Higher Education in India - Challenges, Opportunities and New Directives.

Higher Education in India - Challenges, Opportunities and New Directives.

                                                                 ©K.Rahul                                                         

Introduction:

Higher education is the Heart of qualitative and quantitative India. It is the core part of very Country, whether it is Developed, Developing or Underdeveloped country. Even the countries which are developed like U.S.A., U.K. Japan, France, Canada etc. are on the top of mountain of success in all fields, because of quality education to all sections of society without any bias.  Developing countries like China and India are in the way of Development; is also a result of preference and importance given to Higher Education. But in case of India and China, both are the foe neighboured and real competitors of Asia and world; started their development fastly but today India is far left Behind from China because of today’s education system. 

In the post-independence period Higher Education system in India has grown in remarkable way and may become one of the largest systems of its kind in the world. However, it has many issues at present in concern with Quality, Quantity, Accessibility, relevance, assessments, and accreditation of colleges, institutions and Universities. It is very important for India to overcome on these challenges and use Higher education as a powerful tool to build a knowledge-based Indian society of the 21^st century.

After considering the all above facts, the apex bodies in higher education, Universities, Institutions and Colleges have to perform multiple roles to create new knowledge, acquiring new capabilities, producing an intelligent human resource through teaching, research and extension activities which will help to meet demand of modern India and world also. 

Historical Background of Education in India:

 In Ancient India, Gurukul (Residential Schools) were the places of learning. Students were used to live with the teacher (guru) and his family for getting the education. Students used to live within Ashrams for the completion of their education. Sanskrit was the language of education that time. Most of the languages in Indian states are derived from Sanskrit. Indian Society was classified into four categories and accordingly education was offered to that concerned section of the society. Those four categories were Brahmins, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudras. Brahmins were taught the philosophy and other necessary sciences, Kshatriya were trained in war activities, Vaishya were trained in trading and Shudras were deprived of educational advantages.

Later Nalanda (Bihar) and Takshashila (Pakistan) (popularly known as Global Universities) became important urban learning centres in India. Many foreign students that time attracted towards India for the purpose of higher education. With the arrival of British, education system started changing in India. Modern Schools and colleges were introduced in India. In 1857 three universities were established in three metropolitan cities, Bombay (Now Mumbai), Calcutta (Now Kolkata), and Madras (Now Chennai). All these universities followed the model of England (Now UK) that time. U.K. changed their education system during 1960’s but Indian education system remained unchanged till the end of 20^th century. All other nations accepted and adopted  the necessary changes in their education system but India continued with the traditional pattern of education system which was based on UK model. At the beginning of 21^st century India is changing its educational system than traditional one.

 Today education in India can be classified into three categories: i) Primary education, ii) Secondary education & Higher secondary education and iii) Higher education. Primary education include the students below eighth standard, Secondary education includes the students between ninth standard to 12^th  standard, and Higher education includes graduate and post graduate courses either professional or Traditional. Before studying the scenario of higher education, it is required to study Institutional framework of Indian education system.

Objectives:

1.      To study the Institutional framework of higher education in India.

2.      To know and understand the challenges in Higher Education

3.      To study the actual scenario in higher education in India.

Hypothesis:

1.      Higher education in India is below the standard of National & International Requirements.

2.      Higher education in India needs changes.

Methodology

This study intended to examine the challenges, opportunities and Directives in Indian higher education system. The data is presented mostly on the basis of secondary data and some extent of primary observation. The data has been collected and presented  from the official website of the HRD Ministry of India, University Grant Commission, Economic survey of India 2009-10, 2010-11, Census 2011 and other related research papers, books and published work.

Institutional Framework in India:

The education system in India is managed and controlled by Ministry of Human Resource Development of Indian Government. The HRD Ministry is basically divided into two departments/sections; i.e.  Department of School, Education and Literacy, which deals with primary education and literacy, and the Department of Higher Education, which deals with secondary and post-secondary education. Under the Department of Higher Education, following apex bodies are formed and registered to manage and control the affairs of different Universities, colleges and institutions:

1.   University Grants commission (UGC)

2.   All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE)       

3.   Medical Council of India (MCI) 

4.   Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR)

5.   National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE)

6.   Dental Council of India (DCI)

7.   Pharmacy Council of India (PCI)

8.   Indian Nursing Council (INC)

9.   Bar Council of India (BCI)

10.Central Council of Homeopathy (CCH) 

11.  Central Council for Indian Medicine (CCIM)

12.  Council of Architecture

13.  Distance Education Council

14.  Rehabilitation Council

15.  State Councils of Higher Education.

System of Education in India:

[Table 1.1: Education Pattern in India ]

Sr. no.	Pattern	Courses
1	12+3+2	Traditional Courses like M.A./M.Com/M.Sc.
2	12+ 4-5	Professional courses like B.E./B.Tech/M.B.B.S
3	12+3+2+ 2-5	Research degrees like M.Phil/Ph.D.

