For educational institutions, autonomy -- which has become the new buzzword -- means all this, now that the state government has announced a scheme for the same. While it is not easy to get autonomy -- for starters, institutions need a standing of 10 years -- educators are upbeat that at least the process has been set in motion. And with good reason too. Established educational institutions have been reeling under red-tape and bureaucratic wrangling of the university set-up, point out principals.

A committee of vice-chancellors had worked out the statutes for granting autonomy and the rules regarding the functioning of such institutions.

The need for autonomy has been mentioned in the statutes itself, which note that with the number of colleges going up, ``the present affiliating system does not give collegesrequired freedom to meet the demand cast on them.''

Agrees Fr Joe Dias, principal of St Xavier's College, Fort, which had applied for autonomy in the early seventies: ``Under a university, there will be weak colleges and good ones, but the system is such that it caters to both categories.'' The result is that the standard of education is brought down to the least common denominator, so as to cater to a majority, Fr Joe feels.

But when there is autonomy -- which has been recommended by the national policy on education -- colleges are allowed to implement an academic programme of their own choice. Says M G Shirahatti, principal of Lala Lajpatrai College at Haji Ali, ``The university is slow in revising the syllabus and even if we want to introduce certain changes within the existing framework, that is not possible.'' For instance, in the syllabus for Computer Applications in Commerce, outdated languages were taught for a long time, he adds.

It will also be possible to link up with foreign universities,says Fr Dias, as has been done in several autonomous colleges down South. ``There can be exchange of faculty and students. But when you're affiliated to a university, there are a lot of obstacles, as we cannot do justice to university programmes,'' he adds.

Autonomy will also ensure accountability, feel principals. ``Otherwise, if students fail or pass, teachers are not bothered. But autonomous colleges will be known for their specialised areas. If a course is started it has to survive. Teachers will have to see to that,'' Shirahatti says.

The statutes also grant colleges the freedom to introduce courses on a self-financing basis -- necessary as the government has clearly indicated its lack of interest in higher education. This has created fears that the courses will be out of reach of poor students. As Fr Dias puts it, ``Unless there is government grant, we will have to charge high fees, and we will be catering only to a specific segment of the population.'' On the other hand, merit seats and paymentseats can also be introduced, educators say.

Another fallout -- in the long run -- will be a decrease in number of coaching classes, educators say. As each college will have its own syllabus, it won't be viable to run a coaching class for a small segment, educators say.

But there are drawbacks as well. Teachers' unions have already expressed apprehensions of being `exploited' by `corrupt' managements. Concurs Fr Dias, ``A lot depends on the management. Staff members won't have a say if the management is bad.'' Also, teachers' unions have been pointing out that there is not enough transparency in the functioning of autonomous colleges. For instance, the proceedings at the management board's meetings will not be revealed, as per the statutes. While there are provisions for evaluating the functioning of autonomous colleges, there is scope for misuse, say educators. But if the standards of education are to be improved, autonomy is the only way out, they feel.

However, the process of autonomy will take time,as the statutes have to be passed by the Senates of various universities, after which applications for autonomy will be invited.