Kerala has firmly rejected the University Grants Commission's (UGC) draft Learning Outcome Based Curriculum Frameworks (LOCFs), calling them a "serious violation of university autonomy" and urging the body to withdraw the framework entirely.
In a strongly-worded letter, sent to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and UGC Chairman Vineet Joshi on September 20, Kerala Higher Education Minister R Bindu criticised the draft frameworks as going "far beyond the UGC's statutory mandate" by prescribing detailed syllabi, course structures, and reading lists.
“A close perusal of the model syllabi shows that they demonstrate a predilection for treating imaginative literature and scientifically verified facts on a par,” the letter said, calling it an “outdated and academically unsuitable framework.”
The letter, accompanied by a comprehensive committee report, accused the draft LOCFs of lacking "any coherent academic or philosophical vision rooted in India's intellectual and social context" and instead reproducing "Western models with selective ideological insertions.
Its emphasis on an undefined "Indian Knowledge System" is both exclusionary and sectarian, the letter said.
Expert committee flays framework
Kerala's critique is based on findings by a high-profile committee chaired by renowned economist Prabhat Patnaik. The committee had Rajan Gurukkal of the Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) as Vice Chairman, while eminent historian Romila Thapar served as a special invitee. Dr NJ Rao, a retired professor from IISc Bengaluru, and Dr Vani Kesari of the Cochin University of Science and Technology were members.
The report welcomed the standardised structure of credits proposed as part of LOCFs, provided it is not imposed on the universities. But it said the rest of the draft constitutes an unwarranted encroachment into spheres that fall squarely within the jurisdiction of universities.
"It violates the autonomy of universities; it ignores the various bodies of state governments that are entrusted with guiding and supervising the functioning of state universities that these governments predominantly finance; and it is in blatant contravention of the UGC Act itself. It arrogates to the UGC, and a group of hand-picked experts by it, the power to dictate the contents of the syllabi in every discipline to the entire academic community of the country. This is an encroachment on the academic autonomy of universities, the like of which does not exist in any major country of the world, and it is unprecedented even in our own country. It amounts to treating the academic community of the country as if it consists of automatons whose sole role is simply to do what a group of UGC “experts command,” the report said.
The denial of agency to the academic community that is directly engaged in teaching and research, and reducing this community to mere automatons, is the surest panacea for subverting the quality of higher education in the country, it said.
“The approach, as many have commented, is that of governmental interference in the jurisdiction of universities. The syllabus and what is to be taught and how in each discipline is the concern of the individual university and is not to be dictated to by the government. These are concerns in which a specialised and advanced knowledge is required—something that obviously administrators and politicians do not have. The universities have to be entrusted with deciding on what is to be taught and researched," the report said, quoting Romila Thapar.
The report wondered why there should be so much emphasis on the Indian knowledge systems. “It is not clear why contributions only during the ancient epoch should be singled out. Besides, it is not clear why such contributions should be compulsorily studied by every student, when they are not very helpful in acquiring mastery over the discipline in contemporary times," the report said while critiquing the LOCF for Economics.
Part of NEP 2020 implementation
The controversial draft frameworks are part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020's recommendation for classification of qualifications based on learning outcomes. NEP 2020 seeks to overhaul India's education system through what it calls the integration of Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) across disciplines.
The UGC initiated subject-wise LOCFs to promote what it calls "flexibility and innovation in programme design and syllabi development." Critics are of the view that integration of IKS is being carried out to impose a particular ideological framework on higher education, potentially compromising academic rigour and pluralistic enquiry.
The UGC had shared draft frameworks for nine subjects – Anthropology, Chemistry, Commerce, Economics, Geography, Home Science, Mathematics, Physical Education, and Political Science – on August 20 this year, seeking feedback from stakeholders by September 20.
Call for consultation
Kerala's rejection comes with a demand for fundamental reform of the process. "Kerala firmly rejects the draft LOCFs as incompatible with the pursuit of critical, creative, and pluralistic higher education," the letter by R Bindu stated.
The state government has urged the UGC to "fundamentally rethink and withdraw the framework and initiate a truly consultative process with state governments, universities, and the wider academic community before formulating an acceptable model."