In addition, to this there are premier institutions with international standard like IITs/IIMs which provides high quality of education after graduate degree whether professional or traditional.

Overview of Higher Education System:

ü  Complex, multi-layered, pyramidal system, with a variety of institutions, controlled by different apex bodies.

ü  Over 23,000 institutions with about 14 million students (third highest in the world, after U.S. and China) and 5,00,000 teachers

ü  Central universities - 44

ü  State universities - 281

ü  Deemed universities - 130

ü  Private universities  -  Few

ü  18,064 degree colleges (42% privately owned) + 6500 vocational institutions,

[Source: www.ugc.ac.in ]

Some focus on the Indian Literacy:

[Table 1.2: Gross Enrolment Ratio in %]

Category	GER
Male	12.40
Female	10.10
Rural	6.70
Urban	19.90
SCs	6.57
STs	6.52
OBCs	8.77
Others	17.22
All	11.00

[Source: UGC, 2004-05]

 [Table 1.3: GER of other countries in %]

Sr.no.	Country	GER
1	USA	80
2	Sweden, Norway, New Zealand	70
3	UK  and Australia	60
4	Other European Countries	40
5	Developing countries like Mexico, Brazil, Thailand & Malaysia	20

[Source: Dr (Mrs.) Pankaj Mittal, V-C, BPS Women University, Haryana, 2010]

 Table 1.4 & 1.5 shows that GER of Democratic & Cast basis India is very poor as compare to other developed as well as developing countries.

[Table  1.6.: Literacy Rate in India (1951-2011)]

category year	Persons	Males	Females	M/F    gap
1951	18.33	27.16	8.86	18.3
1961	28.3	40.4	15.35	25.05
1971	34.45	45.96	21.97	23.98
1981	43.57	56.38	29.76	26.62
1991	52.21	64.13	39.29	24.84
2001	64.83	75.26	53.67	21.59
2011	74.04	82.14	65.46	16.68

[Source: Census 2011, Chapter 6, State of Literacy, Page 102.]

 [Figure 1.1: Literacy rate in India: 1951-2011]

[Source: Census 2011, Chapter 6. State of Literacy, Page 102.]

Table 1.6 & Figure 1.1 shows that the literacy rate of India has grown satisfactory but there are genderbase inequalities in educational opportunities to male & females

[Table 1.7: Drop-out rate of students at age group 4-14]

Age	General	SC/ST's	OBC's	Muslims
4	2	8	6	12
6	5	12	9	18
8	6	20	13	27
10	8	28	20	39
12	13	35	28	42
14	15	56	36	59

 [Figure 1.2: Drop-out rate of students at age group 4-14]   [Source: Sachhar committee Report, Nov.2006, p. 58]

Table 1.7 & figure 1.2 shows that the dropout rate at different age group is very high in SC/STs, OBCs & Muslims as compare to General category students.

      [Table 1.8:  Higher education attainment Rate in %]

Category	Gen	SC/ST's	OBC's	Muslims
Male	22	7	17	10
Female	14	3	12	4
Urban	11	2	5	4
Rural	17	6	7	7

  Figure 1.3:  Higher education attainment Rate

[Source: Sachhar committee Report, Nov.2006, p. 59]

Table 1.8 & figure 1.3 shows that the higher education attainment rate in SC/STs, OBCs & Muslims is very less as compare to General category. The Higher education attainment rate of general category is also not satisfactory.

