Edu-leaders

It’s the year 2025. Rakesh Ratnam, the founder of Surya Shakti has introduced a solar technology that generates electricity at a price that is one fourth the cost of electricity generated by coal, oil or gas. The technology is set to solve the world’s energy issues and make Ratnam a billionaire. Ratnam, was a brilliant student and a top ranker at IIT JEE. However, his circumstances forced him to let go of his IIT dreams and enrol into an Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) certified community college that allowed him to work in the afternoon to support a family, and attend classes in the evening.

Ratnam later received his degree from Delhi University and even pursued a PhD from Indian Institute of Science (IISc). It was at the labs of IISc that Ratnam first worked on his now-famous solar technology. The higher education sector in India is hailing Ratnam’s achievement as proof that community colleges have finally come of age. India has got its own Steve Wozniak, an inventor who passed out of a community college and went on to achieve as much, if not more, than any entrepreneur who came out from a top-ranked higher education institution.

Sounds like an impossible dream? Not for IGNOU’s Vice Chancellor, Rajsekharan Pillai who launched the community colleges programme under IGNOU last year in June.

He is confident that this system can solve India’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER). It can also provide opportunities to and open up avenues for budding geniuses like Ratnam, enabling them to access the formal education system rather than give up on it entirely.

What are these community colleges? Do we really need them? If yes, then why has the community college movement not caught on? What makes it a roaring success in the US? And how can we ensure that it succeeds in India?

The Community Concept
Community colleges around the world have propelled millions to mainstream education in countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Australia.

“In the US, two-year community colleges were started more than 100 years ago. Initially their aim was to provide social mobility to minorities who were unable to gain admission into regular schools, colleges and universities. Some were established to accommodate those serving in the armed forces, who were seeking reemployment after completing their term of service. Others were started in coal mines. Their objective was to impart work-related learning,” informs Pillai.

Over time, US community colleges developed into a popular alternate two-year system. These colleges are places where “people of all ages and backgrounds,
even in the face of obstacles or personal challenges, can take a chance on a brighter future for themselves,” as President Obama has observed. These are state-run and subsidised, benefiting students under financial constraints.

They have lower academic load, offer vocational courses, and are flexible in terms of timing. Classes are held in the evenings and even on weekends. This US-based model is now viewed as one of the most successful implementations of the community college concept. In the past 20 years enrolments in community colleges have almost doubled.

The Indian Need
The 11th Plan document recommends community colleges as a good alternative for India. It says, “The community college is seen now as an innovative educational alternative, rooted in the community providing skill-based, livelihood-enhancing education and eligibility for employment to the disadvantaged and under-privileged like the urban and rural poor, and women. Appropriate skill development leading to gainful employment in collaboration with local industries and the community is a major target of the community colleges. The success achieved by the system encourages the strengthening and consolidation of the existing colleges along with the step-wise expansion of the system to all the states in the country.”

“A national-level committee constituted by the University Grants Commission visited the US and noted that almost 55 percent of the students seek admission to higher universities through these community colleges,” points out Pillai.

The committee recommended organising these colleges with two-year associate degree programmes in India.

Though the report was accepted by the UGC, it was never implemented. In a separate report, the National Knowledge Commission had also made the same recommendation.

According to Dinesh Singh director, Delhi University, South Campus, there is a need for such a model. “We have millions of students who are neither too keen, nor too suited for pursuing knowledge related to research. Many of them would like to acquire skills and some degree of competence in a suitable vocational discipline which is closely allied to the needs of society,” he avers. For instance, the university system does not offer any skill-based learning that would allow a student to gain jobs at banks, as tellers or as salesmen, for financial companies. “At the same time, the college should be designed in such a way that it allows some of the more motivated and talented students to move into a university system through a transfer of credits,” adds Singh. After all, we would not like to loose our Rakesh Ratnams’.

Seeds Of The System
The National Education Commission chaired by Dr D.J. Kothari recommended that the single-point entry system be replaced by multiple-point entry, by altering the sequential character of the education system.

In 1995, the Pondicherry University set up a community college, which was followed by Madras Community College by the Archdiocese of Mylapore in August 1996. The movement was strengthened by the Manomaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, that approved five community colleges in September 1998. It spread to Andhra Pradesh with the setting up of JMJ Community Colleges in Tenali in July 1999. In the past three years it has made inroads into Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka and Uttarakhand.

Rev Dr Xavier Alphonse, founder director, Indian Centre for Research and Development of Community Education, Chennai and a University Grants Commission
member is the pioneer of the community college movement. “In 1995 I visited the US to study community colleges, and realised its potential, if customised
to Indian needs,” he says. From 1995 to 2003, he helped establish several community colleges, many without institutional recognition. In 2003, the Tamil Nadu Open University recognised the effectiveness of community colleges and began to promote them as Vocational Programme Centers (VPCs). In 2008 through a Government Order, the Tamil Nadu government declared VPCs to be community colleges under Tamil Nadu Open University.

The IGNOU Intervention
IGNOU’s endorsement of community colleges gave it national recognition. According to Pillai, “The vision of a community college is built on the idea of a college of the community and by the community, that produces responsible citizens.”

