Higher Education in India: Coping with Emerging Challenges

17th Joint Meeting of ENIC &NARIC Networks, Paris, June 20-22, 2010

Prof. Ved Prakash

Vice-ChairmanUniversity Grants Commission, New Delhi

profved@gmail.com

Presentation • Provides for educational governance, its structure,

Centre & state relationship, financing, qualifications framework, higher education & its challenges and the new initiatives, etc.

Educational Governance:• Education is a concurrent subject.• Federal Government (MHRD) plays a key role in ensuring

coordinated development of education. • Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) provides

critical inputs for educational policy, planning & implementation.

• Provincial Governments, ( 35 States & UTs ) share the responsibility of administering education at all levels

• Management of school education has been decentralized in most of the states 2

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EDUCATIONAL STRUCTURE IN INDIA

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3

Public-Private Partnership in Education*

Levels All Public Institutions* (in %)

Private Unaided (in %)

Primary schools 93 7

Upper primary schools 84 16

High/Higher Secondary schools 77 23

Higher Education (Universities)**

76 24

Source: Selected Educational Statistics, 2001-02, Government of India, Ministry of MHRD, New Delhi.

Note: * Provisional, including private aided institutions.

** The ratio has increased in favour of private in the recent past.4

Higher Education in India

5

National Qualifications Framework• Four Principal levels of qualifications• Diploma courses both at UG/PG• Bachelors Degree - 3 years• Master’s Degree - 2 years• Pre-Doctoral & Post-Doctoral Program – 1 to 4

years.• University Grants Commission (UGC), a statutory

body of the Government of India, is responsible for specifying the Degrees.

• 163 specified degrees (74 UG & 89 PG)

6

S.No. Broad Categories Number of Degrees

1 Basic Sciences 052 Liberal Arts 123 Commerce 104 Law 065 Languages 026 Teacher Education 077 Engineering & Technology 108 Medicine 109 Library Science 0210 Ayurveda 0711 Unani 03

TOTAL 74

Under-Graduate Degrees (74)

S.No. Broad CategoriesNumber of Degrees

1 Basic Sciences 042 Liberal Arts 193 Commerce 094 Law 035 Languages 186 Teacher Education 067 Engineering & Technology 078 Medicine 179 Library Science 0210 Ayurveda 0211 Unani & Homeopathy 02

TOTAL 89

Post-Graduate Degrees (89)

Recognition of Qualifications

• AIU – national agency dealing with recognition of foreign degrees.

• Equivalence is established on course to course basis.

• Vital parameters like entry requirements, curriculum, duration, pass requirement, conditions for award of degree, etc. are taken into account.

• Foreign degree studied on full time basis are recognized in India.

9

Number of Degree Awarding Higher Education Institutions

S.No. Types of Institutions No. of Institutions*

1. Central Universities including IGNOU

41

2. State Universities 244

3. Deemed to be Universities 130

4. State Open Universities 13

5. Private Universities 61

6. Institutes of National Importance

Like IITs, AIIMS, PGIMER etc.

38

Total

* Besides there are 21,686 colleges.

527

Growth of Higher Education

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Growth of Higher Education Institutions

6951542

36044722

7346

12806

21686

32

56

102

133

190

256

527

0

2000

4000

6000

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10000

12000

14000

16000

20000

30000

1950-51 1960-61 1970-71 1980-81 1990-91 2000-01 2009-10*Year

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

400

600

Colleges

Universities/DeemedUniv./Inst.ofNational Imp.

Growth of Engineering Institutions Since 1947

46 80 151 179 258 337 375471 558

662776 838

10571208

13461495 1559

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14001600

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1947 1955 1965 1975 1985 1990 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Years

No. o

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GROWTH OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION SINCE 1947

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Centre-State Relationship in Financing of Higher Education

• Public finances for HE provided by Centre & States through budgetary allocations.

• States contribute about 80% of the total expenditure on HE.

• States are bearing the most of the brunt of fiscal crisis.• States with weaker resources find it hard to support the

higher education. • State Universities have to resort to alternative methods of

resource mobilization mostly through recoveries. • Paucity of resources has also resulted in relatively low

emphasis on affirmative actions such as student fellowships.

