Delhi & Pune stand first & second respectively for quality higher education
Quantity over quality best describes Chennai when it comes
to higher education. With several engineering colleges in and around the city and
many new arts and science colleges cropping up, all those who want to
get a degree can but a good college education is not assured. The city ranks third
after Delhi and Pune for quality higher education in a quality of life survey conducted
by IMRB and TOI.
We have some very good institutes for higher education such as the Indian Institute
of Technology and Anna University. At the same time, many run-of-the-mill arts and
science colleges are also located in and around the city. They are sure to discredit
Chennai, said Shahul Hameed, a student of Guindy College of Engineering. Academics
suggest that colleges in and around the city should be transparent about the infrastructure
and the qualifications of teachers. This will encourage healthy competition among
colleges and also make the public aware of the quality of the colleges, said educational
consultant D Nedunchezhiyan.
Some 20-year-old colleges have good infrastructure, but these are not made available
to students at all hours as they are in Anna University or IIT. So, utilization
of infrastructure is low, he said. Chennai also lags behind Delhi and Pune because
of the lack of variety in higher education. While the city teems with engineering
and arts and science colleges, few institutions offer offbeat and interesting courses.
For example, National Institute of Fashion Technology is one of the few good institutions
that offer courses in fashion designing.
The city’s campuses are also not multi-cultural. Chennai colleges attract a lot
of people from within the city. But, culturally we are not very open. People here
still refuse to even learn Hindi, while it is spoken by the rest of the country.
On the other hand, students from across the country apply to colleges in Pune and
Delhi, said P Vishnucharan, who pursued higher education in Pune, and runs a school
here. Colleges in the city can also be more liberal in encouraging creativity in
students and allow them to experiment, said experts.
Courtesy: Times of India
