Need to strengthen infrastructure in our colleges
Most of our population lives in rural areas but majority of the quality degree colleges are located in the city alone. This means there is a huge divide as far as establishment of quality colleges and quality education is considered for youth without getting displaced from the original residential areas.
Pertinently, the shifting pattern from rural to urban or city colleges for gaining degrees is deeply rooted in our society and creates additional family and social problems with the displacement of student community.
Because students are a part of the family and society and sharing that responsibility is equally important as is acquiring academic degrees, because working for the cause, welfare and betterment of the society is the true purpose of gaining education.
This problem can only be redressed when equal facilities in terms of quality colleges are made available irrespective of region and/or rural city divide.
Recently, government announced the establishment of forty more degree colleges across the J&K state. We should welcome this step and in fact we have a need of more colleges to provide access and facility to deprived sections of the society so that more and more youth get the opportunity to get the benefits of college education and skill development in their own localities.
However, quality learning and education is not proportional to the number of colleges alone but how rich they are in terms of physical infrastructure and competent human resources.
Therefore, creation of additional degree colleges brings with it the additional responsibility of developing quality infrastructure, adequate facilities, optimum human resources and up-to-date modern tools of imparting quality and innovative education.
However, a visible difference exists between infrastructure and academic expectations between rural and city colleges. Students prefer to take admission in city or urban colleges due to certainly some attractions like more facilities, better or quality education, serene atmosphere, more training and development, more academic expectations and better career options.
Therefore, standards and strengths of our colleges reflects parity between urban and rural areas due to which the academic expectations and output are very low in rural colleges.
Similarly, the city institutions enjoy many privileges besides bunches of faculty and adequate infrastructure while as institutions in rural and suburban areas are deficient on multiple fronts in terms of less faculty and meagre infrastructure.
There should be equal emphasis vis-à-vis every college irrespective of region or political favouritism, a uniform set of facilities should be created and every college should provide them the same facilities and opportunities to learn and excel.
The need is the equal and homogenous enrichment of all colleges with adequate infrastructure, teachers and supportive staff.
Our whole college education system spread to rural and urban areas undoubtedly needs radical reforms and development keeping in view the technological advancements. Our colleges are in dire need of adequate research infrastructure and facilities in tune with needs of the society i.e. society oriented education.
Therefore, creating more and more colleges will not suffice only but creating sufficient infrastructure blended with up-to-date teaching learning technologies and open education resources is the prerequisite.
Every college must be well equipped with the facilities and materials of open educational resources and digital learning materials for effective teaching-learning and quality research.
Our aim should be to enable college education to prepare students with competence and imparting best skills, discipline and values for a fruitful life and not merely increasing the gross enrolment ratio.
Recently, I attended a MOOC (massive open online course) on SWAYAM platform from National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR) Bhopal on “ICT in teaching learning”. This course enabled me to understand how imperative it is for a teacher and student community to keep themselves abreast with latest trends and tools of delivering and gaining education.
Every student is now smart having access to huge domains of knowledge and tutorials every time in his hands through the smart phone technology.
This has made it again imperative for the teachers to redefine themselves towards learner directed learning besides mastering the lecturing or traditional class room teaching.
Therefore, the integration of ethically appropriate pedagogy of ICT in teaching learning processes in our colleges is the need of the time to match with the smart technology and various open educational support initiatives available worldwide.
Our policy makers must realise that the colleges which were created in the near past are still deficient in terms of adequate land, good leadership, guaranteed occupational health, physical infrastructure, regular electricity, proper heating arrangements during cold months, adequate arrangements to cope with the hot summer days, proper sanitation, drinking water facility, adequate lavatories, hygienic food, proper and state of the art laboratory and library facilities, adequate human resources and supportive staff.
The thrust must be the enrichment of infrastructure for quality and innovative learning with the development of centres of academic excellence amongst the colleges of our state. The government must look for the ways to expansion of funding to boost research oriented infrastructure and best academic learning in our state colleges.
The thrust must be on resource expenditure on strengthening modern teaching learning tools based on ICT in the colleges to achieve excellence.
Pertinently, the ICT has redefined the role of teachers and students by adding new dimensions to education sector that has enabled us to shift from teacher directed learning to learner directed learning with the boost of online learning practices. This has subsequently given rise to learner management system to cope up with the various means and modes of online learning and control.
Therefore, every college should be made ICT competent to enhance the effectiveness of modern teaching learning processes. Further, there is a need that our colleges must collaborate with each other and industries to boost quality teaching-learning and skill development in lieu of the changing scenario of education irrespective of rural city divide.
