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.

39 Participant Responses to Author’s Questionnaire for Dissertation titled, ‘Inequality in Architectural Education in India’ [12th August, 2020]

40 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.

41 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]

42 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]

Figure 17. Faculty qualifications, experience & pay-scale

Those from the top private institutions were very content with their faculty and claimed to have ‘a very strong foundation’ as they were taught by graduates from distinguished institutions. Some even claimed to have extremely competent and approachable faculty. Additionally, few participants were encouraged to pursue newer design ideologies and working methodologies.43 It is important to break the existing stereotype in Indian institutions wherein students are considered as the only entity that comes to an institution to learn.44 Challenging such conventional beliefs, a few participants were fortunate enough to be able to indulge in regular dialogues with their teachers on issues that were seldom spoken about, which in turn instilled a feeling of responsibility to make healthy changes that affected people and their lifestyles.45

However, on the other end of the spectrum, many participants, especially from the government-dominion schools, complained of either ‘deteriorating’ or ‘disinterested’ faculty throughout the five years of the programme. Some even felt that their faculty were not screened for the necessary quality that they ought to possess. In many cases, they severely lacked practical experience and instead of focusing on imparting the fundamentals of the discipline, they were more concerned about the aesthetics of hand-drafted sheets. Unlike the top private institutions, the faculty in these government-led institutions kept questioning the abilities of the students and did not promote newer ideas and technology. This resulted in extreme demotivation and additional expenditure on the students’ part as they had to spend thousands of rupees learning the latest software and fabrication techniques privately. Certain institutions also had an imbalance of full-time and visiting faculty – who were not much concerned about student academics or their well-being – with the latter being more in number.46

43 Participant Responses to Author’s Questionnaire for Dissertation titled, ‘Inequality in Architectural Education in India’ [13th August, 2020]

44 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]

45 Participant Responses to Author’s Questionnaire.

46 Ibid.

Weighing The Curriculum

Owing to the open-ended nature of the questionnaire, the participants touched upon several aspects of the architectural curriculum in their responses. There were distinct inequalities as experienced by the participants, especially around aspects such as syllabus, competitions, design methodologies, study tours, co-curricular events and external collaborations.

Once again, participants from the top private institutions had a more integrated learning experience. Their curriculum structure pushed them to take a more liberal stance towards design methodologies whilst bestowing the freedom to pursue diverse concepts that translate into built forms. These institutions also organised several cocurricular events throughout the term-duration which included guest lectures; hands-on construction workshops; semester-end exhibitions; contemporary software and fabrication learning workshops; student exchange programmes in partnership with leading global institutions; and even collaborations with allied field experts such as urban planners, interior designers, graphic designers and engineers, just to name a few. Though most of these private institutions were not a part of the National Association of Students of Architecture (NASA), the students were pushed to participate in various national and international student competitions. Extensive study tours, both national and international, were integral to the curriculum and in some cases, the cost was even included in the annual fees.47

47 Participant Responses to Author’s Questionnaire.

On the contrary, most of the other participants were encumbered by their institutions’ curriculum structure and composition. Unlike the few ‘privileged’ students, they felt an immense disconnect between the technical, practical and theoretical aspects of their education. Certain schools focused more on the engineering and technological aspects of the field rather than imparting core learning outcomes such as design thinking and ideology. The design briefs were repetitive, the syllabus was outmoded and there was a lack of co-curricular activities. Some participants experienced very few study tours during their academic tenure and their faculty was very restrictive in terms of the trip destinations.48

However, almost all the participants voiced the shortfall of the compulsory internship period, which is currently for a minimum period of 24 weeks. Many also wished for more on-site and practical learning experiences to be embedded in the curriculum. Competitions were an integral part of many students’ academic journey. It enhanced their graphical skills, team dynamics, time-management skills and even taught them to view problems from multi-dimensional perspectives. Processes like model-making, peer-reviews, carpentry, research and presentation were considered as stress-busters and fun whilst also helping practically.49

48 Participant Responses to Author’s Questionnaire.

49 Ibid.

The Environment Plays a Role Too

Many responses touched upon topics such as campuses, facilities, scholarships, seat-reservations and admission criteria. These aspects form the learning environment for students and directly or indirectly impact their growth into future architects.

