New PhD Guidelines Do Injustice to Diversity of Student Body Through a Uniform Admission Process
Krishna Menon and Tanuja Kothiyal | 27 May 2024 | The Indian Express
India’s education spectrum, ranging from school education to research, has been the focus of many far-reaching changes in recent years. Educational institutions in India are characterised by immense diversity ranging from those located in the heart of India’s capital to those in mofussil towns.
Our underfunded and ill-equipped public institutions are tasked with providing education to large sections of citizens who are battling adverse life circumstances, while also trying to match global standards of knowledge production and dissemination. The size and diversity constitute a challenge. They are also sites for building a society based on equality and dignity. However, rather than imagining education as a mode of developing values of critical citizenship, recent changes suggest a penchant for techno-managerial solutions. The new guidelines for direct admission to PhD programmes upon completion of the four-year undergraduate degree is one such example…