HiEd Log

  The idea of the whole campus conference has caught on in Kerala. Many HEIs, irrespective of their size and popularity, have taken to organising conferences / seminars which are apparently big and days long. These conferences call for long planning for effective execution. Any such serious event starts with the idea, then the find of the focus theme, dates, speaker selection, literature like brochures and posters, marketing and the logistics of actual execution. All these are time consuming and energy sapping. It consumes a lot of meetings, work hours and some unproductive labour too. Hence it is time that the HEIs went for an introspection as to how fruitful these events are in terms of efforts invested and actual outcomes.  There is no denying that such events always offer plenty of take homes. From the initial brainstorming to find the right theme, through the compilation of speaker lists to the actual experience of listening to and interacting with the invited scholars,...

There is an intriguing, imperceptible, even interesting, cold war on with the affiliating universities on the one side and the affiliated colleges on the other. Intriguing because in the affiliating model the two can't survive without each other and the symbiosis is expected to contribute to not only mutual growth but also to the growth indices too. The Colleges, affiliated units of HE, too need the shade and warmth of the the Universities for guidance and support in many forms. But the question is what happens when both are caught in a battle for survival. Both brace for the uncertain future in sight  with a plan which promises to encroach into each other's territories and to provide causes for discomfort but on legitimate grounds! With the kind of decline in enrollment we have been witnessing in Higher Education scene, this is a tussle which will end in the disappearance of many HEIs.  This is played out at many levels. The Universities in Kerala are searching for means to h...