The relevance of a degree is to be judged by a wider spectrum consisting of academics, policymakers and VCs and not merely by an agency like the UGC, which is more of a funding body
Published Date – 11:45 PM, Tue – 2 January 24
By KSS Seshan
The recent decision of the University Grants Commission (UGC) to drop the MPhil course has come as a rude shock to many aspirants who were planning to join the course this year. The Secretary of the UGC in a notification has pointed out that as per an earlier notice issued in November 2022, the UGC has decided to drop the course. No reason has been given for the closure of a course that has been in vogue all these decades. Though the UGC has every power to introduce a new course or drop any existing course offered at universities in the country, the way it has done with MPhil through notifications seems arbitrary.
MPhil is a condensed research course after postgraduation and thus is a midway course sandwiched between postgraduate and doctoral courses. A PhD is a long-term research course that may well extend to nearly four years in Science subjects and a little beyond for subjects in Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities. Those who cannot pursue such a long-duration course can opt for an MPhil that extends to only three semesters.
There was a time when MLitt courses existed in several universities after postgraduation but in the 1970s, this course was replaced with the new MPhil. Thus only the nomenclature was changed to MPhil degree by research. The rationale was that it is not a Master of Literature (MLitt) but a Master of Philanthropy (MPhil) as in PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) as Philosophy encompasses several fields including Literature.
Students generally opt for a short-duration course like MPhil if they want to take up teaching careers in colleges where Plus 2 and degree courses are taught. For taking up teaching positions in universities, IITs, IIMs and other national research institutions, PhD becomes necessary though in recent times the UGC issued an advisory that PhD at the entry-level for faculty at any university is a desirable qualification and not a must.
Research and Teaching
Teaching and research, in fact, are two sides of the same coin. While teaching gets enhanced through research both are complementary to each other. However, the benefits of research for teaching at the university level are well-known. The purpose of research is to explore the unknown, it is an academic journey from known to the lesser known and a systematic enquiry of a chosen area hitherto unexplored. Research could be to unravel new knowledge or it could also be a new interpretation of the existing knowledge or data. In a way, the purpose of research is to push the existing frontiers of knowledge. In the pursuit of such knowledge, research thus differs from discovery and invention.
Research has several inherent benefits to offer for teaching. While research can stand on its own, teaching will have value-addition with research. A teacher equipped with a research degree develops a critical and analytical approach to his teaching. S/he can inculcate a rationale and questioning attitude among students. As the purpose of education is to acquire knowledge in its totality, research supplements teaching in the most effective way. That is the reason for preferring researchers as faculty at universities and national institutes of higher learning.
Need for MPhil
As research courses like a PhD take a long duration, those interested in taking up teaching positions at the collegiate level can do well with a shortened course like MPhil. Educational experts in their wisdom, therefore, carved out the MPhil course where the rudimentary principles of research are imparted to the researcher. The general principles of research being common for every branch, it was aimed that the MPhil course would provide enough information, enthusiasm and practical knowledge for the prospective teacher at the college level to be an effective communicator. The MPhil course thus was a boon for those teachers at the Plus 2 and undergraduate classes.
The scrapping of the MPhil not only denies a short-term research course that has been serving its purpose but also puts the students in colleges in a very disadvantageous position. As the teachers at Plus 2 and at the college level do not have the opportunity and incentive to pursue a more rigorous and time-consuming PhD, they are just satisfied with a postgraduate degree. However, the losers are the students in such colleges as they are denied of the teachers equipped with research degrees. Those researchers with PhD degrees generally opt for universities and IITs and do not prefer to take up jobs in colleges. Therefore, undergraduate students will never get an opportunity to be taught by teachers with any research background. The dumping of the MPhil not only denies an intermediary research course but also impairs the students at the degree level as they cannot have the benefit of better-qualified teachers now.
Creating a Vacuum
The courses and the degrees, their relevance to the times, the job opportunities these courses provide, the very course content, the skills that these courses offer and other concomitant factors are to be judged by a wider spectrum consisting of academicians, policymakers, educationalists, Vice-chancellors and all other stakeholders and not merely by an agency like the UGC, which is more a funding body. There is every need for a national debate and discussion on the efficacy or otherwise of an existing course before it is being scalped lock, stock, and barrel.
The removal of MPhil is obviously not replaced by the introduction of any new course in its place. This in itself amounts to creating a vacuum which may not prove good for a healthy educational system. Hence there is every need for a rethinking on the part of the UGC on its decision to drop the existing MPhil course in the universities. In view of the benefits that the present MPhil course contains and the disadvantages that the students will be forced to face, there is a need for the UGC to rethink and continue the existing MPhil course till such time that it is replaced with a similar intermediary research course.
