MUMBAI: The city's sanctuaries of art and architecture, long groaning under indifference, just got a new lease of life. The state government has decided to grant them autonomy, the freedom to design their own curricula, to raise finance and decide who should be on their advisory committee.
Full autonomy—academic, administrative and financial—for the JJ School of Arts, JJ School of Applied Art and JJ School of Architecture comes after over 150 years of their existence. Among them, the erstwhile JJ School of Art and Industry, as it was then named, is the oldest.
It started with an initial contribution of Rs 1 lakh from its founder, Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, who was inspired by the International Art Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London that he had visited. He proposed the starting of an art school to the then governor of Bombay, Lord Falkland, and with 49 students in the first batch, the school, initially housed in the Elphinstone Institute, took off.
Those glorious days have long been forgotten. But autonomy brings fresh hopes. "It will allow us to flower," said JJ School of Architecture dean Rajeev Mishra. Currently affiliated to Mumbai University, the three campuses have often wanted to raise the bar of art and architecture education, but were not allowed to do so.
"When one is an affiliated college of a large structure like Mumbai University, the syllabus has to be the lowest common denominator as all other colleges and their students' capabilities have to be kept in mind," said former art director N B Pasalkar.
Minister of higher education Vinod Tawde said the colleges will be permitted to set up their own advisory council, academic council, exam committee, etc. He was signalling that the colleges have the administrative freedom to decide their governing.
While the government will continue to give aid to the colleges, the state felt the institutes must strive to become financially independent. "They can raise their own finance and work for their progress. Just like ICT and COEP, I hope the colleges will also do well after autonomy," said Tawade. The idea is that colleges can also take up industry projects and that would improve industry-academic partnership, he said.
"The colleges must do all that they can to reach top international standards," said Rajan Lakule, former principal of the architecture college. "Autonomy should have come long ago. Nevertheless, I am glad that the colleges will now have the freedom to take their own decisions and things will move faster."
Recently, in response to an RTI query by activist Anil Galgali, the Sir JJ School of Arts revealed that seven out of eight professor posts were vacant and only 10 lecturers took classes whereas the approved number is 36 posts. Six ad-hoc lecturers and nine contract lecturers were recruited for around 700 students.
Experts and former students said the colleges must also offer PhD programmes so that it could be a feeder for future faculty. "The colleges will now be able to recruit faculty members on their own and will not have to go through the MPSC (Maharashtra Public Service Commission)," said Pasalkar.
SOURCE: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/JJ-colleges-sanctuaries-of-art-architecture-get-autonomy/articleshow/55320572.cms
Full autonomy—academic, administrative and financial—for the JJ School of Arts, JJ School of Applied Art and JJ School of Architecture comes after over 150 years of their existence. Among them, the erstwhile JJ School of Art and Industry, as it was then named, is the oldest.
It started with an initial contribution of Rs 1 lakh from its founder, Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, who was inspired by the International Art Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London that he had visited. He proposed the starting of an art school to the then governor of Bombay, Lord Falkland, and with 49 students in the first batch, the school, initially housed in the Elphinstone Institute, took off.
Those glorious days have long been forgotten. But autonomy brings fresh hopes. "It will allow us to flower," said JJ School of Architecture dean Rajeev Mishra. Currently affiliated to Mumbai University, the three campuses have often wanted to raise the bar of art and architecture education, but were not allowed to do so.
"When one is an affiliated college of a large structure like Mumbai University, the syllabus has to be the lowest common denominator as all other colleges and their students' capabilities have to be kept in mind," said former art director N B Pasalkar.
Minister of higher education Vinod Tawde said the colleges will be permitted to set up their own advisory council, academic council, exam committee, etc. He was signalling that the colleges have the administrative freedom to decide their governing.
While the government will continue to give aid to the colleges, the state felt the institutes must strive to become financially independent. "They can raise their own finance and work for their progress. Just like ICT and COEP, I hope the colleges will also do well after autonomy," said Tawade. The idea is that colleges can also take up industry projects and that would improve industry-academic partnership, he said.
"The colleges must do all that they can to reach top international standards," said Rajan Lakule, former principal of the architecture college. "Autonomy should have come long ago. Nevertheless, I am glad that the colleges will now have the freedom to take their own decisions and things will move faster."
Recently, in response to an RTI query by activist Anil Galgali, the Sir JJ School of Arts revealed that seven out of eight professor posts were vacant and only 10 lecturers took classes whereas the approved number is 36 posts. Six ad-hoc lecturers and nine contract lecturers were recruited for around 700 students.
Experts and former students said the colleges must also offer PhD programmes so that it could be a feeder for future faculty. "The colleges will now be able to recruit faculty members on their own and will not have to go through the MPSC (Maharashtra Public Service Commission)," said Pasalkar.
SOURCE: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/JJ-colleges-sanctuaries-of-art-architecture-get-autonomy/articleshow/55320572.cms