Having a stimulating campus is imperative in engendering an environment conducive to creation and design. It is integral for an architecture school to be a well-designed structure as students often tend to refer to their surrounding environment to understand scale, dimensions, materials and elements. A few respondents, mainly from Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns, had huge campuses which made studying such a strenuous course easier to manoeuver through. Certain private institution campuses would be officially functioning for 18 hours a day, thus stimulating collaborative learning through both formal and informal discussions with peers and faculty members. In most cases, these same schools also constituted a remarkable library that provided access to an extensive database of books, research papers, dissertations and theses.50

However, certain participants, especially those from the congested Tier1 cities, felt that their campus undermined the course due to a shortage of space to work, collaborate and socialise. In comparison with other institutions in the same city, some felt their campus to be extremely boring, whereas a few even complained about the absence of a campus altogether. A few institutions lacked basic ancillary infrastructures such as hostels and canteens. Several new schools that have sprung up, which are generally in a rush to kickstart their business, treat the first few student cohorts as ‘experimental’ batches. These students are deprived of fine infrastructure, academic resources and more often than not, decent faculty.51

50 Participant Responses to Author’s Questionnaire.

51 Ibid.

For generations, there has been a certain propensity amongst Indian people to elevate their fellow caste members. India has 6 main religions, each of which is further divided into castes and sub-castes. For instance, Hinduism, the most followed religion in the nation, is further divided into 3000 castes and 25000 sub-castes.52 Institutions implement seat reservations (better known as the quota-system in India), wherein the founders, more often than not, choose to reserve seats for students of their community; sometimes even up to 50%. One of the interviewed participants from such an institution, where 30 out of 60 seats were reserved for a particular caste, complained about increasing partiality, derogatory comments and unhealthy competition.

Figure 21. Private-dominion ANU’s Studio Figure 22. Government-dominion JJ School’s Studio

52 BBC News, 2019, What Is India’s Caste System?, Available at: <https://www.bbc. co.uk/news/world-asia-india 35650616#:~:text=The%20main%20castes%20were%20 further,the%20Dalits%20or%20the%20untouchables.> [Accessed 24 October 2020].

Money Matters

‘I fear our colleges of architecture are too addicted to the fees their students pay; they fear to fail anyone, who is really a failure! We need the money, not the student. Let us turn that ugly paradigm upside down!’53

The core difference between the government and private institutions lies in the fees charged. Currently, there is no established body or enforced framework by the COA that regulates the fee structure within the country. In some cities, the fee range varies from 17,000/- INR to 5,50,000/- INR per academic year!54 Moreover, the course demands additional spending in the form of model-making, study tours, printing, accommodation, hightech computers, software and books.

According to the participant responses, many felt that architectural education is ‘elitist’, as it is becoming increasingly unaffordable for the middle and lower class population, in a country where ‘the rich get richer and the poor get poorer’. Due to the acute shortage of admirable government-dominion institutions coupled with the drastically increasing number of students appearing for the entrance exams, students are forced to join private institutions that charge exorbitant fees. Since the fee-structure remains unregulated, many deserving students are unable to get admission into top private institutions solely because they cannot afford it. Most institutions did not provide scholarships and participants from the few schools that did offer scholarships to the underprivileged still termed it as ‘inaccessible’ and ‘unaffordable’.

53 Benninger, C., n.d. The Future Of Architectural Education In India - The Crises And Challenge. [online] ArchitectureLive!. Available at: <https://architecturelive.in/the-futureof-architectural-education-in-india-the-crises-and-challenge-christopher-benninger/> [Accessed 6 September 2020].

54 Collegedunia, Top B.Arch Colleges In Mumbai - 2020 Rankings, Fees, Placements, 2020 <https://collegedunia.com/barch/mumbai-colleges> [Accessed 26 October 2020]

55 Participant Responses to Author’s Questionnaire.

Portraying the commercialization of the field, one of the participants mentioned that any student willing to pay the fees, irrespective of his grades or interest in the field, was granted admission into the institution. Student cohorts excited to participate in workshops and competitions were discouraged from doing so as that would demand money to be spent by the college. Moreover, the annual fee hike for most private institutions is 10%.56 This is almost double in comparison to the general inflation rate of the nation, which is currently at 5.10%.57

