Autonomy is one of the most essential ingredients for the success of an individual or institution. In the context of higher education, the trade-off between granting autonomy and fixing responsibility has been one of the most discussed policy dimensions. The NEP 2020 identified “limited teacher and institutional autonomy” as one of the major problems plaguing the higher education system in India and prescribed enhancing autonomy, following which the UGC undertook various measures to improve autonomy.

Since the late 1970s, the UGC has been granting “autonomous” status to colleges. This has freed the colleges from the shackles of the affiliation system by enabling them to finalise their curriculum, syllabi, and conduct evaluations. The 2023 regulation promotes granting of autonomy status to more colleges, yet ensures that only colleges of certain quality—at least 10 years of existence and valid institutional or programmatic accreditation — are given autonomy.

However, unlike the previous regulations, exemptions on eligibility regarding the period of existence and accreditation have been allowed to those colleges that offer programs in unique disciplines like special education, Indian Knowledge System, yoga, defence studies, skill development, sports, languages and also programs addressing the strategic needs of the country and engaged in the preservation of Indian cultural heritage. This provides a level playing field for existing specialized colleges to be on par with new greenfield universities. However, the regulation may also have to ensure that these colleges become multidisciplinary in a phased manner, or else it may lead to non-conformity with the expectations of NEP, which is against uni-disciplinarity.

Another initiative promoting institutional autonomy is the regulatory changes for granting “Deemed University” status to the existing colleges, wherein existing colleges under different sponsoring bodies are allowed to cluster into a new institution and apply for university status, subject to eligibility conditions. This allows for collaborations and also consolidation of smaller colleges into multi-disciplinary institutions. As teachers of a university, the teachers are immediately bestowed with utmost autonomy in academic matters, which were hitherto not available to them as teachers of a college.

The availability of adequate and quality teachers has always been an issue area of concern, given the high vacancies in most universities. Further, there was a policy straightjacket in terms of recruitment and eligibility norms, excluding seasoned industry practitioners from academia. This has been addressed by permitting institutions to hire “Professors of Practice” from industry for three years in an institution. This helps institutions attract precious talent with practical industry experience and infuse new ideas. It also allows practitioners to toggle between industry and academia and pollinate ideas across organisations.

Another helpful idea mooted is the usage of summer vacations, which was hitherto used by many institutions mostly for internships and apprenticeships. Henceforth, the institutions are explicitly encouraged to tailor their academic calendar in such a way that evaluations may be conducted on demand. Further, the institutions are encouraged to offer the regular courses during the summer vacation “on a fast-track mode to enable students to do additional courses or complete backlogs in coursework.”

In addition, faculty members are encouraged to decide on the pattern of assessments, where a higher proportion of total assessment may be earmarked for internal assessment by the faculty themselves and not depend much on terminal or external evaluations. Thus, any form of internal assessment like class tests, homework assignments, closed-book and open-book tests; problem-based assignments; practical assignment laboratory reports; and observation of practical skills could be adopted. Though these are nothing new, as some institutions have already adopted these, the regulator now explicitly urges the teachers and institutions to exercise their academic autonomy to the fullest.

The real autonomy, however, is reserved for students:

• The UGC has mandated that the Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS), introduced two decades ago, include vocational courses related to the discipline, as part of the new curriculum guidelines, enriching job prospects for interested students in vocational streams and also for those who exit the programs at the end of the first or second year.
• The general practice is to complete a degree program without a break. However, the new credit and curriculum framework permits a student to take breaks midway and resume the degree program within a maximum duration of seven years.
• In addition to permitting students to study two degrees simultaneously, including one online degree, students can migrate from one institution to another using credits accumulated on the academic bank of credit, a repository of all the credits earned by the students from all the successfully completed courses. Though the real effect would be felt only when the institutions make necessary facilitations to allow portability into and outside their institutions, the ball has been set rolling in this regard.

It is hoped that more autonomy-granting regulations like granting degree awarding powers to the existing colleges, as envisaged in the NEP would be provided at the opportune time. It is also hoped that the institutions and the State governments work towards ensuring that institutions enjoy autonomy and deliver responsibly.

Dr.M Saravanan, is specialised in Higher Education and Founder Secretary of the AgaPuram Policy Research Centre, Erode.

Views expressed by the author are personal and need not reflect or represent the views of the AgaPuram Policy Research Centre.