Objects that can’t Object

‘Let the rule of law prevail’ – is this true only for teachers who reacted with only a seven-day strike in installments during a period beginning from 16th July to 30th October, in response to a barrage of letters hurled from the registrar’s office aimed at humiliating teachers who had engaged themselves in saving their dignity and also what they perceive as soul of the higher (non-professional) education. Are we required to shed our right to participate in a process that decides what and how to teach, under the threat of salary cuts? Are we being told that university rules are not that are written in the rule-book but it is the orders of those whom they consider to be the ‘authorities’?
The only mistake the teachers made was that they felt they are part of the education system itself and not mere external instruments for helping just another system, controlled by others, to function. Mr. Justice, teachers were the ones who wanted only the rule of law to prevail and not the University ‘officials’ (not defined as ‘authorities’ in our rule-book), who kept on issuing illegal orders. We are covinced that our University officials can think of destroying this temple of learning by using this as a ladder for achieving personal gains in their life outside the university but we would always like to preserve this and feel pride in considering this to be our sole duty.
We can never imagine of a teacher ‘Dronacharya’ advising Draupadi to have first abided by the orders of ‘Duryodhan’; to have cooperated with 'Duhshasan' in helping him execute the orders by allowing him to make her sit on Duryodhan’s lap after shedding her clothes, before filing a suit and waited for ‘Dhritrashtra’ to have termed the order eventually as illegal. Lots of lives lost in 'Mahabhrata Yuddha' could have been saved had she let the then rule of law to prevail. History has not forgiven Dronacharya for even being a mute witness to a blatant immoral and highly unpardonable act of his 'authorities'. Can our court suggest that a member of ‘Haryana Lawn Tennis Association’, Ruchitra Gehrotra, should have followed the orders of her authority, the founding president of the association, Mr. SPS Rathore? She should have cooperated in her molestation as she had no right to deprive India of many winning medals in the sport? She could have gone to the court afterwards to know whether SPS Rathore’s advances were legal or not as no one else has a right to know or interpret the law.
I am just hoping that these queries will be answered in the final verdict to be delivered on December 13. Only the final verdict will hint whether the teachers made a mistake of not approaching the courts or not. In this era of privatisation, are we supposed to behave as mere objects that cannot object?

Delhi University has lost its case

(An Unfortunate Order by one of the richest Judge of Delhi High Court
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/justice-manmohan-one-of-the-richest-in-delhi-high-court_100315506.html )
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On December 6, with the beginning of the first semester examinations, the demolition of Delhi University would commence after the court order today cleared the hurdles that the teachers tried to put to save the higher education from private "kar-sewaks" of education. The government has earlier succeeded in ruining DCE by detaching it from Delhi University, it has already destroyed the culture of studies in class X by scrapping the board exam, it has also finished the urge among the students for achieving excellence in class XII by introducing grade system, it also scripted dilution of excellence of IITs by doubling its number and trying to introduce medical courses in them and has been making all out efforts to push AIIMS into a state of oblivion by finding ways to hand it over to a private player. Ironically, instead of finding ways to improve other innumerable government educational institutes and to help them in catching up with these centres of academic excellence the government, it appears, has decided to make these at par with those countless failed institutions.
It is strange that in the name of releasing pressure of studies for students the HRD ministry argues in favour of getting rid of exams in Class X and XII but advocates on the other hand, doubling the number of exams for undergraduate courses.
The apathy of Amity’s, Ansal’s, IIPM’s, Lovely’s and Sharda's will soon be over when they will have no one to compete with. All degrees will lose their values as no brand will have any shine left in it. Instances of son of a rickshaw-puller cracking IIT to break into the world of glory will be a news of past as now these institutes will have to obey Ambanis, Mittals, Manmohans, Sonias and Sibals. The queues for getting admission to the Delhi University colleges will slowly and surely be getting shortened with each passing year as very soon our established centres of all round development of students while keeping social service as its prime objective will not be able to stick to this aspect of its glory.
MR. SIBAL, YOU MAY HAVE WON BUT DELHI UNIVERSITY HAS LOST ITS CASE.

