Reluctant to ruffle the feathers of the academic community, the government is going slow on its plan to implement a split vacation system in colleges.
The lukewarm response of the stakeholders to the proposal has made it almost certain that the two-month annual vacation pattern, i.e. from April to May, will continue.
Response
The Higher Education Department had sought the response of State universities towards the feasibility of replacing the existing system with a split pattern to schedule vacation for November and May.
The proposal was mooted by the Kerala State Higher Education Council, which maintained that the reform would maximise the mandatory number of teaching days in a semester and facilite the smooth conduct of examinations. It was envisaged to ensure a minimum of 450 contact hours distributed over 90 working days under the scheme. Citing the experiences of the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, where the system has been in place since 2002, and Mahatma Gandhi University, which implemented the split system for two years from the 2011-12 academic year, the council pointed out that the reform could clear backlog in the publication of results as well as eliminate teacher absenteeism in examination and valuation duties.
However, the proposal has not found favour among the majority of teaching and non-teaching staff in higher education institutions. Notably, no university except the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit backed the proposal.
“Most universities have expressed their reservations on replacing the vacation pattern. Many cited the logistical difficulties that could arise by way of coordinating with a large number of affiliating colleges to implement the reform,” an official said.
No pressing need
Asserting that there existed no pressing need to overhaul the existing system, most universities also highlighted the progress attained towards meeting the government’s target of commencing the next academic year on June 1. Besides, there have been significant improvement in publishing examination results within stipulated deadlines under the current vacation system.
Other reasons that have been cited include the prevalence of water shortage that various parts of the State experienced during the months of April and May.
The government has opted against upsetting the existing arrangement and creating discontent among the stakeholders in the sector.