This article appeared as viewpoint in Rising Kashmir on February 07, 2019.
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Because students are a part of the family and society and sharing that responsibility is equally important as is acquiring academic degrees, because working for the cause, welfare and betterment of the society is the true purpose of gaining education.
This problem can only be redressed when equal facilities in terms of quality colleges are made available irrespective of region and/or rural city divide.
Recently, government announced the establishment of forty more degree colleges across the J&K state. We should welcome this step and in fact we have a need of more colleges to provide access and facility to deprived sections of the society so that more and more youth get the opportunity to get the benefits of college education and skill development in their own localities.
However, quality learning and education is not proportional to the number of colleges alone but how rich they are in terms of physical infrastructure and competent human resources.
Therefore, creation of additional degree colleges brings with it the additional responsibility of developing quality infrastructure, adequate facilities, optimum human resources and up-to-date modern tools of imparting quality and innovative education.
However, a visible difference exists between infrastructure and academic expectations between rural and city colleges. Students prefer to take admission in city or urban colleges due to certainly some attractions like more facilities, better or quality education, serene atmosphere, more training and development, more academic expectations and better career options.
Therefore, standards and strengths of our colleges reflects parity between urban and rural areas due to which the academic expectations and output are very low in rural colleges.
Similarly, the city institutions enjoy many privileges besides bunches of faculty and adequate infrastructure while as institutions in rural and suburban areas are deficient on multiple fronts in terms of less faculty and meagre infrastructure.
There should be equal emphasis vis-à-vis every college irrespective of region or political favouritism, a uniform set of facilities should be created and every college should provide them the same facilities and opportunities to learn and excel.
The need is the equal and homogenous enrichment of all colleges with adequate infrastructure, teachers and supportive staff.
Our whole college education system spread to rural and urban areas undoubtedly needs radical reforms and development keeping in view the technological advancements. Our colleges are in dire need of adequate research infrastructure and facilities in tune with needs of the society i.e. society oriented education.
Therefore, creating more and more colleges will not suffice only but creating sufficient infrastructure blended with up-to-date teaching learning technologies and open education resources is the prerequisite.
Every college must be well equipped with the facilities and materials of open educational resources and digital learning materials for effective teaching-learning and quality research.
Our aim should be to enable college education to prepare students with competence and imparting best skills, discipline and values for a fruitful life and not merely increasing the gross enrolment ratio.
Recently, I attended a MOOC (massive open online course) on SWAYAM platform from National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR) Bhopal on “ICT in teaching learning”. This course enabled me to understand how imperative it is for a teacher and student community to keep themselves abreast with latest trends and tools of delivering and gaining education.
Every student is now smart having access to huge domains of knowledge and tutorials every time in his hands through the smart phone technology.
This has made it again imperative for the teachers to redefine themselves towards learner directed learning besides mastering the lecturing or traditional class room teaching.
Therefore, the integration of ethically appropriate pedagogy of ICT in teaching learning processes in our colleges is the need of the time to match with the smart technology and various open educational support initiatives available worldwide.
Our policy makers must realise that the colleges which were created in the near past are still deficient in terms of adequate land, good leadership, guaranteed occupational health, physical infrastructure, regular electricity, proper heating arrangements during cold months, adequate arrangements to cope with the hot summer days, proper sanitation, drinking water facility, adequate lavatories, hygienic food, proper and state of the art laboratory and library facilities, adequate human resources and supportive staff.
The thrust must be the enrichment of infrastructure for quality and innovative learning with the development of centres of academic excellence amongst the colleges of our state. The government must look for the ways to expansion of funding to boost research oriented infrastructure and best academic learning in our state colleges.
The thrust must be on resource expenditure on strengthening modern teaching learning tools based on ICT in the colleges to achieve excellence.
Pertinently, the ICT has redefined the role of teachers and students by adding new dimensions to education sector that has enabled us to shift from teacher directed learning to learner directed learning with the boost of online learning practices. This has subsequently given rise to learner management system to cope up with the various means and modes of online learning and control.
Therefore, every college should be made ICT competent to enhance the effectiveness of modern teaching learning processes. Further, there is a need that our colleges must collaborate with each other and industries to boost quality teaching-learning and skill development in lieu of the changing scenario of education irrespective of rural city divide.
This article appeared as viewpoint in Rising Kashmir on February 07, 2019.
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