The University Grants Commission (UGC) has granted the University of Madras, a public state university, full autonomy. The move comes after the university achieved A++ accreditation from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) last year, obtaining a category-1 status.
To an outsider, the high rankings would indicate that the university has performed well on all assessment parameters. But the ground reality could not be more different. Despite achieving these benchmarks, the university has taken a hit on all fronts – inadequate funding, lack of proper infrastructure, academic discrepancies and an unconducive learning environment.
Financial crisis
Caught in the disaccord between the state and Union governments, the university has suffered tremendously due to insufficient funds. The IT department froze its bank accounts over non-payment of Rs 424 crore tax dues, resulting in non-teaching staff going without salaries for several months. The university managed to scramble funds to pay the staff only after they organised a strike.
The university has also not received funds from the Tamil Nadu government for the past seven years, citing audit objections. Even after a year of obtaining category-1 status, which made the university eligible to receive additional funds from the Union government, the university remains fund-starved. The standoff between the state and the Union government has also left the university without a Vice Chancellor for over a year now, exacerbating the issues faced by the institution.
The University of Madras is dubbed as the ‘mother of all South Indian universities’ as several colleges in Tamil Nadu come under its ambit. The institution is highly sought after by many students, particularly from nearby districts, with a significant number being first-generation learners.
University of Madras in Chennai. Photo: Wikimedia commons.
One of the main reasons students from smaller districts flock to this institution is its low fees for postgraduate courses and PhDs, along with the hope that the university will live up to its reputation. The institution also offers scholarships and other fee waivers.
While an autonomous status offers financial independence, it also raises concerns about potential fee hikes. Last year, the varsity hiked the PhD fees which received significant backlash from students. The Students Federation of India (SFI) launched a protest to revert to the old fee structure, but without much success.
The decision to increase the PhD fee was not formally announced, allege students. The university website still shows the old fee structure, but some PhD students who spoke to this author said that they had been informed about the fee hike while submitting their thesis and paid an amount of Rs 18,000 instead of the Rs 8,000 on the varsity site.
Stifling student voices
The University of Madras boasts of illustrious alumni from various disciplines, including Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, V.V. Giri, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, R. Venkataraman and Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Ironically, the varsity has left no room for student leaders to emerge on campus and the administration has curbed any attempts at forming a student body for years.
Even a student’s attempt to ask questions around campus is seen as hostile. Absence of a formal student body has resulted in students being unable to speak up about the shortfalls and injustices in the university, stunting their growth as well-rounded, politically aware citizens.
While SFI students occasionally manage to organise peaceful protests, they face severe backlash from the administration. The Sociology department at the Chepauk campus went as far as issuing a declaration, to be signed by students and parents, stating that students shouldn’t participate in protests and that they could be dismissed if found doing so.
Mirdhula, SFI Chennai Central District Secretary, a former student of the University of Madras, who continues to work at the grassroots level of student activism, said, “The students should have a democratic space within the university to voice their opinions. The sole purpose of the institution is to provide students a platform to explore their potentials. It is saddening to see that the university has not taken steps to establish a student body. There is a senate and a syndicate that takes all the academic decisions for the institution; there is no student representation or consultation from students before taking decisions that impact students. There is no scope for the students to voice out their needs and, as a result, there is a lack of student-centric policies.”
University of Madras in Chennai. Photo: Wikimedia commons.
She also said that universities have a dynamic environment where people from various ideologies and socio-economic backgrounds come to study. It should be a place that fosters enriching intellectual discussions and helps people voice out their opinions and be considerate toward others’ views. “Jawaharlal Nehru University [in Delhi] has been the hotspot for student activism; our university has the potential too. It is disheartening to see students come to a place like Madras University and walk out of it without experiencing such discourse.”
In 2015, Madras University students had staged protests demanding a student union, after a French National of Sri Lankan Tamil origin was manhandled by the university staff for asking questions about flood relief operations in a seminar. However, not much has changed.
