In the recent past there has been an excessive insistence upon quality assurance in higher education, especially in the universities offering post graduate degrees. President and intermittent evaluation by national-level professional bodies like NAAC has forced universities and colleges to show their worth in both quantitative and qualitative terms. As a consequence, various reformatory exercises have been incorporated in the name of quality and excellence, viz., semester system, interdisciplinary courses, seminars and conferences continuous assessments and so on.Whether or not the quality has improved, but one thing for sure has happened, i.e., the number of courses being offered has increased manifold. More and more colleges are offering post graduate courses, racing with each other to excel (in numbers). The number of pass-outs(though unemployables) in these courses has correspondingly increased substantially. More courses and more examinees also mean huge examination work. With the enhancement of evaluation and paper setting remunerations, the tasks have become much more attractive too, with enormous financial  benefits. It, of course, is very good incentive offered to the teaching community which has to spend vacations marking the answer books. But the important question is that despite the hiked remuneration , why is there a greater incidence for irresponsibly set question papers, evaluations, etc.?

Every other day, there is a ruckus created by examinees over the incorrect question paper. Further, with greater claims of objectivity and excellence, merit seems to be sinking to its lowest, with politics paving the way to affiliation to the new courses, recruitment to the teaching and non-teaching positions, handling students demands, tackling indiscipline among teachers and so on. One attribute that has surpassed anything else is an extreme indifference among both teachers as well as students towards the functioning of the system.

With the coming of globalization and dissolution of national borders, there is a huge out flux of students to countries like the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, new Zealand, etc., because higher education in these countries is considered to be of a much better quality. The question still remains as to why university grants commission (UGC), spending now immensely generous grants to universities, colleges and individual researches, having worked hard to ensure quality assurance in education and research, has failed to achieve its objective. The answer is not that difficult to find.

Most of the higher education institutions are run not by academies but politicians; more dangerously, a deadly combination of the two, who then mix their political agendas with teaching. They keep shouting for better quality of teaching and research, while pursuing their own personal interests, often damaging the well-being of others and even the institutions that happens to be their alma mater.

Often in highly powerful positions, it is these policy makers at higher education institutions who are the first to send their children abroad for higher studies on the plea that education here is no good (courtesy their own efforts). Earlier, these were a handful but now they dominate numerically as well as otherwise in the governing bodies of all universities and colleges. No institutions can grow and show quality performance if its incumbents keep busy pursuing their own professional careers giving a hoot to the welfare of the institution, and exactly this has been happening.

Very often, people remain a part of public institution just for the tag it bestows upon them, which they use for benefits elsewhere. Is quality something that can be transplanted n an institution from outside by force, or by a mere policy or by incorporating a new system? Absolutely not! Quality comes with a cost and that cost consists of self discipline as well as capacity and will power to discipline others under one’s influence; a respect of rule of law. With a zero tolerance for rule-bending; and most important, merging of personal and institutional interests. If we are not prepared to pay this cost, we have no right to complain against the poor quality of education in our own country, to which each one of us has contributed.

So long as education remains a tool mainly to grab a prestigious position, with the sole objective to enjoy individual promotion, financially, professionally, politically or otherwise, it can never have quality. It’s only when you know how dirty the water is that you do not allow your own child to swim in it and that is exactly what is being done.

While our planners and academic leaders have in the recent past been aggressively building a strong case for an “inclusive India”, we have ourselves divided it irreparably into those squeezing the best here and then flying abroad and other with no option but to keep floating in the med without complaining. Such has been the height of insensitivity that we don’t even waste a second in snatching the lawful right of another person who is more talented and deserving in matters of admission, recruitment or promotion. It is normal to go ahead crushing hundreds of more deserving “others” in the race for “success” because those others have no voice. W have done a huge harm to our public institutions, making a mockery of good governance, let us spare at least the “so-called” temples of learning, allowing our young children to inherit quality education, and not the political game playing, which directly hits a quality.