Mismanagement at SVS College an eye opener for National Education Policy, alleges Dr. Bhamy V Shenoy

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Dec 16, 2021: Mismanagement of Bantwal based SVS Group of educational institutions presents a classic case of degeneration of institutional ethos due to a vicious combination of factors like misuse of powers by the management, inertia of the regulatory bodies and apathy of the general public, eminent educationist Dr Bhamy Venkatraman Shenoy has alleged.

 

 

 

 

In an explosive revelation made at a press conference held recently at Hotel Woodlands in the city, Dr. Shenoy, who is a former Board Member of SVS institutions, a former governing council member of Manipal Institute of Technology and presently a governing council member of Nitte Educational Institutions said that SVS institution is presently in a pathetic state and the regulatory deficit which has led to this situation casts doubts on the efficacy of implementing the New Education Policy.

Recounting the genesis of SVS institutions, he said the sponsoring body, Sri Venkatramana Swamy Vidya Vardhaka Sangha, Bantwal was founded in 1966. Its main objective was to make education freely available to the local rural community who had to otherwise come all the way to Mangalore to pursue education. Hence SVS College was started by the Sangha and this was followed by a P.U.College, an English Medium School and a CBSE school in Bantwal. The Sangha, the college and schools were working with full legal compliance till 2012 by holding regular board meetings, governing council meetings and AGMs and the college had high reputation, he said.

However since 2012, there have been no board meetings, Governing Council meetings, AGMs for the last eight years excepting the one AGM in 2015. Thus no accounts have been approved as per the Karnataka Societies Act (KSA), he alleged. “This indicates gross mismanagement of the institution,” he said, demanding that the management immediately revive Annual General Meetings and maintain transparency and accountability in its dealings.
 
Dr. Shenoy, who was formerly working as a professional in the international oil industry and is presently an eminent consumer activist based in Mysore, further expressed shock and disappointment with the shallow response of the regulatory bodies that are supposed to monitor the performance of educational institutions.
“In spite of making formal complaints to Vice Chancellor of Mangaluru University, Deputy Registrar of Societies, Joint Directors of Collegiate Education and the Deputy Commissioner of D.K. there has been no serious action to solve the problem at the college or with the Sangha,” he said, “We have even complained to the then Higher Education Minister, G T Devegowda. He started to take action against the college management. However because of the change in government, there was no follow up,” he added.

Elaborating on the issue, he said the faulty policies of the present management of SVS College had led to student unrest on the campus. “During the seven years till 2019, 26 experienced lecturers and staff members were forced to resign or get transfers.  Four members have filed court cases against the Sangha. Several UGC posts have been filled without following rules. No governing council meetings have been held. Why has university kept quiet?” he asked.

Terming the recent appointment of a principal recruited from outside when competent and qualified teachers with experience were available in the college itself, as the “the unkindest ‘cut’ of all”, he said there was no transparency in the appointment to the most important position by taking the board into confidence. “Why has the grant giving Collegiate Authority not taking action?” he asked.

As the New Education Policy envisages restructuring of the educational system and granting greater autonomy to the educational institutions, the present mismanagement of SVS educational institutions and lack of vigilance of the regulatory bodies exposes a gaping hole in the system, which can be exploited by the incumbent managements to continue their malafide regimes, he warned. The government should fix this flaw before implementing the New Education Policy, he said.

“All the mandatory checks and controls to prevent mismanagement of an affiliated and aided college have spectacularly failed. One of the most attractive features of NEP is to give autonomy to all the colleges and stop the university affiliation system. By studying what went wrong at SVS College, there is a need for Karnataka’s Higher Education Commission to develop a better regulatory mechanism. Otherwise autonomy will be misused,” he said.

Addressing reporters, Dr. Bhamy V. Shenoy said he represents a group of concerned citizens comprising old students, former management members and faculty members and social workers and their objective was to ensure the well being of the institution by alerting the incumbent management to rectify itself and by forcing the regulatory bodies to initiate disciplinary action to save the institution from further decline.