How to change India’s higher education?

Higher education in India has witnessed expeditious growth over the past two decades, mainly propelled by private sector initiatives. Today, with more than 17,900 institutions, India stands as the third-largest higher education system in the world in terms of enrolment (preceded by China and the USA), with the largest number of institutions in the world.

Despite a large number of institutions, the average number of enrolments in higher education institutes in India is only about 500-600, compared to the United States and Europe, where the figure is 3000-4000, and China, where the number is 8000-9000. This highly disintegrated system of higher education in India poses a challenge in governance and management more than any other higher education system in the world.

The system of higher education in India has grown exponentially since independence. Especially since 1980, higher education in India witnessed a boom with several new types of providers entering the education landscape. According to the All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) 2019-20 report, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) has increased from the previous year’s 26.3 percent to 27.1 percent. Factors like the proliferation of private institutions and distance learning programs, self-financing programs offered by colleges and universities, and foreign institutions offering programs in both stand-alone mode and through partnerships with Indian institutes contributed to the rapid expansion of the non-university sector.

Although higher education in India has witnessed unprecedented growth, the expansion has been chaotic and lacks proper planning. The impetus to promote socially inclusive higher education has resulted in a hasty multiplication in the number of institutions, without a corresponding increase in the supporting material and intellectual resources. Insufficient and poor facilities, inadequate faculty, outdated teaching methods, and an extensive economic, geographical, ethnic disparity contribute to the deteriorating educational standards.

The other issue that riddles higher education in India is ensuring fair and proper access to quality educational resources for students coming from low-income backgrounds. Economically backward students often face a disadvantage in preparing themselves for competitive examinations both due to lack of affordability of private coaching and a bias towards urban elite students.

In order to match the global standards of competition and the accelerated mobility of the workforce, a strategic vision and policy framework is required at the national level for higher education in India to motivate both public and private institutions to be more innovative and responsible.

Right to education

The 2009 Right to Education Act, enacted by the Indian parliament, prescribes free and compulsory education for all children between the age of six to fourteen years, making education a fundamental right of every child. The act also secures 25% reservation for disadvantaged children, including SCs and STs, socially and economically backward sector, and differently-abled children. The Right to Education Act is a significant step towards inclusive education and has promoted nationwide access to education. Some of the important achievements of this act is to increase enrolments in the upper primary classes, improvement in school infrastructure, especially in the rural areas, and drive more admissions under the 25% quota norm.  However, a significant limitation of the Right to Education Act is that it narrows down the age range, depriving access to higher education. Also, as confirmed by the Annual Status of Education Reports (ASER), the quality of learning leaves much to be desired, thus failing to create a strong academic foundation in children for higher education.

The challenges of higher education in India

By analyzing the growth pattern of higher education in India, it is clear that the growth can be largely attributed to private initiatives, and regulating this growth pattern poses a challenge. The higher education system has not been flexible enough to meet the changing demands due to the rigidity of the public universities and the outdated system of college affiliation. This rigidity can be witnessed in the obsolete and in apropos courses and curricula.

Higher education in India also fares poorly in the quality and volume of academic research. The shifting trend in job markets is causing a decline in the interest to pursue science and mathematics, which subsequently threatens the overall long-term competitiveness of the country.

India also faces an alarming, almost 50% rate of faculty vacancies. In a Deloitte summit of deans from India’s premier institutions, 80% expressed grave concern regarding the lack of quality faculty.

Public funding of higher education has also fallen short of the growth curve, resulting in a compromise in the standards of higher education in India. Government funding of higher education is diminishing, and the cost of higher education is increasingly shifting from the government to students/parents. Rising tuition fees and the absence of appropriate student grants and loan schemes are constantly pushing higher education in India out of bounds from economically backward students. This raises the alarm regarding inequity in access to higher education opportunities.

India has an outdated and inflexible regulatory system for higher education. Higher education in India is designed to be mostly public-funded, with a quality assurance system that has been limited in its scope and capability. The lack of any consequences for accreditation has created a weak education system in India with a dispirited teaching community and discredited academic profession that fail to attract and motivate bright students.

The lack of a comprehensive and consistent long-term policy for higher education in India also contributes to the crisis. Sporadic interventions by the judiciary and media with a limited idea about the underlying issues have only increased the chaos. In spite of an active market force for higher education in India, a systematic market for higher education is not yet fully developed.

Strengths and opportunities

The Indian economy has been on a rapid growth curve. This development has driven the growth of the knowledge sector, highlighting the need for human capital development through its large and expanding higher education system.

From the post-1980 period, demand for a skilled workforce has driven the growth of higher education in India through private enterprises and entrepreneurial endeavors, mostly in vocational and employment-oriented courses. India has created a large pool of skilled resources that are technology-savvy and have a command over English, and there is a global demand for such resources due to the changing economic forces. India then has the potential to cater to a big chunk of the global demand for knowledge sector resources. Despite the flaws of the accreditation system in India, the country has gained significant visibility in the IT/ITES sector, with a distinct brand of higher education in India. Resources graduating from premium higher educational institutions are now sought after globally across various industry verticals.