Furthermore, some government-dominion institutions are bifurcated into two branches; aided and unaided, wherein the unaided department is not entitled to government grants, thus charging higher fees and attracting lower-ranked students. Whereas, due to fierce competition, mainly attracted by the lower fee-structure, only the top-rankers get admission to the aided department. As a result, there is already an established divide within the same school. Participants from these government-dominion schools had their tuition fees roughly within the range of 70,000/- INR to 1,20,000/- INR. Though they paid comparatively lesser, they were highly dissatisfied with the infrastructure, facilities, faculty and other additional costs incurred due to this.58

On the other hand, participants from private institutions paid a tuition fee within a broad range of 1,10,000/- INR to 6,00,000/- INR, annually. Those towards the lower end of this spectrum were content with what they were paying and getting in return. However, students towards the higher end of the spectrum, though getting the best of the faculty and infrastructure, were dissatisfied with the additional expenses, which are typically a part of architectural education.59

To make things worse, an intern or a recent graduate in any Tier-1 city, at an average, only earns INR 1,80,000/- per annum, which is barely enough to cover the basic necessities of an individual, let alone contribute towards savings.

55 Participant Responses to Author’s Questionnaire.

56 Ibid.

57 Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) referenced by Tradingeconomics.com, India Inflation Rate 2012-2020, 2020 <https:// tradingeconomics.com/india/inflation-cpi> [Accessed 26 October 2020]

The Screen v/s The Drafting Board

“Technology continues to grow at a rapid pace; equipping the students to meet the complex demands of the profession; the curriculum structure, focus and value system must facilitate the relationship between general education and specialised study.” 60

There has been a recent paradigm shift in architectural education globally. Sketchbooks are being replaced by iPads; conventional modelmaking by 3D-printers; hand drafting by AutoCAD; design boards by virtual reality, pinned-up sheets by digital presentations; and measuring tapes by laser measurers, to name a few. With such exponential technological advancements, an architectural institution must impart these skills to its students from the very beginning.

Architectural education always works in favour of those who can spend more on technology and infrastructure, thus being able to produce highquality work in a shorter period, which consequently aggravates the inequalities.

“In an education which constructs itself on thorough time-management, a student who can afford the best laptop produces the best renders and those who can access laser-cutting [machines] and 3D-printers can build the finest of models, all in a shorter period. The inequality is ostensible.”61

Many participants, mainly from the private institutions, had access to the state-of-the-art facilities on their campus. They could utilize them at subsidised costs and sometimes even complimentary. Tutorials for advanced softwares, embedded as a part of the curriculum, were introduced as early as Year 2, with new computational tools being taught every semester. Owing to this ‘privilege’, they were able to pursue any contemporary idea and build upon it.62

60 Dua, S., and K. Chahal., Scenario of Architectural Education in India, Journal of The Institution of Engineers (India): Series A 95.3 (2014), p.185.

61 Participant Responses to Author’s Questionnaire.

62 Ibid.

In comparison, other participants felt a major lack of exposure to the technology used within the field. Some institutions still hailed handdrafting as the benchmark. Despite paying a hefty fee to their institution, students had to shell out extra money to learn softwares privately; especially considering it is a basic requirement to apply for jobs or internships (Figure 27). Apart from the latest technology, many schools did not even have mandatory facilities such as desktops, drafting tables, projectors and workshops.63

“Most offices are digitally equipped but the school sends inadequately trained interns. The offices may/need not have the patience all the time to teach the basics - and in this situation, it is the student who suffers.” 64

Figure 25. JSAA’s Digital Fabrication Lab Figure 26. IES’s students hand-drafting

63 Participant Responses to Author’s Questionnaire.

64 Chitra Vishwanath referenced by Saraswat, Anupriya, 2017. Architectural Internships In India - The Story So Far, ArchitectureLive!. Available at: <https://architecturelive.in/ architectural-internships-india-intern-story/> [Accessed 1 November 2020].

Figure 27. Job vacancy posts highlighting software proficiency as the preeminent criteria

Figure 28. Advanced facilities for students at JSAA

All in All, That’s a Lot to Take!

Stress was one of the few aspects that prompted a unanimous response from all participants. A high level of stress seems to be an inherent feature of architectural education. This commonality explicitly showcases the additional pressure on the students experiencing the inequalities, as it can only be increasingly onerous to manage without having the aforementioned privileges.