Father Alphonse says that the operative words for the community college system are “access, flexibility in curriculum and teaching methodology, cost-effectiveness and equal opportunity.” In collaboration with the industrial, commercial and service sectors of the local area, in response to the social needs and issues of the local community, the college provides internships and job placements in the region and promotes self-employment and small business development.

But aren’t the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), Polytechnics and many other NGOs already doing exactly this? Yes and No. These institutions have been largely providing technical education and there is no clear framework for lateral entry of students from all these institutions of higher learning.

Pillai points out that what sets community colleges apart is the fact that they are more universal, in the sense that they cover a wide spectrum of subjects. They are not limited to technical education in the skills they impart, but also cover areas like the social environment.

“There are institutions all over India performing tasks of a community college. However, they are not under any regulatory framework. There must be a well thought out and practical policy that allows community colleges to be created,” says Dinesh Singh.

Making It Work
“We have patterned our community colleges on the US model in terms of the certifications that are provided. Students can get a certificate (16-20 credits), diploma (30-36 credits), or an associate degree (60-64 credits) and exit into the world of work or move vertically into the third year of university education,” says IGNOU Pro Vice Chancellor, Latha Pillai.

She, however, points out that what sets IGNOU’s community colleges apart from the US model is that these are still to receive any financial support from the government. But in the US, the community colleges are mostly funded by the federal government. “What we have tried to do is to identify civil groups already working in a community-based teaching programme whose students do not have the option of vertical movement,” she says.

Dr Chinmoy K. Ghosh of IGNOU who is in charge of the scheme adds, “There are no age-barriers for entry into these community colleges. The flexibility to transfer credits allows a student pursuing a diploma to get exemption in respect of the credits earned at the certificate stage. IGNOU has also devised elaborate guidelines for examinations and evaluation. Community colleges would carry out continual assessment as per the guidelines framed by its Examination
Committee. IGNOU issues the final mark-sheet and certificate.”

The scheme has brought a new hope for many students like Namita, who is on the verge of completing her six-month certificate programme in Ayurveda Panchakarma, and is all set to join a health spa offering her services as a masseur. “It is a huge leap forward for the disadvantaged and underprivileged women and I am so happy to be contributing to their empowerment through this unique endeavour,” says Gomathi Nair, President of All Indian Women's Conference, which has been running this programme. Nair’s 80-year-old organisation has been working on women empowerment since its inception. She informs that a team met the IGNOU VC the moment AIWC learnt of the community college scheme last year.

Since then on it has been a swift evolution. “We offered certificate and diploma programmes in a range of skills to the first batch of 94 students,” informs Meenalochana Vatts, principal of AIWC community college and a former academic at Delhi University.

Nair is optimistic this trend will pick up. “Education and skill learning is a sure way of moving up the ladder, and community colleges do precisely that,” she affirms.

Arjumand Bano of the Institute for Social Studies Trust, which has been working with marginalised communities in east Delhi’s Kalyanpuri area, also feels that IGNOU’s programme adds a great deal of value. “We have been offering programmes in functional English and computer literacy for the past nine years. By using this IGNOU community college scheme, our beneficiaries have a powerful tool to upgrade themselves and get into mainstream education,” she says.

Many voluntary groups and even state governments are in talks with IGNOU to start community colleges. The Haryana government, submitted a proposal to IGNOU this May for setting up a community college. It has identified Government College at Manesar as an institution which offers a range of skill-based programmes in automotive and manufacturing technologies, hospitality and tourism, electronics, paramedical, biotechnology and information technology.

India Vs US
Even while IGNOU is trying to replicate the US system of community colleges, there are some marked differences. Our community colleges meet the social and economic needs of marginalised and underprivileged communities.

“In India, community colleges should be seen as a democratic response to globalisation—empowering the poor and the marginalised to enable them to embrace emerging opportunities,” emphasises Alphonse.

The Challenges
By giving the community colleges national recognition, IGNOU has clearly hit upon the right formula to fix India’s GER challenge. But whether it can really make a difference largely depends on its continuous commitment to ensure that this programme does not morph into yet another scheme for creating vocational
institutes instead of real gateways to higher education.

To ensure that pathways to the university system are created a regulatory framework has to be established. It’s only then that universities will accept the transfer of students from community colleges.

Father Alphonse, a UGC member, also admits that it may take a while before a community college graduate would be able to walk into an institution like Delhi University or Jawaharlal Nehru University and get admission on the basis of an ADP. “We may need 5 to 10 years to achieve that. Many more agencies including UGC and Association of Indian Universities would have to adopt these philosophies and customise their systems to address the higher education needs of students community colleges,” he says.

Also, good examples would need to be set, in order for people to appreciate the efficacy of the system. It would be critical for us to get out of the imprisonment of rigidity to allow this new system to bloom. Mindsets will have to change along with systems to make community colleges a success.

It is up to the community of leaders in higher education now to mobilise thought and action to ensure that what IGNOU has started does not fizzle out. Unless the community gets ready to integrate Pillai’s vision of building “class-less” community colleges, India will make only cosmetic changes to its GER gap. A real change will come only when India gets a Rakesh Ratnam through its community colleges.