Vice-Chancellor of the Anna University in Tamil Nadu, Dr A P Kalanidhi recently received the Vice-Chancellor of the Millennium award from Mayor Rose Ferraro of Carol Stream City in the USA.

Originally started as a school for civil engineering way back in 1794, the Chennai-based Anna University is the oldest engineering college in India. It was popularly known as the Guindy Engineering College earlier, but was renamed after the late Tamil Nadu chief minister C N Annadurai.

Dr Kalanidhi spoke to Shobha Warrier about the university's online postgraduate course for teachers -- a first in the country and the quality of education in India.

Anna University has started an online education programme for post graduates for the first time in the country. What exactly are the reasons for starting such a programme? Is it to capitalise on the demand for more professionals in the IT field?

Technology is changing very fast and our intention is to educate more people. Since we are not able to complete our task within the four walls of the classroom, we have gone in for distance education. In distance education, there are some limitations, but for online education, we can offer a classroom to the student. He can learn at his own convenience and his own pace. There are possibilities like asking questions to the teachers and also having discussions with fellow students, which not many students do in a classroom. So, the benefits are far too many. I will go on to say that it is even better than classroom education.

Technology has developed so much that if we don't use it to educate our own fellow colleagues here, it will be a mistake. Today in India, there are about 65,000 technical teachers who are looking for a postgraduate degree. If all these 65,000 teachers want to do it through our regular institutions, it is not possible as we have only 18,000 seats available in all the engineering colleges put together. Of the 8,000 postgraduates only 10 per cent go in the teaching profession. Our requirement is 65,000 and the actual supply is only 800!

So, we have to see that the already employed teachers get the opportunity to acquire higher qualification. Otherwise, the products coming out of these engineering colleges will be of inferior quality. In order to improve the quality of the students, we have to see that the teachers are educated. So, our target is mainly teachers, and we are not looking for any monetary gains. We are only looking for the education of the teachers and thereby the education of students.

The general complaint about the Indian education system is that the syllabus is outdated and not updated frequently. The other day, you said that here at the Anna University, the board could revise the syllabus every six months. How did you manage to do this?

It was because of the complaints that we decided to do this. Because of the exposure I had all around the country, I knew what was wrong with our education system and what the general complaints were. So, I decided to tackle the syllabus first and I did it. I got the approval of the syndicate, the senate, the board of studies and the academic council to do so. Yes, it is a novel idea.

Not only in Tamil Nadu but all over India, the number of seats for IT-related subjects in engineering colleges has increased several times because there is a greater demand all over the world for Indian software professionals. Does it not affect the quality of the products?

I can only talk about our university. In our university, we have also increased the faculty strength accordingly. Therefore, there is no question of compromising on the quality. We also invite people from the industry to deliver lectures. So, we are able to meet the demand.

We want to give education to more and more students, as this country needs more technology professionals. The other countries are also demanding technology professionals from us. The dilution of quality will take place only when the institution takes more students with less infrastructure and fewer teachers.

You get Rs 30 crore from the state government but with funds flowing from various directions, you said Anna University is self-sufficient now. Do you feel all higher educational institutions should be free from the clutches of the government and its policies? Will the institutions be able to function better if they are free?

I would say universities should stand on their own legs because the policies of the governments shift. You must pay for higher education and now the government also feels that way. I feel institutions also must try to generate their own resources to meet the deficit.

In India, I would like to give free education to everybody but unfortunately it is not possible. Now, we see to it that students pay for the education that they are getting.

Do you feel merit alone should be a criterion for higher education?

Well, we can say, 'merit is needed,' standing on a high pedestal. But you must remember one thing; we are in India. If you really want the suppressed and the oppressed to become equal with all the others, we have to have all these policies. The policies followed by the government are fine. The first priority should be education to everyone and the second priority should be quality.

The IITs take the 'cream' and help them graduate in flying colours. I can also do that. I will tell you, given the opportunity our Indian brain is good. Even those who are not at the top can compete with the best in the world. In spite of the inferior facilities that we had, we were able to produce quality professionals.

When I interviewed Professor Manoharan, former VC of Madras University, he said the IITs and the IIMs in India, which are said to be the best in India, could be compared only to the second-class educational institutions in the US. Do you agree?

I beg to differ. Our institutions, our faculty and the materials that we are delivering to the students are good. I don't agree that the universities in the US are number one and we are number two. We are world class. I do not know why we have this complex. Tell me if we are not world class, why is it that all the countries are looking for Indian professionals?

Like each finger is different in a hand, there are good and bad students in all universities. Likewise, certain departments in certain universities are better than the rest. For example, our remote sensing department and environment engineering are better than what even the IITs have. Will you say even then that the IITs are number one and we are number two? How do you compare? Shortly, you will find that those who are delivering goods to the students will survive in the market.

Just wait and see, after two years Anna University will be a world-class university.

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