Dr. Ramu Manivannan, former head of department of Politics and Public Administration, at the University of Madras, said, “Neither the university administration nor the State Government encouraged or wanted to establish a student body. University of Madras being the flagship of universities in Tamil Nadu, they knew the potential of the students movement and the students’ politics and never wanted it to turn into a political movement.” He had continuously raised voices against discrepancies in the university and had supported students who voiced out their opinions.
“It has become a system which is accountable to no one, either to the government or to the students or to the public. In the process everything got affected, the quality of teaching recruitment of teachers and students enrollment, there is nobody to question the situation. The university bureaucracy is worse than the government bureaucracy. Wherever there is such a decay there is an oppression of students, because if you ask questions, you’ll either be failed or you’ll be dragged with low marks in internal assessment. The university system is disempowering for students and this has been the trend in the university for a long time.” Manivannan added.
‘Lack of digitalisation has led to exploitation’
Lack of transparency in maintaining students’ attendance records is another problem plaguing the university.
At a time when several universities have adopted online portals, allowing students to keep a track of their attendance and their academic profiles, the University of Madras has no such provision. The alleged non compliance with attendance rules under the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) poses a significant challenge for students, who claim professors manipulate the rules to their liking.
Allegations of faculty high-handedness and improper communication endure with a post graduate student, Tamil Kumaran, claiming, “The faculty barred me from appearing for a core subject exam for three semesters, citing shortage of attendance. They did not specify the required percentages for redoing courses, condonation or reappearing for exams. Additionally, they only disclosed attendance percentages a few days before the exams, after the hall tickets had been distributed, leaving me with no time to address my situation. When I consulted the CBCS, all it gave was negligent responses. Now, I am left to redo the semester for that single subject, which has derailed my academic progress. This has happened not just with me, but several other students, it has become routine to withhold students from getting their degrees. The university should leverage technology to enhance transparency and fairness for all students.”
Outdated syllabus
In addition to battling a broken attendance system, students are also putting up with outdated syllabus being taught in a few departments.
Another tiresome task is having to visit each department to apply for electives, only to find that many of the options listed in the university prospectus aren’t actually available.
While most colleges offer online portals for elective applications, students here must go from department to department in search of available options. Some even travel to other campuses to find suitable electives. A few departments do consider these challenges and make extra efforts by admitting more students into their electives.
“As a student from another state, I had a hard time finding electives as some were taught in Tamil. There were only a handful of electives that I could choose from, though the university prospectus on the website showed many options that I could choose from. Some departments didn’t offer electives to students from other departments. We weren’t allowed to take Swayam courses as well, but the prospectus does have a mandate to take those courses. It was a tiresome task to find suitable electives,” said Sona Binu, former post graduate student.
Lack of proper infrastructure
The ill-maintained infrastructure and scarce restrooms have also added to the students’ problems. What is striking then is the fact that the university managed to secure A++ accreditation. This too came at the cost of students cleaning their own classrooms, as the administration left no stone unturned to impress the visiting officials. Students were allegedly strictly instructed not to provide any negative feedback to the NAAC committee.
The university made sure that the campus was thoroughly cleaned to mask their failure in maintaining it all year-round. This, when the university was criticised last year for resorting to manual scavenging to make sure that the campus was in shape before a presidential visit.
An asbestos sheet and minimal seating is what constitutes a canteen at the university, serving unhygienic food to students. The impressive, British-built university now hosts dilapidated classrooms and an apathetic administration. The only solace for students is the view of the Marina beach from the university, the Indo-Saracenic architecture and the library that provides a quiet place to study.
The heritage of the 166-year-old university has been its primary asset, keeping the institution afloat. While autonomy would help relieve its financial burdens, the institution is in dire need of reformative measures to create a conducive learning environment for students. It must prioritise digitalisation, infrastructural growth, revamping of academics, transparency in administration, student wellbeing and careful introspection.
R. Amanda Miriam Fernandez is a journalist and has recently completed her post graduation from the University of Madras.
