New initiatives are needed to take Goa University to higher level of excellence (EDITORIAL)
After the Liberation of Goa, one of the priorities of the newly elected government was providing quality education. The government acted promptly and primary schools were set up in every town and village across Goa. However, it took another quarter of a century to establish the local university and provide facilities in higher education to the Goan students. Till then, the colleges in Goa were affiliated to the Bombay University.
The establishment of Goa University was backed by the appointment of some of the best Vice-Chancellors like B Sheikh Ali, Padmakar Dubhashi, B S Sonde and so on. The initial years after setting up of the university formed the best period of its existence.
In the recent national rankings, Goa University did not secure a place in the top 100 universities on the National Institutional Ranking Framework 2024. Its position slipped to the rank band 151-200 in the university category, after being featured in the rank band 101-150 for two consecutive years. The slip made even Chief Minister Pramod Sawant raise concern over the scenario, despite the government providing the university with the requisite infrastructure and human resource. While the university has started new courses and taken steps to improve its rating, there were 2-3 incidents that brought the university in bad light.
Earlier this year, an assistant professor at the university’s School of Physical and Applied Sciences, whose name came up in a question paper theft, was suspended pending inquiry by the university Vice-Chancellor Prof Harilal Menon.
In another incident, the GU Vice-Chancellor had to assure the Goa Forward Party delegation about keeping on hold the interviews for two posts at the earth sciences department of the university. The political party charged that the university was biased against Goan candidates in the recruitment process, and had scrapped the posts reserved for Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Class candidates as also relaxed the domicile rule for these two posts of professors.
Last week, after the Vice-Chancellor, in an interview stated that the ranking of the university was affected during recent years largely due to the strict enforcement of domicile requirements in faculty recruitment, the opposition political parties accused him of systematically undermining Goan scholars.
Recently, the Goa Human Rights Commission issued a notice to the Vice-Chancellor after taking suo motu cognisance of a newspaper report, which exposed an indecent incident on the university campus, wherein male students of the university were made to parade in their undergarments during a cultural fest. As a result, the University was forced to order an internal inquiry and also place the matter before its Executive Council for a review.
Coincidentally, a review team of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) visited the university last week, to assess the varsity for allotment of a new grade. The peer team report will present critical analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the Goa University, besides the opportunities and challenges before it. There is no doubt that the Vice-Chancellor has worked hard to bring reforms in the university so that the university gets a higher grade. However, his statement over the domicile clause has invited strong comments against him. The clause has definitely helped Goans to prove themselves and rise in academic echelons. A debate is on with regard to whether there could be some relaxation where local talent is not available to fill certain posts.
Yesterday, Goa got a new governor P Ashok Gajapathi Raju, a former Union minister and a scion of the royal family of Vizianagaram princely state. There is hope in the new governor to take some initiatives as the Chancellor of the Goa University to take the varsity to a higher level of academic excellence.