Pause, Think and Proceed

Now it is no secret. The designs are out and exposed.
(please visit http://www.tehelka.com/story_main47.asp?filename=Ne201110Proscons.asp# )
What is being imposed is not the semester system, not even the method itself of its implementation but is only part of a larger design to make the Indian education system a market-friendly entity. The era of demand-driven market is over and now the market-controlled economy is out in place. Now they want to decide what should be sowed; what treatment to allow for a disease; which vaccine to make compulsory for us; what one should wear; how one should party; what one should eat and drink; what are we required to be taught and how are we going to be educated. Market controlled knowledge is what they have on their agenda. This was the reason why they never intended to entertain any discussion on the feasibility and desirability of semester system. We have wasted much of our precious time in demonizing Pental and Dinesh but the main culprits are invisible right behind them. Even the government is playing puppet to them. DUTA is left with no option but to prove and show that our system will crumble since it would be unable to bear the load of semesterisation. However it is clear that not only they know this much better than us but are in fact eagerly waiting to witness the collapse of Delhi University as they would like to start their act right after we are finished with ours. Are we creating a favourable background for them to implement their agenda?
AT TIMES I JUST FEAR THAT, IS DUTA FOLLOWING THE LINE THAT THEY WANTED US TO TOW WITHOUT KNOWING THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY FALLING INTO THEIR TRAP.
With the complete picture exposed, will it be wise on our part to let the system fail much to the pleasure of these players. We have already been forced to do enough to repel many of our future admission-seekers who would have otherwise preferred our science honours courses over several infrastructural-rich money-generating private engineering institutions. These institutions are facing very stiff competition from IITs, NITs and some well established state-run engineering colleges and much to their discomfort have recently started losing out to even DU science honours courses. The only way to reverse this recent trend is to somehow script a collapse of these institutions. Detaching DCE from DU and doubling the number of IITs are just a few of such efforts to dilute these brands. With all other ‘Kalidasas’ (out to cut the branch of a tree on which they themselves are resting) like Pental, Dinesh and their team members as well as the HRD ministry trying to ensure the failure of this University, shall we also contribute to this? Are we helping them in building up a situation favourable for initiating creation of autonomous colleges in this University?
With the collapse imminent, what I fear is that they might become successful in projecting us as the culprits of this collapse. Can we devise new methods in this extremely difficult new age? If we can surprise our opponent and put their plan upside down it will ultimately help us in making the right moves.

University with a vision

Is this the vision of our newly appointed vice-chancellor that a university is a place where teachers are engaged in forced-teaching under the threat of withholding their salary? Is this his prescription of achieving excellence in education that teachers must be penalised for not agreeing to sign a bond to relinquish their right of having a say in an academic matter that was hitherto decided by them? Did the Knowledge Commission want the teachers to stop thinking, shed any urge of having an opinion and avoid expressing their views on any academic matter? Does this country need mere teachers who help their students in scoring marks or somehow make them manage to pass out examinations? After all do we need plain tutors or we need inspiring educators. Would we like to produce thinking leaders or we require to create just copy-cats trying to earn bread and butter (also TVs, Cars and other assets)? Do we need nation builders or we just want self-servers. Should an institution be producing innovators or just course-content muggers? Does this nation require average humans with some skill sets or it requires visionaries?
Delhi University alumni have made their impression in all walks of life (i.e. film, theatre, music, art, politics, sports, thinker, writer, science, manufacturing, production and business) because it gave them the environment and opportunity to pursue their passions and also provided them the time to hold on to their interests along with their studies. Unless you acknowledge your strengths before identifying your weaknesses it is impossible to outline a roadmap for improvement.
Let us first ponder over to the question that do we need to have temples of learning or we just require money generating teaching institutions.
I have come to know that our vice chancellor is holding discussions with DUTA to find a way to come out of the impasse present in the university on the semester system. It is indeed encouraging, but unless priorities of our vice chancellor match with that of the teachers, it will be difficult for them to arrive on any agreement. For an agreement will lead to improvement but a compromise will force the undesirable ruination of this premier University.