I’ve been in higher education since last 37 years witnessing a paradigm shift in content, pedagogy and purpose of education across the board. A lot has happened in the last three and half decades, and Goa is the new laboratory for bold experimentation and innovation in academia. There is a perceptible change in the focus and priorities; education as a fundamental right and character building in classrooms has now transcended to smartboard, cyber pedagogy and ‘skill enhancement for employability’.
The Indian education sector has moulted and emerged from the cocoon of archaic and obsolete policy regimentation driven by a handful of political cronies and bureaucrats to a more liberal arena where the stakeholder’s spectrum is consulted, and there is willingness to innovate, experiment and validate. The teacher-centric education is now favourably tilted to be student-centric, while also recognising the pivotal role played by the teachers. In-service teacher trainings, orientation and refresher courses, promotions and monetary incentives for acquiring higher qualifications, and state and national awards besides recognition by the society, all go into making this profession challenging as also rewarding.
I remember my modest school classrooms of the 70s and 80s, with wooden desk and benches and a worn-out blackboard fixed on the wall behind a raised platform for the teacher. The teachers came and left with bells ringing, and taught by reading passages from the books, classroom recitals and chorus repetition, writing on the board, and intermittently asking a few questions to the bright and the receptive. Notes were dictated, students memorised, and homework submitted for corrections. Textbooks were the sole resource material, and the weak attended private tuitions after school hours.
Today, coaching classes offer a competitive edge and in fact many schools have tied up with such private tutors that operate from school campuses. Classes have become smart and cyber-savvy with LCD projectors, smart boards, ergonomically designed furniture, palmtops, laptops and much more technology to aid in teaching-learning process. e-books, data repositories, digital libraries and well stocked book cupboards have increased footfall in libraries. Remedial classes reach out to slow learners. Covid taught us the strength of online classes and soft resources. Faculty connected with peers across the globe on their laptop screens with webinar links.
The conventional ‘graduation for dignity and employment’ mindset is now erased by aspiration for vertical mobility and academic excellence. With more and more graduates opting for higher studies beyond Goa and even abroad, the scale of ambition is higher.
The diverse funding options through scholarships, freeships and endowment corpus, CSR initiatives that manifest through industry-academia linkages, convenient lending environment in banking sector due to rationalised paperwork and pragmatic collaterals, and parents breaking free from their rigid stance and willing to send their wards far and beyond is surely a positive change that fosters academic progression.
Interestingly, with many private universities appearing on the Goa’s academic horizon, the inertia is no longer affordable in higher education. It simply is the ‘survival of the fittest’ now, stagnation and refusal to rise and outgrow boundaries, sounding death knell. With new screens in place for recruitment of teachers and higher benchmarking for career advancement, the quality of mentors and instructors has improved.
The mandatory accreditation of educational institutions guarantees a healthy competition and proactive investment by management for acquiring modern resources and appointing distinguished faculty. The encouragement to opt for autonomy is an additional incentive for academic progression with liberty to design and offer new courses.
Our educational institutions have demonstrated tremendous urge and zeal to shed the conventional and outmoded, and embrace the modern and pertinent, integrating the traditional Indian knowledge systems with western domains of expertise ushering in a new era of handholding between the ancient and the extant. The most striking and visible change is the liberty of choice and flexibility in academic courses where you can ‘mix and match’ and create your own bouquets of courses. The historian can have a brief excursion into the ‘amazing world of animals’, and a mathematics student can sit and sharpen linguistic prowess by attending language classes for the requisite choice-based credits.
Our state of Goa has earned accolades by carving a unique niche in the national knowledge ecosystem with some very innovative schemes and success stories to share. Digital Integrated System for Holistic Teaching and Virtual Orientations (DISHTAVO) is one such mention worthy online learning initiative where all teachers at affiliated colleges have contributed to creating digital content for virtual learning of courses across streams of arts, science and commerce. The entire content is now being recorded in Konkani, the official state language to address the language barrier for rural students.
‘Soumitra’ initiative has brought solar energy in educational campuses, Goa State Research Foundation (GSRF) has created a robust research ecosystem that complements the research mandate in higher education by building capacity for research as also funding proposals and research startups. The research enthusiasm among Goan academics is now palpable with many new recruits registered for doctoral degree programme.
‘Vidnyan Dhara’ an annual feature deputes teachers from university, colleges and scientists from research institutes to schools and colleges across the state. This addresses the rural-urban knowledge disconnect and acquaints the learners with the latest in the field. The Directorate of Higher Education also mentors young aspirants for NET and SET exams. The Academic Leadership Program (ALP) of the state’s Directorate of Higher Education invites senior and experienced faculty to fortify their administrative acumen and prepare them for an imminent leadership role.
If this tempo of positive change and enthusiasm is sustained, soon Goa shall be known for its educational institutions and scholastic tenor, rather than the silver sands and sunsets.
