Annual college inspection a farce, says V-C

BANGALORE: Calling the yearly review of colleges by Local Inquiry Committees (LIC) a farce, Bangalore University vice-chancellor N Prabhu Dev asked the state government to scrap the annual system of affiliation and move to a five-year cycle.
"There have been many irregularities in affiliation and many college managements have complained of harassment by LIC team.I've suggested an overhaul of LIC visits after some 120 colleges with no students were recommended for affiliation," Prabhu Dev told TOI. In his letter to the government, he recommended an increase in intake for various courses should be linked to results of three years.
As per the Karnataka State Universities Act, 2000, every college has to be inspected annually by an LIC for renewal/continuation of affiliation. Only colleges which are continuously affiliated for five years and have attained academic excellence are eligible for permanent affiliation.
Upset over the poor quality of inspection, the Bangalore University Academic Council gave the green signal for an independent survey of all 600-odd colleges to collate information on a host of academic and administrative parameters.
M K Panduranga Shetty, president, BU Private Colleges Managements' Association, concurs with Prabhu Dev. "Colleges affiliated to BU have brought to our notice their difficulties with respect to affiliation procedures. We strongly feel affiliation should be given for 5-10 years to avoid annual pinpricks to colleges," Shetty wrote to higher education minister V S Acharya recently.
Other vice-chancellors also back Prabhu Dev's proposal. "Although I agree there is no need for yearly visits, doing it once in five years is also not advisable. Maybe three years is a good time to check the health of every college and make recommendations. Cutting down on college visits will also help professors devote more time to research and teaching," said S C Sharma, V-C, Tumkur University.
Downside of annual inspection
* Over 600 affiliated colleges have to be inspected
* Local Inquiry Committee team needed for every college
* Since professors go on inspections, their teaching/research time is compromised
* No accountability on quality of LIC visits
* Colleges complain of harassment by LIC members