[Table 1.9: Growth of Higher Education]

Year	Students	Teachers	Colleges	Universities
1950	0.1m	15,000	500	20
2010	13.6m	0.6m	25600	504

(Source: Dr. Mittal, BPS Women University, Haryana, 2010)

 Table 1.9 shows that there is heavy growth in the Higher education in respect of students, teachers Universities & colleges but as compare to population this growth is also unsatisfactory

 [Table 1.10: State wise no. of Universities]

States & Union territories	Central Uni.	State Uni.	Deemed Uni.	Total
Andhra Pradesh	03	30	07	40
Arunachal Pradesh	01	-	01	02
Assam	02	04	-	06
Bihar	01	14	02	17
Chhattisgarh	01	10	-	11
Delhi	06	05	12	23
Goa	-	01	-	01
Gujarat	01	18	02	21
Haryana	01	10	05	16
Himachal Pradesh	01	04	-	05
Jammu & Kashmir	02	06	-	08
Jharkhand	01	07	02	10
Karnataka	01	20	15	36
Kerala	01	11	02	14
Madhya Pradesh	02	15	03	20
Maharashtra	01	19	21	41
Manipur	02	-	-	02
Meghalaya	01	-	-	01
Mizoram	01	-	-	01
Nagaland	01	-	-	01
NCT of Chandigarh	-	01	01	02
Orissa	01	12	02	15
Pondicherry	01	-	01	02
Punjab	01	07	02	10
Rajasthan	01	14	08	23
Sikkim	01	-	-	01
Tamil Nadu	02	24	29	55
Tripura	01	-	-	01
Uttar Pradesh	04	23	10	37
Uttarakhand	01	06	04	11
West Bengal	01	20	01	22
Total	44	281	130	455

[Source: www.ugc.ac.in, Nov. 2011]

Table 1.10 shows that,

1.      There are five states who are having  more than thirty Universities. Tamilnadu stands at first place with 55 Universities whereas Maharashtra & Andhra prades stand at second and third place with 41 & 40 Universities Respectively. Karnataka is stand at fourth place with 37 Universities.

2.      Four out of five states are from & South India with highest Universities.

3.      There are eleven states that are having less than 5 Universities. They are- Arunachal Pradesh-2, Manipur- 2, Meghalaya- 1, Mizoram-1, Nagaland-1, Sikkim-1, Pondicherry-2, Himachal Pradesh-5, Tripura-1, NCT of Chandigarh-2 and Goa-1.

Opportunities in Higher Education in India:-

—  In 2004, India had a population of 121 crore of whom more than 60%   are in the age group of 15 to 64 years – working age population. The remaining 40% is dependent population.

—  Fertility rate decreased from 3.8 in 1990 to 2.9 today leading to sizeable population in age group of 0-15 years. This bulge of young people will move to working-age category.

—  Average age of India will be 29 years, compared to 37 for China,, 45 in West Europe, 48 for Japan and  37 for  US in 2020 with dependency ratio falling to 0.4

—  India is and will remain one of the youngest countries of the world for 30 more years. This "demographic benefit" is seen as offering a window of opportunity to accelerate the country's rate of growth.

—  Benefits – Rise in numbers of bread winners, improvement in savings, revenue and economy

What can be done.....?

—  India can concentrate to increase its workforce quality and employability. As it may gives 1 crore of global labor force in 2020 which will be equal to combine labor force of Britain, France, Italy, and Spain. In 2020 half the population of the country may under age 25 and a national workforce that is expected to account for 25% of the global workforce in 2020, India has a great chance of becoming one of the world's most prolific and assured talent providers.

—  In other words, India Can become an attractive destination for talent

Recent Developments in Indian Higher Education System:-

·         XI Plan Initiatives…. Emphasis on enhancing Access with Quality:

1.      Financial outlay increased by ten times.

2.      Eight new IITs (in addition to 7 IITs existing)

3.      Seven IIMs (in addition to 6 IIMs existing)

4.      Twenty IIITs ( in addition to 4 existing)

5.      16 New Central Universities in uncovered states

6.      14 Innovation Universities

7.      374 Colleges in educationally  backward districts

8.      1000 Polytechnics (ratio of diploma: degree to enhance from 1:2 to 3:1)

9.      Five Bills of Importance  laid/ being laid before the Parliament of India  for improving Quality Education

·         The Educational Tribunals Bill, 2010:

1.      Establishment of State Educational Tribunals and National Educational Tribunal.

2.      Power and authority to deal with service matters of teachers and employees, thus reducing the burden of courts.

3.      Matters relating to affiliation of an institute with a university and of unfair practices by HE institutions.

4.   Power to impose fine up to Rs 10 lakhs and imprisonment up to 3 years or both.

·      National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill, 2010:

1.      Mandatory accreditation for every higher educational institution and every program conducted by it.

2.      National Authority to Register and regulate the working of accreditation agencies who can  undertake accreditation of any  institution or program.

