical gaps that hamper the functioning of the schools have been identified so that initiatives can be taken to plug the gaps to improve the functioning of the system; and
• Make preparations for first convocation right now as a good amount of time period is consumed in making arrangements for certificates, medals, academic robes and the like.
From what has been stated above, it can be easily deduced that the world economy is experiencing an unprecedented change. To stand competitive the onus lies on the CUS as well which should come forward and make a mark in knowledge industry. The University needs to ensure that the students gain not just depth of knowledge in terms of academic disciplines but also holistic personality, skills and values that would equip them to face the real world challenges.
This article is dedicated to late Prof Khurshid A Khan, an inspirational teacher
These writers are former Commerce Teachers
mahajan27@rediffmail.com / manshah7@rediffmail.com /gilkarna@redifffmail.com