Learn In India
Education mess will ruin India's potential, it's time to loosen political and bureaucratic chokehold
The ministry of human resources and ddevelopment seems to be climbing down from its high horse on foreign-language teaching after the row over German as well as its face-off with IIT Bombay chairman Anil Kakokdar, who has withdrawn his resignation following `disagreement' over selection of an IIT director. Yet, these climbdowns only serve to illustrate the structural mess that India's higher education management is in. The ham-handed rollback of four year undergraduate courses in Delhi University and the subsequent showcause notice to its vice chancellor Dinesh Singh is another case in point.While India's global competitors have moved to greater autonomy and institutional freedom in education it's taken for granted that this is a prerequisite for improving education standards India's universities remains hostage to political and bureaucratic whims. In countries such as the US, the UK and Australia, the state's role is limited to setting broad standards and providing funds while institutions are free to manage themselves. But in India, the government's insistence on micro-managing education fits the pattern of the socialist-era mai-baap sarkar rather than the brave new liberalised economy of today.
The result is that despite historically strong intellectual traditions and growing Indian economic power, not one Indian university could make it to the top 100 in world reputation rankings recently released by Times Higher Education. In elementary education too, that only an estimated 48% of class V children can read a Class II-level text is an indictment of Indian education.
At a time when Narendra Modi government is focussing on a manufacturing push to the economy with its `Make in India' slogan, the drag in education is a major constraint. China became the factory of the world by taking over global manufacturing. But with technological changes reducing workers on the factory floor, the ability to produce skilled talent is now crucial. In a country with the world's largest proportion of young people, economists have long talked about the demographic dividend. But if our universities don't match up to the best and a significant proportion of Indians remain functionally un-educated, this dividend will turn into a demographic disaster. `Learn in India' is not only as important as `Make in India', it is essential for the success of the latter. It is time to shift mindsets, liberalise higher education and encourage institutional autonomy and creativity to keep pace with a rapidly changing world.
The result is that despite historically strong intellectual traditions and growing Indian economic power, not one Indian university could make it to the top 100 in world reputation rankings recently released by Times Higher Education. In elementary education too, that only an estimated 48% of class V children can read a Class II-level text is an indictment of Indian education.
At a time when Narendra Modi government is focussing on a manufacturing push to the economy with its `Make in India' slogan, the drag in education is a major constraint. China became the factory of the world by taking over global manufacturing. But with technological changes reducing workers on the factory floor, the ability to produce skilled talent is now crucial. In a country with the world's largest proportion of young people, economists have long talked about the demographic dividend. But if our universities don't match up to the best and a significant proportion of Indians remain functionally un-educated, this dividend will turn into a demographic disaster. `Learn in India' is not only as important as `Make in India', it is essential for the success of the latter. It is time to shift mindsets, liberalise higher education and encourage institutional autonomy and creativity to keep pace with a rapidly changing world.