13

Educational Expenditure as % Total Budget

Expenditure & GDP

7.92

11.99

10.67

12.76

10.16

13.37

14.42

0.64

1.482.11

2.98

3.844.33

3.68

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

1951-52 1960-61 1970-71 1980-81 1990-91 2000-01 2004-05*Year

% of Exp. To All Sectors Exp.

% of Educational Exp. To GDP

Education Expenditure & GDP

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Central Allocation in XI Plan• XI Plan is named as Educational Plan.• It has provided for an allocation of Rs. 2,620

Billions as against Rs. 420 Billions during X Plan.• Elementary Education is given Rs. 1,250 Billions.• Secondary Education is given Rs. 520 Billions.• Higher Education is given Rs. 850 Billions.• General Higher Education is given Rs. 464.49

Billions.• Technical Higher Education is given Rs.385.51

Billions.

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Demand for HE

• Demand for higher education is increasing by leaps and bounds.

• Dramatic increase in students pursuing Professional education.

• Number of bachelors degree in engineering has grown by an average of more than 20% per annum.

• Rising student population is contributing to diversity.• Quality of the graduates is being questioned. • Graduate unemployment and shortage of skilled workers

co-exist. • Demand for skilled workers, particularly in engineering,

professional and IT sectors has gone up due to integration of labour market.

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Challenges in Higher Education• Access & Equity • HE in India is very low and uneven across states, gender and different social

groups. • Autonomy and Accountability• Sincere efforts need to be made to evolve charter of responsibility and devolution

of authority at different levels. • Shortage of Faculty• Large Scale vacancies in the faculty besides faculty not being fully qualified.• Bright students not opting for teaching profession.• Research• Institutions are not able to keep pace with the advancement of research. • Privatization & Commercialization • A well thought out strategy requires to ensure how public and private systems

can co-exist. • Multiplicity of Regulatory Bodies • Absence of an overarching instrument for coordination is leaving much to be

desired. • Assessment & Accreditation• Assessment and accreditation is a major concern.• Entry of Foreign Institutions • No policy in place for regulating entry of foreign institutions. • Internationalization • Indian institutions should attract more number of foreign students.

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Internationalization • Majority of the present genre institutions are not able to attract

foreign students. • About 16,000 International students are studying in Indian

Universities. • One of the reasons for not attracting foreign students is the lack of

physical facilities. • Number of Indian students going abroad for studies is increasing

each year. • About 123,559 students from India are studying abroad. • Internationalization was expected to forge linkages by way of

sharing man and material across the institutions.• Instead, it has ended up as a business enterprise between two

partner institutions with the sole motive of profiteering. • The first and the foremost casualty in this approach is the quality. • This is far from the concept of internationalization of HE and more

akin to globalization. • Present form of internationalization does not prepare the students

to face the realities of the country of their residence. • Institutions should attract more number of foreign students and

equip them with competencies and skills which provide them an edge over others when they go back to their countries of residence. 18

Entry of Foreign Institutions• Proliferation of foreign institutions. • Issues like regulation of entry and operation, maintenance of

quality and prevention of commercialization are yet to be sorted out.

• Absence of government regulations allow entry of low quality institutions.

• It will be good for the country if it allows only those foreign institutions to operate which are accredited in their homeland and offer only those programs which they are offering back home.

• Further, those institutions should also be subjected to all hazards which are applicable to domestic institutions.

• The issues of credit transfer and mutual recognition of degrees should also be resolved for the purposes of ensuring internationalization of higher education.

• The country should not allow such institutions which indulge in academic fraud and take uniformed children for a ride by giving them the false temptation of a foreign degree and foreign job.

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New Initiatives • Country has witnessed several important

developments in HE in the recent past. • GoI set up the National Knowledge Commission

(NKC) in 2005 which made a number of vital recommendations to strengthen HE in the country.

• Some of its recommendations have been conceptualized in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan.

• Further, in 2009, the GoI set up a National Committee on Renovation and Rejuvenation of HE, which also made a number of recommendations for its reconstruction.

• In addition, the present Government in the Centre has mounted a new wave of reforms in HE.

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Bouquet of Measures • National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER)

to replace a number of regulatory bodies. • National Authority for Regulation in Accreditation of HEIs. • National Educational Tribunal to Fast-Track Adjudication of

disputes.• National Education Finance Corporation to provide soft loans to

both students and service providers.• Prohibition of Unfair Practices in respect of professional education. • Bill for the entry of foreign education institutions.• Policy to Attract Talent to teaching and research. • National Mission on Education through ICT to focus on connectivity

and content generation.• Introduction of reforms like introduction of curricular reforms,

semester system, choice-based credit system, grading system, national testing scheme for admissions on the pattern of GRE.