Scores of negative responses were recorded. Some participants were advised by their senior batches on the very first day to drop the course as it was too much pressure to handle and their diligence would not even be appreciated. The course expected you to ‘detach from the rest of the world’ owing to the high levels of stress and unreasonable study hours. Furthermore, being a frenetic 5-year programme, students tended to lose interest and felt stuck during the course. Comparison between individuals based on the marks achieved, an everlasting issue in India, led to mental stress, isolation and trauma. This, coupled with issues of unrealistic deadlines, part-time jobs, student-debt, fee hikes and low wages created a ‘toxic’ mix.65

“For NASA, we lived like a family in college, working rigorously day and night trying to strike a balance between our academics in the day, while working for the competition the entire night. We barely used to get 3 hours of sleep every night, for 3 months straight.” 66

Students also experienced stress due to the unhealthy ‘crit’ and ‘jury’ culture present in most Indian schools. The idea of getting defensive with the jury, who would generally not be open to new ideas, often created a negative atmosphere. Due to the constant need to align with the sense of philosophy and abstraction dictated by the studio leaders, students felt very restricted.67

65 Chitra Vishwanath referenced by Saraswat, Anupriya, 2017. Architectural Internships In India - The Story So Far, ArchitectureLive!.

66 Participant Responses to Author’s Questionnaire.

67 Ibid.

In a similar instance to the unpaid internship controversy for the Serpentine Pavilion involving Junya Ishigami & Associates,68 students expressed severe concerns over ‘exploitative internships’69 that demand ‘arduous hours of work, but pay in peanuts.’70 Worse than unpaid internships, there are ‘persistent rumours’71 regarding studios charging money from students to intern there. However, there is not much evidence since students are afraid to speak up as it may lead to them being ‘ostracised from the fraternity’.72 In an online survey conducted by ArchitectureLive!, many students admitted to being ‘mistreated and abused’73 by their employers; the imbalance between demand and supply being the core reason for such unethical workplace dynamics to spring up, with negligible regulatory processes in action.

68 Jonze, Tim, 2019. Row Over Use Of Unpaid Interns By Serpentine Pavilion Architect, The Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/mar/22/ row-unpaid-interns-serpentine-london-gallery-pavilion-architect-project> [Accessed 1 November 2020].

69 Saraswat, Anupriya, 2017. Architectural Internships In India - The Story So Far, ArchitectureLive!. Available at: <https://architecturelive.in/architectural-internships-indiaintern-story/> [Accessed 1 November 2020].

70 Participant Responses to Author’s Questionnaire.

71 Urvashi Vasistha referenced by Fairs, M., 2019. Architecture Internships In India Exploitative, Dezeen.

72 Ibid.

73 Saraswat, Anupriya, 2017. Architectural Internships In India - The Story So Far, ArchitectureLive!

“Every new batch of architectural students - emerging out of the ever-increasing number of colleges, faces a lack of internship opportunities. Very often, this is followed by a frustrating experience as an intern, leaving the students disappointed and disillusioned.” 74

Architecture being an expansive field, students, teachers and fresh graduates often get overwhelmed by the constant grapple between the ‘intellectual demands of the discipline’ and the ‘practice of architecture.’75 As an architect, one is often expected to know everything ranging from art, design, technology, construction, science and politics. The vagueness of this ‘knowledge boundary of architects’ is extremely stressful.76 (Figure 30)77

74 Ramachandra S., Architectural Internships In India – Who Said What?, ArchitectureLive!, Available at: <https: www.posts.architecturelive.in/tag/the-internstory/> [Accessed 1 November 2020].

75 Mahalingam, Ganapathy, 2007. On Deciding The Boundaries Of Architectural Knowledge, https://www.ndsu.edu. Available at: <https://docplayer.net/31466669-Ondeciding-the-boundaries-of-architectural-knowledge-abstract-architectural-educatorsconstantly-struggle-with-the-boundaries-of-architectural.html> [Accessed 1 November 2020].

76 Ibid.

77 Zhao, Shenghuan; De Angelis, Enrico; Ma, Dongqing. Reflecting on the architecture curriculum through a survey on career switching, Design and Technology Education: an International Journal, [S.l.], v. 23, n.1, pp. 76-87. Feb. 2018 <https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/ DATE/article/view/2277> [Date accessed: 26 apr. 2020].

Figure 31. Illustrations by ‘Leewardists’ showcasing typical scenarios from an architectural student’s life