Context:

• Student protests are growing across Indian campuses. Recently, law students of NALSAR were in the news after a controversy over their convocation.
• Chief Justice of India Surya Kant intervened by staying the Bar Council of India's order against the graduating batch, quashing FIRs against protesting students, declaring that the BCI has no disciplinary control over students, and reducing the three-year practice requirement for the judicial services examination to one year.
• Against this backdrop, this article argues that the real issue is not student behaviour but the failure of university governance.

The Real Question Behind Campus Protests

• The debate should not be about whether students were right or wrong in seeking a say in their convocation.
• The deeper question is why students are so frustrated with the governance of universities that they lose hope and sometimes cross the limits of decency.
• Blaming a single oral remark by the CJI, which was quickly clarified, oversimplifies a much larger governance crisis. Three questions need answers:
  • How should universities be governed?
  • What is the role of free speech and academic autonomy?
  • Why are Vice-Chancellors unable to command students' respect or resolve issues internally?

Academic Freedom Must Be the Core

• Universities cannot function without academic freedom. The Indian Constitution does not explicitly mention it, but several other constitutions do:
  • Article 5(3) of the German Basic Law guarantees scientific freedom (Wissenschaftsfreiheit) to everyone engaged in scholarly teaching and research.
  • The Constitutions of Japan, South Africa, Portugal and Spain contain similar provisions.
  • Article 137 of Hong Kong's Basic Law allows educational institutions to retain autonomy and enjoy academic freedom.
• Ideally, governments should not dictate what universities teach or how they teach. Universities, in turn, should not deny this freedom to their departments.
• Experts cite Delhi University's recent decision to drop a paper on the Delhi Sultanate. They argue that Gen Z can easily see the ideological motives behind such curriculum changes.
• Curriculum should be decided by all stakeholders, including students.
• Academic freedom does not mean a licence to defame people or engage in anti-national activities. Where an activity involves "conduct" rather than speech, the state can regulate it.

Academic Freedom Under Strain Worldwide

• Even in the West, academic freedom faces pressure. In the US, federal funding has been used to reshape campus culture, diversity programmes have been dismantled, and research funding in areas like climate change has been cut.
• Universities have been pressured for allowing student protests, including those over Gaza. Both right-wing and left-wing regimes have tried to control universities.
• Today, with shrinking public funding, research agendas are shaped by funders, corporations and pharmaceutical companies.

The Control Model and Its Failures

• Student protests are a symptom of poor governance. Governments increasingly seek to control universities, and administrations follow a "control model".
• Most universities remain Vice-Chancellor-centric, while students, the very reason universities exist, have little say.
• When grievances go unaddressed, students feel ignored and some take extreme steps. Vice-Chancellors rarely hold open houses and remain inaccessible.
• Knowledge creation cannot happen in a controlled environment. It needs the freedom to question everything.
• India's ancient Gurukul system was fully autonomous, yet today's education system is over-regulated and underfunded. Key problems include:
  • Public investment in education stands at around 4–4.1 per cent of GDP, well short of the NEP 2020 target of 6 per cent, with higher education receiving the smallest share.
  • Deteriorating infrastructure and an acute hostel shortage, which led to a tragedy in New Delhi.
  • Vacant faculty positions and poorly paid guest faculty.
  • Faculty recruitment that prioritises ideological leanings over merit.
  • Repeated examination paper leaks that add to student stress.
• Eventually, this frustration erupts against the government rather than university administrations.

Flawed Appointments of Vice-Chancellors

• Experts highlight gross violations of natural justice in Vice-Chancellor appointments.
• In one case, a Vice-Chancellor changed the composition of the selection committee, chaired it, and voted to appoint his own wife. The judiciary declined to follow its own precedents of quashing such appointments.
• Some appointees have questionable records and adverse CVC reports, and some state universities face bribery allegations.
• Paper leaks reflect the same systemic failure. No examination is foolproof if paper setters and officials are appointed for reasons other than merit and integrity.

The Liberty Model of Governance

• This article proposes a "liberty model".
• It rests on trust: when students are trusted, they act more responsibly. Students could meet the Vice-Chancellor without appointments and share personal concerns.
• This trust made frank conversations possible even when unpopular decisions had to be taken.
• Under this model:
  • Universities are spaces where even the most unpopular ideas can be debated freely.
  • Students have a meaningful role in academic, administrative and financial decisions, including faculty appointments, procurement, curriculum design and drafting of regulations.
  • Institutions like Aligarh Muslim University already give students a statutory role in selecting the Vice-Chancellor.
• Democratising campuses is the only real solution to growing student protests.

Conclusion

Student unrest reflects a governance crisis, not student indiscipline. Universities must become student-centric rather than Vice-Chancellor-centric. Restoring academic freedom, merit-based appointments, adequate funding and genuine student participation can rebuild trust.

India must reject the outdated control model and embrace the liberty model of governance.