With the emergence of an upwardly-mobile middle class, higher education in India is now affordable to an increasing number in the population who can sustain the tuition fees without relying on government grants. The trend of households investing in higher education demands more accountability and value for money from the higher education institutions, forcing them to raise their bar on quality education.

Regardless of the structural issues in the recognition and accreditation system of higher education in India, the voluntary accreditation methodology conforms to international guidelines.

The new vigor in the knowledge sector is creating shifts in the job market, with new opportunities for career growth in the academic profession, attracting new blood.

The emerging technologies can be used in various creative ways to promote better governance in both the institution and the system level of higher education in India. Technology can be the enabler of greater collaboration amongst groups across educational institutions. Teaching-learning processes can be improved using technology. New technologies can also facilitate easier and accurate data collection and compilation to drive informed decision-making and policy support. India needs to strategically develop these strengths and harness the new opportunities.

Funding higher education in India

For more than the last two decades, public expenditure on higher education has been less than half percent of the Gross National Product (GNP). The central government contributes to only one-fourth of the total government support for higher education in India. Further to this, 85% of the total funding from the central government is spent to support only about three percent of the students who are admitted to around 130 out of a total of 17625 higher education institutes in India.

The main funding agency and the apex body for higher education in India are the University Grants Commission (UGC). The UGC allocates almost 65% of its total budget towards the operational expenses of the central universities and the colleges in Delhi, leaving only 35% for the higher education institutes in the rest of the country.

Fund crunch is a serious issue that plagues higher education in India, and to remedy this, there is a need to significantly increase public funding.

Although there is no dearth of private investment in higher education in India, there is a lack of funding from the corporate sector due to cumbersome procedures. Similar burdensome red- tape also discourages prestigious foreign universities from entering the higher education sector in India.

It will be beneficial to encourage more corporate sectors and foreign universities to set up research universities/campuses for higher education in India, especially in Science and Engineering, to raise the research standards and pave the way for the long-term competitiveness of the country.

Additionally, the fee structure for higher education in India should also be deliberated with assistance for students from low-income backgrounds. Public spending on student-aid schemes for needy students should be raised considerably, along with a more simplified disbursement mechanism.

Workforce development

There are two segments of students who pursue higher education in India- the ones who enroll in generalized degree courses in arts, science, and commerce for the symbolic value of the degree and the generic academic knowledge. The second segment opts for professional courses to acquire skills and competencies geared to cater to the job markets. An analysis of subject-wise enrolments in higher education reveals that over 45% of students pursue a degree in arts, about 20% enroll in science, and around 18% in commerce. The remaining 17% of students choose professional courses over general academics.

From these figures, it is obvious that the majority of the students in India pursue general academics that are not aligned with the requirements of the current job markets because they lack the merit required to enroll in a highly competitive professional course that has an extremely restricted capacity.

Higher education in India should be geared to provide the right workspace skills to support India’s rapidly changing economy. The higher education system in India should be adaptive to respond to the changing world of workplace requirements and meet the diversified needs of today’s domestic and global economy. To achieve this, the curricula and academic content of higher education in India should be aligned with the current trends. Robust support networks for teaching and learning can ensure continuous renewal and stay up-to-date. Instead of considering only public educational institutions, a healthy mix of public and private, formal and non-formal education providers can be instrumental in pursuing diversity. Academics should also be aligned with industry trends by continuous engagement with industry verticals through analysis of job market trends, concurrent enrolment schemes, an emphasis on soft-skill training, and membership-based skill networks.

Higher education and research

From an analysis of India’s publication and citation counts and number of patents, it is clear that our country performs poorly in basic research and development of technology.

With globalization trends and the ensuing rapid social, economic, and technology changes, it is critical for higher education in India to bolster research and scholarships. To support this, not only should there be an enhancement in public funding support, but private funding should also be encouraged through an incentivized system. An increase in competitive grants and review of funding mechanisms to promote selective funding of higher education institutes can contribute to nurturing excellence. Research partnerships and collaborations to create highly skilled manpower should be encouraged. There is a need for proactive efforts to generate private investment and attract the participation of world-class institutes for postgraduate education and research in science and technology.

Regulating Higher Education

It is important to generate a roadmap to regulate the higher education sector through decentralization and the development of institutional mechanisms. Higher education institutions should be empowered with sensible autonomy to decide on their entrance criteria. However, these criteria should be transparent, equitable, and merit-based. Policies need to be created to prepare a holistic and clear framework for the development, regulation and financing of higher education in India. A streamlined regulatory control should be created that meets the baseline criteria by terminating unnecessary regulations and re-evaluating the complete recognition and approval system.

Conclusion

By creating a healthy competitive landscape that drives both private and public institutions to develop and be more flexible and innovative, India has a unique chance to transform its excess demographics into its economic power. This transformation requires a clear strategic vision, the insight to respond to emerging trends, and the courage to take bold and innovative decisions. A transformation in the system of higher education in India can significantly impact India’s economic sectors’ resource quality and competitiveness and ensure the country’s position as one of the leaders in the global job market and knowledge sector.