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Context
The article critiques the lottery-based system for appointing college principals in Patna University, describing it as an arbitrary and superficial response to a deep-rooted crisis in Bihar’s higher education. It highlights problems like nepotism, caste-based favoritism, political patronage, and administrative neglect.
The Crisis in Bihar’s Higher Education
- Lottery-Based Appointments: The lottery system is a weak, inappropriate fix, compared metaphorically to “fixing a broken bone with a band-aid.” There are several illogical appointments:
- A chemistry professor assigned to head an arts college.
- A history professor leading a science college.
- A male professor appointed principal of a women’s college.
- Quality and Capacity Issues: Delays and irregularities in recruitment have eroded trust. The student-teacher ratio is alarmingly high — about 1:50 in general and up to 1:200-350 in some postgraduate departments.
Infrastructure is deteriorating, with institutions like BN Mandal University in Madhepura having multiple departments sharing the same room.
Broader Societal Impact
- Education as a Means Out of Poverty: In Bihar, education and migration are critical for socioeconomic mobility. The collapse of higher education institutions hampers human capital development and state progress.
- Rise of Coaching Centers and Parallel Ecosystems: The failure of formal institutions drives youth to coaching centers, reinforcing inequalities and reliance on informal education providers.
- Politicisation of Appointments: Political parties treat recruitments as patronage, cultivating a “labharthi” (beneficiary) mindset, which undermines citizens’ rights-based expectations from public institutions.
The Way Forward – Structural Reforms and Transparent Systems
- Learning from Other States:
- Tamil Nadu has a Teacher Recruitment Board dedicated to higher education appointments.
- Maharashtra is developing a policy weighting 80% for academic quality, research, and teaching, and 20% for interviews, to improve transparency.
- Needed Institutional Reforms in Bihar:
- Creation of specialized selection panels.
- Establishment of independent oversight bodies.
- Publication of public appointment records.
- Implementation of rotational leadership.
- Moving away from random selection to merit-based, transparent, and accountable recruitment systems.
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