Aug 19 2014 : The Economic Times (Delhi)
Higher Education Needs to Move up Several Notches in Scale and Quality
BIJENDRA N JAIN
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Research in universities needs more funds; government must offer scholarships for admission
This summer, a large number of students have applied for admission to our country's foremost universities. As usual, a significant fraction will end up being denied admission by an institution of their choice, not because they are not intelligent or did not work hard enough, but simply because the supply of high-quality university seats in our country is small.For every student who wants to study at an Indian Institute of Technology, there are over 50 applicants. Cut-offs at the most desirable courses in University of Delhi's elite colleges are well into the nineties.In India, over two-and-a-half-crore students are enrolled in over 700 universities, 30,000 colleges and 12,000 polytechnics, constituting a gross enrolment ratio (GER) of just over 18% compared with the global average of 27%. Historically , our public universities and institutes were leaders in the higher education sector. But these institutions have been stretched thin because of growing demands, paucity of resources, faculty shortages, among other challenges.
As the country dreams of doubledigit economic growth, we clearly need to increase the GER to 30% by 2030, and grow the enrolment in universities to more than 5 crore students. This is no trivial task. If it costs Rs 5 lakh to create capacity for a single seat in a higher educational institution, the investment required for the anticipated growth will be over Rs 12 lakh crore, and an other Rs 10 lakh crore to upgrade existing universities and colleges. So the central question is: how should we create high quality institutions of higher education in India at a scale that satisfies both the aspirations as well as meets the needs of the economy .
Independent, privately-funded universities and colleges are an important part of the answer to this question. Already , such institutions play an important role, since 64% of institutes of higher education in India are not publicly funded, yet enrol 59% of the student population.
Going forward, large-scale participation by the private sector in higher education can become significant if only the government proactively encourages, facilitates and incen tivises independ tivises independent initiatives.
Some of the required steps are: Clear procedures for land acquisition and for MoEF clearances, which will hasten the time required for establishing a new university; a proactive stance from central regulators such as UGC and AICTE, which will allow the development of innovative programmes and novel techniques of instruction.
However, two major steps will empower private universities to increase capacity , while boosting quality so that they will hopefully count among the best in the world.
The first is to boost funding of research in universities to significantly improve the quality of education.The research output of most private universities is poor because of the enormous expense associated with establishing, maintaining and upgrading laboratories that support post-graduate education and research. Investment in these facilities is very difficult to recover, especially since students in Masters and PhD programmes rarely pay tuition fees and often expect stipends. While the central government has funds to create, expand or rebuild research laboratories, such schemes have limited funds to dis burse, or simply discriminate against private universities by in sisting that the university arrange for 50% of the required funds.
Top private universities in the US such as Johns Hopkins University , MIT and Carnegie Mellon Universi ty became research powerhouses by accessing public funds dis bursed by the National Science Foundation and the National Insti tutes of Health, for instance. By al leviating such policies, and offering equal access to public funds for re search, the government will signifi cantly boost the quality of cutting edge education and innovation at independent private universities.
The second proposal is for the government, both central and state, to offer a large number of scholarships that students can take to any public or private uni versity . At many private universi ties, philanthropy supports the creation of new facilities and oth er one-time expenditures, but rare ly pays for recurring expendi tures. Tuition fees from students sustain year-on-year operations.
In contrast, government institu tions charge low fees because they receive annual maintenance grants from the public exchequer.
This seriously disrupts the level playing field between public and private institutions.
Instead of directly supporting public universities, the govern ment might consider financing stu dents who study there with scholar ships. Students can choose the college that best fits their needs and interests, regardless of whether it is private or public. Of course, the e move might simultaneously moti , vate public colleges to compete for s stronger students, but that will only y help to improve the entire higher education system.
r (The author is vice chancellor , h BITS Pilani)
As the country dreams of doubledigit economic growth, we clearly need to increase the GER to 30% by 2030, and grow the enrolment in universities to more than 5 crore students. This is no trivial task. If it costs Rs 5 lakh to create capacity for a single seat in a higher educational institution, the investment required for the anticipated growth will be over Rs 12 lakh crore, and an other Rs 10 lakh crore to upgrade existing universities and colleges. So the central question is: how should we create high quality institutions of higher education in India at a scale that satisfies both the aspirations as well as meets the needs of the economy .
Independent, privately-funded universities and colleges are an important part of the answer to this question. Already , such institutions play an important role, since 64% of institutes of higher education in India are not publicly funded, yet enrol 59% of the student population.
Going forward, large-scale participation by the private sector in higher education can become significant if only the government proactively encourages, facilitates and incen tivises independ tivises independent initiatives.
Some of the required steps are: Clear procedures for land acquisition and for MoEF clearances, which will hasten the time required for establishing a new university; a proactive stance from central regulators such as UGC and AICTE, which will allow the development of innovative programmes and novel techniques of instruction.
However, two major steps will empower private universities to increase capacity , while boosting quality so that they will hopefully count among the best in the world.
The first is to boost funding of research in universities to significantly improve the quality of education.The research output of most private universities is poor because of the enormous expense associated with establishing, maintaining and upgrading laboratories that support post-graduate education and research. Investment in these facilities is very difficult to recover, especially since students in Masters and PhD programmes rarely pay tuition fees and often expect stipends. While the central government has funds to create, expand or rebuild research laboratories, such schemes have limited funds to dis burse, or simply discriminate against private universities by in sisting that the university arrange for 50% of the required funds.
Top private universities in the US such as Johns Hopkins University , MIT and Carnegie Mellon Universi ty became research powerhouses by accessing public funds dis bursed by the National Science Foundation and the National Insti tutes of Health, for instance. By al leviating such policies, and offering equal access to public funds for re search, the government will signifi cantly boost the quality of cutting edge education and innovation at independent private universities.
The second proposal is for the government, both central and state, to offer a large number of scholarships that students can take to any public or private uni versity . At many private universi ties, philanthropy supports the creation of new facilities and oth er one-time expenditures, but rare ly pays for recurring expendi tures. Tuition fees from students sustain year-on-year operations.
In contrast, government institu tions charge low fees because they receive annual maintenance grants from the public exchequer.
This seriously disrupts the level playing field between public and private institutions.
Instead of directly supporting public universities, the govern ment might consider financing stu dents who study there with scholar ships. Students can choose the college that best fits their needs and interests, regardless of whether it is private or public. Of course, the e move might simultaneously moti , vate public colleges to compete for s stronger students, but that will only y help to improve the entire higher education system.
r (The author is vice chancellor , h BITS Pilani)
