CHENNAI: In a development that has exposed data gaps in the higher education system, nearly half of the emails sent by the Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education (TANSCHE) to PhD scholars bounced back, revealing that university databases did not maintain accurate contact information of research scholars.
To address inordinate delays and poor rate of completion of PhDs, TANSCHE had earlier this month launched a state-wide survey to identify the reasons for the delays and the various challenges faced by scholars in directly reaching out to them.
The council circulated a detailed questionnaire to about 32,000 PhD candidates enrolled across 13 state universities (including those from affiliated colleges of the respective universities), functioning under the higher education department.
However, officials were in for a shock when about 50% of the emails returned undelivered due to incorrect, inactive or outdated email addresses. These email IDs were shared by the universities to TANSCHE.
“This is not a case of students ignoring the survey. The problem lies in reaching out to them,” said M P Vijayakumar, vice chairman, TANSCHE. He further added that they did not want to conduct the surveys through the universities as scholars could feel hesitant to speak their mind.
TANSCHE officials said that email IDs of scholars registered before 2021 accounted for a large chunk of the emails that returned undelivered.
Officials said that the relatively new University Information Management System (UIMS) of the state government lacked comprehensive records of PhD scholars as of now.
TANSCHE has now sought the support of the directorate of collegiate education (DCE). “The DCE has been asked to collect updated email addresses and contact numbers of PhD students from affiliated colleges,” said Vijayakumar.
Initial data gathered by TANSCHE showed that of the 42,913 students who enrolled in PhD programmes in the last five years, only 12,625 (29.4%) completed their thesis within the stipulated five-year period.
A senior higher education department official said the state is now working on creating a dedicated web portal for PhD scholars to store updated personal, academic and research-related information, ensuring such issues do not recur.
Meanwhile, TANSCHE has also urged scholars to directly contact the council by emailing tn.statecouncil@gmail.com
