04. The Disparity & its Implications ‘Inequality always exists. If you are able to spend more you will get better facilities in the form of education, experienced faculty, design studios, infrastructure, a pleasant environment to learn, a well-planned campus, library and hostel facilities. This necessarily highlights the difference between the private and government institutions in the country.’ 39 This chapter is primarily an analysis of the responses to the questionnaire and portrays certain areas where the disparity is maximal. Who Is Teaching Us? “A good educator in architecture is a highly knowledgeable person, well informed in theory and contemporary trends, and orients the students to contemporary needs critically through history.’” 40 According to COA’s 2020 version of ‘Minimum Standards of Architectural Education’, faculty means ‘the teaching staff members in the service of the institution’.41 Institutions are to maintain a 1:10 staff to student ratio, which includes core faculty, visiting faculty and faculty from allied disciplines, while also asserting that there be a minimum of 12 core faculty members per 200 students. The current hiring criteria are based on their degree holdings and their promotions are solely based on ‘years of service put in’42 or additional degrees acquired. The document also lists the minimum qualifications, work experience and pay-scale for all categories of faculty members (Figure 17). There is a stark contrast in the faculty quality as encountered by the participants.
Participant Responses to Author’s Questionnaire for Dissertation titled, ‘Inequality in Architectural Education in India’ [12th August, 2020] 39
Dua, S., and K. Chahal., Scenario of Architectural Education in India, Journal of The Institution of Engineers (India): Series A 95.3 (2014), p.189. 40
Council of Architecture, Minimum Standards Of Architectural Education (New Delhi: Council of Architecture, 2020), pp. 27-45 <https://www.coa.gov.in/showfile. php?lang=1&level=1&sublinkid=748&lid=599> [Accessed 9 October 2020] 41
Chandavarkar, Prem, Architectural Education: A Road Map To Reform, Matter, 2018 <https://thinkmatter.in/2018/05/25/prem-chandavarkar-architectural-education/> [Accessed 10 October 2020] 42
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