For a future ready education system

Updated on: Monday, November 30, 2009

WITH more than 400 universities and over 20,000 colleges, the student enrolment in India has crossed 12.9 million in 2007-2008, clocking a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2% since 1985-86. Also, participation of the private sector has increased, with about 63% of the total higher education institutions in the country being private unaided institutions. It’s a big leap, considering the fact that in 2001, the share of unaided private institutions was 42.6%.

With the Indian higher education sector growing and the country all set to become a knowledge superpower, a FICCI-Ernst & Young report (Making the Indian higher education system future ready) was recently released at the FICCI Higher Education Summit 2009.

The report notes that despite a significant growth, the Indian higher education system continues to demonstrate structural shortcomings which in turn create challenges. The report analyses these challenges across financing, use of ICT, research, skill development , and regulatory oversight, which are adversely impacting the performance of the Indian higher education system in terms of quality, access and equity.

Amitabh Jhingan, partner & national leader, Education Practice, Ernst & Young, points out, "Our online survey of over 50 higher education institutions across India show that the key financial challenges include regulation of fees, attracting private investments and limited government grants. The survey also indicates that obtaining research grants, developing industry partnerships and quality of human resources are the challenges faced in improving the quality of research."

While the report highlights the importance of industry collaborations and publicprivate-partnerships as the fulcrum of a future agenda, India still seems to be averse to the idea of private institutes. Amit Mitra, secretary general, FICCI, says in response that though private unaided institutions have made significant contribution in maintaining the supply of skilled manpower to the industry, the quality of new graduates is a critical issue that needs to be addressed. "Self regulation through transparency in procedures and disclosures along with good faculty and teaching-learning processes would help in creating the trust amongst students, parents, industry and government," he adds.

Apart from addressing key issues of higher education, the report has identified five ‘game changers’ that can strengthen the higher education system. In fact, the imperatives that are likely to make the system future ready include financial innovation , ICT, reinvigorating research, thrust on vocational education and training (VET), and regulatory reforms.

While India’s public expenditure on higher education may be comparable to other countries, when it comes to ‘per-student expenditure’ it is extremely low. Among the other challenges in this area, India lacks a robust scholarship and student loan schemes which can make higher education accessible at a more aligned tuition fee structure, the report reveals. So the recommendations focus on increasing the number of institutions to plug the demand-supply gap and provide access in low GER areas.

In the area of ICT, lack of infrastructure and poor quality of digital content (especially in regional languages) are causes for concern. To enable a healthy ICT environment, the report recommends development of collaborative networks along with creation of a common centralised repository for e-journals , digitised PhD thesis, research papers, e-books , etc. Vocational education and training (VET), too, needs attention, while facilitating mobility between VET and mainstream education through a system of credit transfer should be a priority, the report recommends.

As far as research is concerned, India has a low base of researchers and the academic sector contributes less than a seventh of the total number of researchers. According to the recommendations, to reinvigorate research, the immediate need is to facilitate industry-academia collaboration, increase collaboration between universities and government R&D labs and also, increase the number and quality of doctoral students.

Finally, one of the greatest challenges in the higher education system has been the issue of a regulatory framework. The issue of multiple regulators — with overlapping roles and lack of accreditation and transparency — has been plaguing the education sector for long. According to the report, creation of an independent body for regulating higher education, promoting institutional autonomy and addressing structural shortcomings could help the Indian higher education system reach a holistic solution.

Timesofindia

For a future ready education system

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