MPhil imbroglio

IN alignment with the New Education Policy-2020 that aims to reform the education system of the country by streamlining it, the two-year MPhil degree was discontinued in 2020. While the intent of doing away with it was laudable as it enabled a reduction in the students’ time and cost spent in obtaining a PhD degree, the confusion around its implementation has caused problems, costing many an unsuspecting research scholar dear. As per a warning issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to students on Wednesday, alerting them against pursuing this course, it has come to fore that some universities are still offering the scrapped programme, rendering unsuspecting students vulnerable to taking up an endeavour that is not valid anymore.

It reeks of misdemeanour by the universities/colleges concerned, ostensibly with the mala fide intention of garnering fees — ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1 lakh per annum — from students in the scrapped course. Even the UGC’s reaction to the sordid affair is knee-jerk. Had it strictly enforced its new rule and issued regular, prominently advertised cautionary notes against this derecognised course since 2020, the malpractice would not have continued as long as three years down the line.

This development is but a symptom of the crisis in that country’s higher education system. Public universities, worrisomely, have become favour-dispensing mechanisms for the ruling governments that have been blatantly interfering in their academic affairs and appointment processes. The erosion of autonomy and the rot are evident in the increasing intolerance to dissent and the stifling of the culture of free debate on campuses. Underfunding is the other bane of the sector, affecting both the teachers and pupils as innovation and the quality of human resources take a hit.