In some Universities like the University of Calicut, there are Professors who write lot of Textbooks, which are actually not different from guides. They push their text books using the University facilities available to them such as University cooperative society and earn so much income out of this book sales. The worst thing about this profit making business is that they hamper development of subject. For example, in the entire State of Kerala the school curriculum follows SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) method of teaching but the B.Ed curriculum does not reflect this. The textbooks and the curriculum remained stagnant. The powerful text book writer lobby could be behind this.
With eye on profit making alone these text book writing Professors write textbooks not only on their own areas of competency, but also on nearly all the subjects beyond their comprehension by 'tying up' with other lesser known writers. Thus it is a classic example of mutual-ism in ecology in which both the teams benefit out of this arrangement.
These Professors lobby have been influential in the University Administration and they set up what is known as Self Financing Colleges meaning Colleges that profit out of low paid teachers appointed on contract basis. These Professors lobby, whose interest is selling textbooks, visit the self financing institutions for delivering lectures/ guest talks/ seminars etc. and in the process give publicity to their books and even distribute their books.. Thus Universities have been reduced into business enterprises where a minority of bourgeois in the garb of Professors stop development of faculty, improvement of curriculum and hamper educational growth, doing great injustice to the children of this land.
At a shop near a self financing college directly run by the University of Calicut, a teacher points at her institution and tells the shopkeeper, "that is another shop just like yours; you sell provisions and they sell education. They have no regard to the profession of teaching or respect for teachers; Even the peon and sweeper of these colleges are permanent employees with all sorts of government salary and benefits but the teachers are appointed on contract basis on hire and fire policy and they treat the teachers as their orderlies".
The UGC salary earning Professors in the Universities have plenty of spare time at their disposal which some of them utilise for making money running their own businesses. Clever Professors actually utilise the facilities provided by the University to become Book Tycoons. None of them have any interest in establishing a great culture in the University or even in good administration.
Globalisation has increased the wealth of Indians and progress. Educational enterprises like Universities, that traditionally played crucial role in development of manpower and responsible citizens, are at present mere teaching enterprises. The value of teachers have depleted and they are just like any other employee. Students of India will soon stop calling the teachers 'Sir' or 'Maam', as teaching as a profession is degraded into mere business rather than institutions inculcating values, patriotism and morals and the Professors have a great role to play in this.