• Task Force for the implementation of the aforesaid agenda within a definite time frame. 21

Contd..• Central Government has proposed to set up 454 new

institutions of higher learning during XI Plan.• 80 Degree awarding institutions and 374 colleges. • GoI has recently set up 16 CUs, will set up another 14

Innovative Universities. • 6 IITs set up, 2 more would be set up in 2010. • To set up 10 new NITs, 20 IIITs, 3 IISERs, 7 IIMs, 2

SPAs. • To set up 374 Degree colleges in lower GER districts. • GoI has given 27% reservations to OBCs in all CEIs. • All CEIs have been asked to increase their intake

capacity by 54%- not to affect the share general categories.

• OBC reservations is to be implemented in a phased manner spanning over a period of three years.

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Contd..• GoI has decided to provide bouquet of other measures with a view to

making HE more inclusive. It includes:• 1200 Post-Graduate Scholarships for single girl child;• 2000 National Fellowships for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and

Scheduled Tribes (STs) for pursuing M. Phil and Ph. D programs;• Unlimited number of Merit Scholarships for undergraduate university

rank holders to pursue post-graduate programs;• 500 Post-Doctoral Fellowships and 6400 JRFs for pursuing M. Phil

and Ph. D programs. The amount of JRFs has also been increased by 50%;

• Interest subsidy on student loans; • Provision of assistance for creation of hostel facilities;• Remedial coaching for SCs, STs and minorities;• Scholarships for women in professional programs;• High quality e-books, e-journals and e-contents in various languages

free of cost to genuine learners, etc. • Encourage private participation in HE provided they make education

available at an affordable cost. • Unlike in the past, GoI has committed substantial amount of

resources with a view to increasing access and equity in HE besides incentivizing the States in setting up of new institutions. 23

Contd..• Attractive scales of pay to the teachers to make

teaching more attractive. • Strengthening of Science based education and

Research in Universities.• Expansion of Research Projects through funded

research.• GFR to be modified to permit some portion of

research to be allowed for tapping the salary.• A major expansion of faculty development

program.• A program to train/ upgrade skills of 20,000

teachers to be undertaken; 10,000 from Universities and 10,000 from TEIs.

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International Cooperation• Cultural agreements with about 120 countries.• About 75 CEPs were signed and most of them are

periodically renewed.• Negotiations are on with about 30 other countries.• The onset of liberalization and subsequent boom in

the education sector has necessitated delineating education component from CEPs.

• The focus is now shifting to separate EEPs with 27 major countries.

• Negotiations are on for entering into exclusive educational exchange programs with many more.

• The Educational Exchange Programs provide for forming a Joint Working Group (JWG) to monitor the implementation.

• The JWGs meet annually in either countries and take decisions for follow up by both sides.

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Conclusions• Demand for higher education is increasing much faster in

India. • Economy has raised aspirations of one and all. • Present system is not fulfilling these aspirations because of

the shortage of good quality affordable institutions. • India has to double its GER by strengthening its existing

institutions as also by opening newer institutions.• Need to mobilize additional resources. • Priority must be given to the backward areas. • Convergence between conventional and distance mode of

learning. • Private service providers to be taken on board to implement

the social agenda. • Support to the genuine in the form of soft loans and

subsidies. • Government will have to realize the limitations of the private

service providers and set up institutions in those areas which are very crucial for the wholesome growth of higher education including research. 26

Contd..• Phasing out of the affiliating system• Need to increase enrolment at the post-graduate and

research levels. • Need to make strategic investment in research to have a

comparative advantage in the global market.• Substantial investments to improve the internal efficiency of

individual institutions. • Significance of existing institutions need not be undermined. • Appropriate measures are required to reverse the change-

resistant structure of universities.• Universities should be more flexible in offering courses to

meet the needs of a more diverse student community.• Introduction of academic reform programs like curricular

reform, choice-based credit system, semester system, internal assessment, grading, etc. on priority basis.

• In present times, the universities cannot compete with the best unless they improve the quality of both teaching and research. 27

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