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Articles by Amrik SinghSubscribe to Amrik Singh

Undergraduate versus Postgraduate Education

Vol. 41, Issue No. 24, 17 Jun, 2006
Amrik Singh

A significant issue that the Knowledge Commission cannot avoid addressing is that of the affiliating system in universities that was introduced in 1857. Despite considerable efforts, autonomous colleges have not been set up as an established part of the university system while the universities' role has been reduced to that of only conducting examinations. On the other hand, the extraordinary and unbalanced growth in the number of colleges has affected the standard of higher education. A revision of the UGC's role and greater centre-state cooperation can salvage the situation.

Restructuring Medical Education

Vol. 40, Issue No. 34, 20 Aug, 2005
Amrik Singh

Medical education has not yet been critically reviewed and discussed in independent India. While doing so, the overall health situation of the country has to be taken into account and the structural as well as academic aspects of medical education should be considered. The decisions should be worked out in relation to three parameters: an extensive access to medical aid for every Indian citizen; different medical systems in India should be integrated with one another and professionalism should be balanced against social justice in a manner that neither is sacrificed at the cost of the other.

Challenges in Higher Education

Vol. 39, Issue No. 21, 22 May, 2004
Amrik Singh

The UGC, when it was established in 1956, was not made as powerful as originally envisaged, as the power vested in the centre by the Constitution was not given concrete expression. Educational policy was last reviewed in India in 1986 but the failure to implement its recommendations may not have been an accident: the specific line of authority laid down by the Constitution to fulfil the given mandate was not followed. We need to put the centre and the states in the dock.

Student Assessment of Teachers

Vol. 38, Issue No. 47, 22 Nov, 2003
Amrik Singh

In spite of several policy recommendations, student assessment of teacher performance remains a non-starter. This article outlines the modalities of such a system that would begin in a phased manner in universities and colleges, with the UGC playing a central coordinating role. The system of assessment would offer a cure for several ills that currently beset the higher education system in the country.

Educational Imbalance in India

Vol. 34, Issue No. 26, 26 Jun, 1999
Amrik Singh

In India, education at the secondary level is not seen as an autonomous activity, but merely as preparation for college. Those who stop studying after school are not equipped to work in the rural or the urban sectors. Too high a proportion goes on to college and add to the numbers of the educated employed. Vocational training, which has been neglected in India, could prepare students for work in the large unorganised sector of the economy. This would also reverse deterioration in the quality of higher education.

The Place of Secondary Education

Vol. 32, Issue No. 17, 26 Apr, 1997
Amrik Singh

The Place of Secondary Education Amrik Singh The basic issue of aligning the rate of growth in the field of education with the rate of growth of the economy has yet to be solved. The only way to deal with the problem is to improve, diversify and streamline secondary education, make it terminal in character so that the pressure at the level of higher education is relieved.

IITs Yesterday and Tomorrow

Vol. 30, Issue No. 38, 24 Jun, 1995
Amrik Singh

That the IITs have a unique place in the Indian higher education system does not have to be enlarged upon. What needs to be done, however, is to encourage and enable them to break their isolation from the rest of the university system and become active partners in the whole educational endeavour. This does not mean that tiny have to be like the other universities, but surely there has to be greater interaction between the technical sector and the mainstream sector. Being the strongest unit in the technical sector, the IITs have a special obligation in this respect and it is time they started thinking about it.

Teachers Salary Scales-Case for a Fresh Look

Vol. 30, Issue No. 1, 07 Jan, 1995
Amrik Singh

Teachers' Salary Scales Case for a Fresh Look Amrik Singh The issue of pay scales for teachers needs to be looked at afresh, especially that of parity between undergraduate and postgraduate teachers. Some differentiation between different levels of teaching needs to be created to encourage academic excellence and to improve the performance of colleges. The concept of an academic ladder needs to be amplified.

Planning University Expansion-How Not to Do It

Vol. 29, Issue No. 12, 19 Mar, 1994
Amrik Singh

A university exists primarily for students; everyone else is there because the students are there. It is, therefore, odd that when the future of the university in the next couple of decades is being envisaged, basic issues concerning students

Combining Moral Commitment with Pragmatism-Ashok Mitra Commission on Education

Vol. 28, Issue No. 29-30, 17 Jul, 1993
Amrik Singh

Combining Moral Commitment with Pragmatism Ashok Mitra Commission on Education Amrik Singh WHEN in August 1991, the West Bengal government decided to have the educational scene surveyed, it was a positive step forward. Not many states take initiatives of this kind. lt was equally gratifying that Ashok Mitra was asked to head this commission. Apart from being an academic of repute, he has also had quite some administrative experience as finance minister of that state. The report submitted in August 1992 amply justifies the confidence reposed in him.

University Governance in Maharashtra

Vol. 28, Issue No. 11, 13 Mar, 1993
Amrik Singh

University Governance in Maharashtra Amrik Singh The Maharashtra government has prepared a draft bill to amend the University Act of 1974, which if passed, will make for significant changes in the powers vested in the senate.

Rethinking Medical Education

Vol. 27, Issue No. 15-16, 11 Apr, 1992
Amrik Singh

Amrik Singh Medical Education Re-examined edited by Dhruv Mankad; Medico Friend Circle, 1991; pp 214, Rs 100 (hb), Rs 35 (pb).
HIGH literacy and low rate of infant mortality are two of the more important indices of what, over the years, has come to be called the quality of life. In other words, there is a close and integral connection between the two. In our own country the experience of both Kerala and Mizoram, the two states with the highest rate of literacy, goes to confirm this perception. In both states literacy is high. At the same time health services too are fairly well-organised and in consequence the rate of infant mortality is low. It seems safe to say that both these social services (education and health) promote social welfare and curb ignorance as well as disease and ill-health.

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