Can doctoral degrees make better teachers?

Biju Dharmapalan
Michael Faraday did an apprenticeship, and had no degree; Charles Darwin had an ‘ordinary' degree in theology and James Joule had no degree at all
It is often said that the quality of higher education in a country rest on the hands of the number of PhDs holder produced by her.  With this objective, policymakers of higher education give more impetus to increase the number of doctoral degree holders every year. Even during the accreditation process of UGC- NAAC more thrust is given to the number of PhD holders in an institution.  The UGC is also supporting teachers through faculty improvement programs to pursue PhD.   Even those who do not have any interest in research also do PhD for the sake of promotions. Does a greater number of PhD holders improve the academic or research culture of a country? Do such people do any good for the academic system?
A debate was triggered earlier this month when Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that making a PhD degree mandatory for the post of assistant professor at universities is “not favourable” in the current education system.
If we analyze the quality of an average PhD holder from a state university or private university, we get a dismal picture of our higher education (with few exceptions). There are many who even do not know how to state a research problem or how to cite references properly. Quality in higher education cannot be attributed to the degree one holds.  If the number of PhDs and high impact factor publications is the scale for measuring quality, our country would have produced hundreds of Nobel Laureates and we would have solved many of the problems afflicting our society.
In history we find many eminent scientists without a PhD degree or even a good academic degree. Michael Faraday did an apprenticeship, and had no degree; Charles Darwin, had an ‘ordinary' degree in theology; and James Joule, had no degree at all. John Walker, who won the Copley Medal and the Nobel Prize, got a third-class honours degree; and Admiral Henry Jackson, who invented radio communication between ships, did not have a degree either.
In one of the studies published in The Biologist, it is reported that 10 per cent of the distinguished scientists who were listed in the prestigious Fellows of the Royal Society (FRS) never had degrees. Our own great scientist and teacher Sir C V Raman did not have a research degree. Clearly, degrees or grades are not a reliable indicator of the research or academic ability and potential of a candidate. Using degree scores alone would have prevented many world-famous scientists from building successful careers if they had lived today.
Considering the facts from history, the statement of the Union Education Minister is a welcome step for people who value knowledge and wisdom above certificates or degrees.
In higher education what is needed is the transformation of the students to equip them to solve the problems faced by society and also to mold them into citizens having good values.  Unfortunately, today's education fails to impart these. Academic transformation can be achieved only by updating the latest developments in the subject. Regrettably, most of our teachers are not interested in updating the subject. The students are fed with information of the 70s or 80s or 90s that these teachers learned during their college days and they ask students to write the same for university examinations. Teachers of this group do not even students to refer to standard books.
Many teachers who have taken doctoral degrees have the feeling that they have climbed Mount Everest and they do not need to learn further. They even have a feeling that they should be focused only on MSc and PhD classes as they are superior. Many do not engage themselves with BSc and MSc classes citing workload mentioned in UGC rules, which gives weightage to teachers who are engaged in research. In many affiliated colleges having research centers, BSc and MSc students get less focus from this group of teachers. In university centers the situation is so pathetic that many are not interested even in taking classes, their only focus is research. In many university centers, theory and practical sessions for post-graduate students are carried out by research scholars.
Of course, in science education, research and teaching are two sides of the same coin and we cannot neglect either one. The attention of teachers is needed for molding undergraduate students as they are fresh and need the assistance of teachers. The students who come for MSc and PhD are people who usually have already a clear set of objectives.
Value-based education can be provided only if a teacher has some connection with society. Most of the present-day college teachers feel they are an elite class. A teacher having more degrees and honors becomes totally excluded from society. During earlier days students had good role models among their teachers. But in today's world even a teacher's life is corrupted with the dismal state of society. Most of the present-day teachers do not like to correct students; they only fulfill their duty as a lecturer providing one hour lecture or giving a test and teacher-student relationship ends just there.
To be a good teacher one needs to be a good student. Only a good student can excel as a teacher. To be a good student means always opening your eyes and ears to the learning process. A good teacher need not be one who holds a PhD degree. The reason in most cases is that once a person is awarded a PhD degree, he feels that his learning process is complete and becomes egotistic. They feel that they are superior superhuman beings and nobody should question them. This creates a negative impact on the academic culture of our students. In science education, this attitude will destroy the questioning nature of students.
To be a good teacher is more difficult than securing a PhD degree. A good teacher should be able to understand the academic level of each student and accordingly deliver the content. It is really more challenging than doing a wet lab experiment. In higher education what we lack today is the presence of a good teacher.  Only a good teacher can instill scientific creativity in students.
There are many passionate researchers among our school teachers who do not have a post-graduate degree, but still are better researchers compared to PhD holders. We have to tap the resources of such great teachers. But the so-called scientific community will not accept them as they do not have a PhD. The Government should provide opportunities for such teachers to showcase their talents. We need to promote them with an award equivalent to Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize given to researchers. Solutions to problems affecting the community can be solved only if we tap the intellectual ability of so-called non-scientific people who lack a PhD. It is the undue importance we give to the PhD degree that harms the productivity in science. Science should be respected looking at the work one does, not by one's degree. In higher education what we need is good teachers who enlighten our youngsters and create a strong intellectual pool for the country.
(The writer is a science communicator and columnist. The views expressed are personal.)