Kerala to review FYUGP, revamp higher education sector to become global education hub: Minister

Thiruvananthapuram: Promising a major reset of Kerala's higher education sector, Minister Roji M John has said the UDF government will undertake sweeping reforms to modernise universities and colleges, tackle falling enrolment, review the four-year undergraduate programme and work towards making the state a global education hub. In an interview with PTI, the higher education minister acknowledged that Kerala's higher education system is facing "a lot of challenges" and requires extensive changes. He said the government has received complaints from universities, academics, students and the public about the way institutions are functioning and is committed to addressing them.

"The higher education sector in Kerala is facing a lot of challenges today, and it requires a lot of revamp and modifications," John said, adding that the government would "review the existing problems and come out with the solutions" and "try to revamp the entire system so that Kerala emerges as a higher education hub in the future." One of the biggest concerns before the new government is the steady migration of students to institutions outside Kerala and overseas.

John, a JNU alumni, said the state, which once enjoyed a strong reputation in education, had lost its competitive edge in recent years. "Historically, Kerala has excelled well in the field of education... But if you see what has happened in the recent past, we lost that comparative advantage in the field of higher education and our students are going abroad and also to other parts of the country," he said. Rather than merely trying to stop students from leaving, the minister said the government's objective is to improve institutions so that Kerala can attract students from other states and countries.

On the long-running friction between the government and the Governor's office over university appointments, particularly vice chancellors, John stressed that the priority was ensuring the smooth functioning of educational institutions while standing firm on the UDF's principles.

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"Our objective is to ensure quality in the field of our education. We want our institutions to run smoothly so that our students, our teachers, and all the people operating in the higher education field, their well-being is our priority," he said. At the same time, he criticised what he described as increased intervention by the Chancellor in university affairs during the previous LDF government and made it clear that the UDF would oppose any "attempt to saffronise the education system." "We will not allow any sort of saffronisation of our education system," he asserted.

The minister also raised concerns over what he sees as increasing centralisation of education policy by the Union government. According to him, education is a subject where states should retain significant authority, and excessive central control weakens the federal structure. "We believe in cooperative federalism and central government is acting completely against that," John said. Addressing the growing number of vacant seats in arts, science and self-financing engineering colleges, he argued that institutions have failed to keep pace with changing times.

"The world is changing so fast, education system is changing so fast," John said. "If you don't cope up with the changes happening around us, our institutions will be pushed backwards." He said that colleges and universities need to redesign courses based on current student aspirations and employment opportunities. A major challenge, he noted, is the mismatch between industry requirements and what educational institutions currently offer. "So we should be able to bridge that gap," he said, arguing that doing so would reduce the outflow of students.

Among the immediate priorities is a review of the Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUGP), which the minister said had been introduced without adequate preparation. "There are a lot of complaints regarding the implementation of FYUGP," he said about the programme started during the previous LDF government, adding that students, teachers and institutions are facing multiple difficulties. "We are going to set up a committee to review the entire FYUGP system and come out and give suggestions," he said.

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While acknowledging that many students leave Kerala for reasons beyond academics, including lifestyle aspirations abroad, John maintained that the government must create conditions that encourage them to stay. "We can't stop someone from going abroad," he said. "But as a government, we have the responsibility to provide adequate infrastructure, adequate facilities for our students and also to provide facilities that will attract our students."

The minister also signalled an open approach towards foreign universities setting up campuses in the state, although he clarified that no final policy decision has been taken. "The decision is still not taken, but I can say that we are open about it. We have an open mind," he said. Instead of viewing international engagement as a threat, he argued that Kerala's institutions need greater global exposure through collaborations, exchange programmes and initiatives.

He also floated the idea of promoting "education tourism" by combining the state's tourism strengths with academic opportunities. As someone who emerged from campus politics, John, a former NSU(I) president, expressed support for strengthening student democracy. He said the government is considering a more formal and unified framework for student union elections across educational institutions.