Prof. K.S Chandrasekar
Indian higher education is one of the fastest growing sector in the World. The demand for higher education is constantly rising, likely to be 160 million by 2025, the state support in terms of funding per student as unit, is declining. India and China will be the two biggest countries seeking higher education.
Demand is growing at the rate of 20 per cent per annum in India. India has over 56,000 institutions that cater to 40 million students, supported by 16 lakh teachers. . India aims to add 26 million enrolments by 2035, which requires increased investments in staff, technology and infrastructurein order to reach the GER of 50%.Jammu and Kashmir has shown greater emphasis for the higher education and has been able to retain their aspiring higher education students to the state as they were earlier resorting to travel to Punjab, Himachal and Delhi. Those who were moving were primarily in the Science and Engineering programs. With the advent of more colleges and addressing more student community, the number of students opting for multiple fields have increased tremendously. It is worthwhile to note here that those seeking arts and humanities subjects are not interested in pursuing their studies in other states and want to study in the local environment. Here comes the importance of programs in this direction.
By implementing NEP across colleges and universities, J&K has shown to all states that it can be managed well in remote areas also. 2025 showed that the first batch of NEP students were getting into the fourth year of the Honors degree program. However only about 20% across the UT has availed this facility. The fourth year students from far flung areas of the UT had difficulty in accessing the institutions for the research and project. However, the Higher Education has prepared cluster of colleges to offer the same. Most of the students have exited in the third year and are moving towards conventional two year Post graduate programs. Cluster University of Jammu conducted Mega Job Fair where more than 3700 candidates attended and about 270 offer letters and 510 wait lists were created by companies. There were more opportunities in various positions but however, the reluctance on the part of students to opt for employment outside the UT is one of the reason why all the posts were not filled. There is a need for change in mindset among the students to look for employment. This upcoming New Year 2026, there are lot of expectations of the students in terms of moving towards one year PG programs, direct entry to Ph.D. programs and looking for meaningful placement opportunities. We at the Cluster University of Jammu will be with the students in ensuring offering one year PG programs in about 12 disciplines, planning for entrance and other options for students to focus on research. It has been planned to conduct another mega job fair during the month of March-April for the benefit of the students of Jammu region. The drug menace needs to be addressed seriously and I think all higher education institutions to plan various activities during the year to ensure strict compliance. Students need to be diverted to sports and co-curricular activities and given more attention as proposed by the Hon’ble LG Manoj Sinhaji who during the University council meeting of CLUJ advised all universities to focus on Nasha Mukt J&K. The provision of dual degrees as proposed by UGC will be implemented in Cluster University of Jammu. A student who is registering for BBA can simultaneously opt for a distance mode graduate program or diploma or skill based program from another university like University of Jammu or University of Kashmir or Desh Bhagat University. This will enhance the opportunities for the student while looking for employment.
Higher education needs to be rationalized and ideally new programs need to be introduced by any university with 30% being new and innovative. Cluster University of Jammu will endeavor to offer industry based programs like B Sc in Renewable Energy, BBA with entrepreneurship, Diploma in Entrepreneurship, M Sc in Entrepreneurship with the support of EDII, Ahmedabad to open the doors for employment and entrepreneurship. Innovation needs to be driven for the students as they embark on new ideas and create startups. Cluster University of Jammu has already set up Section 8 Company by name Tawi CLUJ Foundation for fostering innovation and made MAM College the nodal institution. One major area now needs to be addressed is how to enable the students who will be completing 4 year research UG program to move towards Ph.D. in their relevant areas. There is a need for bridge courses for these students to understand the nuances of research, research process, preparing research proposals, submitting their proposals to relevant agencies and also ensuring that they would be able to complete their research in time bound manner. Cluster University of Jammu has opened the doors to constituent college teachers having fulfilled the UGC norms to be research supervisors in about 12 disciplines to broaden the research offering.
Placement is another important area. After completing their respective degrees, many of the students instead of moving to post graduate program wish to opt for employment. Government alone cannot provide all employment and the students need to shift towards private companies for jobs. One aspect the author has seen during the mega placement drive conducted by the university that the students of Jammu region do not want to opt for employment even in nearby states. This attitude needs to be changed. Once more industries are set up in J&K, they could come over with the relevant experience. Kathua and Jammu are now working towards to creating industry clusters that can provide more opportunities. Services sectors are growing in Jammu and Kashmir and the growth of Tourism can enable localized placements of students and more eco-tourism and responsible tourism centers can be created by providing eligible students to move towards entrepreneurship. There is a need for industry collaborations from other states that can usher in opportunities for the students of J&K. Some of the major companies like Infosys, TCS, Samsung, Deloitte etc., can have their research centers within the campuses of the universities in J&K. A concerted effort from the universities is needed in this direction in the dawn of 2026. This year will provide more opportunities for students and faculty as faculty needs to move more towards patenting and IPR. Faculty should be able to undertake live consultancies so that it is providing experience to the students and scholars.
(The author is Vice Chancellor, Cluster University of Jammu)