My ideas on higher education welcomed more abroad: DU VC

Outgoing Delhi University (DU) vice-chancellor  (VC) Dinesh Singh, whose reforms in education has not gone down well with the university teachers as well as the HRD Ministry, said his suggestions have been welcomed more abroad. He said higher education in the country is “outdated”.

“The concepts and methods that we have been following are outdated, and are hence, landing lakhs of students – who graduate every year – in a mess. When I proposed similar ideas outside India, they have been welcomed more. I was called to address a conference on MOOC (Massive Open, Online Courses) in London three years back, where I had proposed that they are making a mistake by putting technology first and idea later,” Said Singh.

He added: “I got a mail from the company’s CEO that how they are working on the idea. I was glad that at least they understood what I was saying. We can’t think of doing something similar here that easily.” 

Singh, whose tenure is coming to an end on October 28, has been vocal about how higher education in the country is moving on a pattern being followed for decades. “Our pedagogy is outdated. We are focusing on creating more and more graduates and teachers, but neither we are creating employers nor we are producing graduates with employability,” he said.

“When I took over as the university’s VC, I came across the fact that the syllabus has not been updated 30-40 years in a fast-changing department world. For instance, till three years ago, the Department of History was teaching the history of Soviet Union till 1950. Imagine there was no mention that the old system had collapsed and things had changed radically. I was surprised at the fact that no one had objected to this situation. But if you tell them to change and update many will start opposing it," he said.