Prof K S Chandrasekar
In the last six decades, the number of universities has jumped 23 times, whereas the number of colleges has increased by over 66 times. However, with the population of India expected to grow to over 1.6 billion by 2030, the capacity of the higher education needs to nearly double, to meet the targeted Gross Enrolment Ratio, or GER, of 30% for the higher education segment. This would require an investment of USD 180 billion. If the rate at which the higher education capacity has been developed by the government is any indicator, we will fall short of the target by a very large measure. It is evident that though Arts contributes the maximum in terms of number of students (over 36%), its contribution in terms of market size is less than a percent. Engineering on the other hand has less than 9% of the enrolled students, yet accounts for over 66% of the Higher Education market size.
The responsibility for basic research in medicine and the underlying sciences, so essential to progress in the war against disease, falls primarily upon the medical schools and universities. Strengthen the centres of basic research which are principally the colleges, universities, and research institutes. Thus, universities came to be perceived not only as vehicles for educating the people for carrying out roles in the American economy but also as engines for the nation’s growth. Organizations such as the National Science Foundation and the Science Advisory Board were established since the “Science the Endless Frontier” report, for selection and monitoring of research projects to be funded through federal government funds. Later, industry (especially pharmaceuticals and bio-technology corporate) joined the government effort in sponsoring research through funding and joint ventures. Few universities have even set minimum grant amounts that must be obtained by faculty. This results in tough competition amongst faculty across the nation for these funding.
The private sector accounts for 10% of the total enrolment in post-secondary education in China. Whereas the public-private educational institutions in Shanghai and Beijing enjoy reasonably good reputations, the schools in Shenyang are not doing so well.State Governments are responsible for establishment of State Universities and colleges, and provide plan grants for their development and non-plan grants for their maintenance. The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) is created for coordination and cooperation between the Union and the States. The Constitution gives exclusive Legislative Power to Government of India for co-ordination and determination of standards in Institutions of higher education or research and scientific and technical institutions. The higher education sector, owing to its huge potential, holds very promising prospects. With an estimated 178 million people in the age group of 18-23 years, the sector offers one of the most attractive yet highly complex markets for the private/foreign players. This brings us the need for private universities. Understanding the same, the various state governments like Chhattisgarh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Punjab etc., have already created provisions in their state legislations to start the private universities.
The private universities as like that of the action of Bangladesh where, the colleges with more than 10 years were promoted to the stature of Universities. These universities enjoyed the same privileges as that of the state universities. In India, similarly most of the colleges (read, Engineering colleges) were allowed to me made into a University through the State Act and those having 30 acres with UGC/AICTE norms adherence were considered and accepted to be a university. What happened later was that all these universities in turn require to have the approval of the UGC, found it difficult to obtain the same due to various reasons which included monosubject, no multi disciplinarity, family owned universities etc. Some of the universities in Tamilnadu which became deemed universities are now finding it difficult to fulfil the criteria put forth by UGC and are literally going out of the scene.
RA Mashelkar, in his book Reinventing India draws attention to widely accepted examples of globally recognized universities: Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, Stanford, Caltech, and Princeton. He asserts that it is crucial to create “a great intellectual environment”. All new universities set up in India require following this process.
- Absolutely uncompromising pursuit of Excellence both in Teaching and Research
- Continuous thrust on not only “working” at the frontiers of Research, but “creating” new frontiers; or doing S&T that will “lead” and not “follow”.
- An uncompromising attitude towards selection of both Faculty as well as Students – going for the very best and that too on a globally competitive basis. Rigour to be employed rigorously in the promotion and retention of the most talented and accomplished faculty.
- Undying commitment to the true institutional autonomy without any political interference whatsoever.
- Full understanding of the route to “Lakshmi” through “Saraswathi”. Not only understanding the wealth creation potential of knowledge, but also creating an “ecosystem” in which this can happen most effectively.
According to APJ Abdul Kalam, five factors make an institution world class:
i) Commitment for achieving excellence in all fields.
ii) Research and Development in Thrust Area – need for strengthening research capabilities at the universities, particularly at the graduate level education by facilitating innovation to leverage the growing opportunity in developing India as a research hub & sustain global competitiveness.
iii) Academic and Financial autonomy for emphasis on interdisciplinary.
iv) Industry-Institute Partnership and
v) International Collaboration.
All these things can ensure that quality institutions come up and continue to impart education. If we look into the growth of Indian students studying overseas, it can be surmised that there is a huge revenue loss to the country.
It can be seen that by allowing private Engineering, Medical and Arts and Science colleges in India, we have opened up a Pandora’s Box. Having allowed, it is only natural that they be allowed to grow to the status of a University. As like in Kerala, in order that a college become autonomous, there are stringent conditions. Similarly the private universities need to be given stringent guidelines so that the motto of the operation is to serve the society and not to commercialise education. With the government slowly withdrawing from higher education, it is only apt that either public private partnership or private funding be allowed with riders or the socio economic conditions of each state be considered before venturing into such initiatives. Private universities alone is not a panacea at the moment for the government and hence some of the recommendations like World class universities which is now a non-starter needs to be seriously given momentum along with niche universities which focus on research and development and promote a higher education climate in our country. Private universities once allowed to mushroom, will cause more damage than credit to our country. This is true with the existing engineering education. The current universities need to be given fillip and given direction to ensure that the higher education scenario in our country is in the safe hands.
“Survival of the fittest” is going to be the norm and those who are able to cater to the needs of the students alone will survive. According to Chanakya, “strategic thinking, adaptability, and preparedness for survival” is not only important for individuals but also for institutions.
(The author is Vice Chancellor, Cluster University of Jammu)
