‘Contractual appointments discouraging scholars to join teaching profession’

The Tribune interview

Dr Lakhwinder Singh Gill who recently retired as Deputy Director, Directorate of Public Instructions (DPI), Colleges, has a vast teaching experience. Before being promoted, he had been teaching the English Department of the SR Government College for Women for two decades. He penned three books in English and published articles in many prestigious national and international journals. Associated with Ekam Sahit Manch, Amritsar, writing poetry in Punjabi is his passion. His poem “Mera Pind Bolia” was much acclaimed in literary circles and it was telecast by Doordarshan Jalandhar. His book on poetry “Tu Kion Nahi Bolda” was lapped up by commoners. Hailing from a remote village near Dera Naba Nanak, he finished his schooling from the village school and did his MA, MPhil and PhD from Guru Nanak Dev University. In conversation with Neeraj Bagga, he gives his views on contemporary education, global impact and future needs.

What is the present status of higher education here?

As new universities, new colleges are being started and new courses are being introduced in the higher education institutions, the contemporary scenario seems quite encouraging. There is no deficit of physical infrastructure in government or private colleges. Under Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) scheme the entire infrastructure in government colleges was updated and renovated. Even state universities gained much from this scheme for updating their infrastructure. The only grey area is the lack of intellectual infrastructure in the department of higher education. No regular recruitment in government colleges since many years and no regular appointments in the universities are the grey areas in the higher education department. Ad-hocism or contract appointments are discouraging scholars to join teaching in colleges and universities. When a PhD and UGC-NET clear scholar does not get regular job and remains underpaid it leads to frustration among the deserving teachers.

Do our youth both from rural and urban segments are equipped fully to face the global challenges?

Private institutions in the state are playing major role in contributing to the quality education in the state as they are better equipped with physical and intellectual infrastructure. No doubt the school education, barring remote rural area, is also doing well in the recent times. So the higher education institutions are getting good stuff to be trained to grapple with the global challenges. Here the problem is only for the poor segment of society that can’t afford higher education because it is too expensive for the brilliant students coming from impoverished background.

Do we have adequate courses available in the higher education to match the market driven job sectors in the country?

Here only universities and some selected institutions have been able to do full justice with the newly introduced subjects and with the enrolled students. Some institutions don’t have well equipped labs and workshops for practical subjects. They provide theoretical training only. It is not adequate to make a student master of his/her chosen subject. Hence, students should be extra careful when they choose institutions for their higher education.

What is the reason behind a large number of youth migrating to developed countries every year?

The real cause of migration of the youth to the foreign lands is job insecurity here. When they see their seniors being underpaid and working on ad hoc for years together, they prefer to leave the country which is very unfortunate. There, at least, they have the feeling of security that they will get what they deserve. No doubt, we do have the quality institutes for the youth but fear of unemployment is always there. It is a known fact that some popular private institutions show big dreams of campus-placements after the completion of their professional courses but that turns out to be stage managed show most of the times. So lack of trust of the youth in private institutions also adds to the fear of joblessness among the youth and so they prefer to migrate to the countries where they feel they can get suitable job after finishing their education.

Give your opinion on new National Education Policy?

New National Education Policy promotes autonomy and liberalisation in higher education. With a view to develop multidimensional personality among students, it opens up entry and exit points for the students. At any stage of his course the student can leave course and adopt the other one of his choice. Moreover, the stress is also on the vocationalisation of education and introduction of ethical teaching in education to address the rising graph of crime in the society. But the biggest fear in the new education policy is the implementation of it in letter and spirit. There is no surety of financial help from the state without which the implementation of such a policy is an uphill task for the academic institutions. There is no provision of special consideration for geographically and socially backward areas. The policy is uniform in spirit but that uniformity is missing in our prevalent system where every state and every university has its own yardstick so far. Above all, there is no clear cut reference to the pay pattern of teachers teaching in universities and colleges which can further result in exploitation of teachers at the hands of the managements.