3.      The ranking of institutions and programmes to be on website.

·   The prohibition of Unfair Practices in the Technical and Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill, 2010:

1.      Prohibits  capitation  fee, donation and other charges other than those declared in the prospectus.

2.       Prohibits admission without an entrance test.

3.      Prohibition of misleading advertisements not based on facts.

4.      Penalty up to Rs 50 lakhs for acts contrary to information prospectus.

·         The Foreign Educational Institutions  (Regulation of Entry & Operations) Bill, 2010:

1.      Regulate the entry and operation of FEI  in India.

2.      Every FEI intending to operate in India to be notified by the Government of India.

3.      FEI  must have the experience of providing education in its own country for 20  years.

4.      Only conventional education allowed.

5.      Programs must conform to standards laid down by Indian Statutory Authorities.

6.      FEI to maintain a corpus of Rs.50 crore.

7.      Revenue generated must be used for the development of the institute in India.

—  National Commission for Higher Education and Research Bill, 2010:

An overarching body for:

1.       For determination, coordination, maintenance of standards in higher education and research including university, technical and professional education.

2.       For promoting the autonomy of higher educational institutions for the free pursuit of knowledge and innovation.

3.       For facilitating access, inclusion and opportunities to all while ensuring holistic growth of higher education.

Conclusions:

1.      There is a difference between literate and educated. According to Census 2011 literacy implies to ‘A person aged seven and above, who can both read and write with understanding in any language, is treated as literate’. Whereas ‘Education is the process of the individual mind getting to its full possible development…. It is a long school which lasts a life time’ Literacy rate of India is 74% but nobody  knows the percentage of educated population in India.

2.      Getting higher degree does not mean educated. India requires being very specific on the quality of higher education.

3.      There is disparity in syllabus and the content in the higher education institutions / universities. But the people are getting the same degree from the different universities considering equal weightage. The outcomes from different universities are also differing in quality.

4.      There should not be any compromise in the maintenance of quality education.

5.      The most important problem faced by higher education in India is the poor infrastructure, lack of technological support and lack of eligible staff (Vacant post principals & teaching staff were the regular headlines of various news papers & news channels from last few years.)

6.      In Indian universities, Institutes, Apex bodies, student & staff organizations are under the influence of political parties. Most of the colleges & Institutes are managed & controlled by politicians.  This may have an adverse impact on quality of education.

7.      With 7-8% growth rate & 74% literacy rate, India has unemployment rate more than 8-9%.

8.      According to Census (2011), 68.8% of the population stays in rural India. Facilities of higher education are mainly located in urban India.

9.      India stands second in the population, so that there is much more pressure on education system in India.

10.  At primary and secondary level education has made available to each and every child in India with enough schools at village levels but at the same time we can see the disparity at the higher education level.

11.   Very few Government institutions offers higher education compare to the population.

12.  Higher education in quantity is good but the quality of higher education is very poor. Only 5% of highly qualified persons are able to join the job directly and handle their responsibilities without any additional training..

13.  In developed nations the people getting higher education are less in numbers. The reasons behind that are the maintenance of quality and the cost of education. In India cost of education is increasing but the quality of higher education is decreasing.

14.  Since 1947, we are following the U.K. model of higher education. Whereas U.K. changed their education model in 1960’s. India is very backward in the acceptance and implementation of new education models which can benefit the young population.

15.  Indian education system is facing problems of cast and religious biases, where, central and state governments are not interested to take effective measures to give quality educations to SC/STs, OBCs, Muslims and other downtrodden.

References:

1.      Census 2011

2.      11^th five year plan.

3.      Report of Ministry Human Resource Development, GOI.

4.      Sachhar Committee, Report.

5.      vc@bpswomenuniversity.ac.in

6.      Yale-Jindal Conversations on Globalization, Haryana, 8 April 2011.

7.      BASIC PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES BEFORE THE HIGHER EDUCTION  SYSTEM IN INDIAN, Prof. Kumbhar Vijay Maruti, Rajapur, Ratnagiri, 2010.

8.      SOME ESSAYS ON HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA, Abhay Pethe, Dr. Vibhooti Shukla Chair Professor, University of Mumbai.

9.      ‘The Higher Education and Research in India: an overview’ Alok Chakrabarti, page 4, ISSN 1457-5728 (www.sitra.fi)

10.  www.ugc.ac.in

11.  www.censusindia.gov.in

12.  www.education.cin.in

13.  www.en.wikipedia.org

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