E-Paper
The road ahead
Higher education in India is stuck in the vicious circle of lack of funds and half-baked policy initiatives leading to inadequate expansion and questionable quality.
Higher education in India is stuck in the vicious circle of lack of funds and half-baked policy initiatives leading to inadequate expansion and questionable quality. Dramatic numbers require massive investments that can't come from the public spending alone. While there are no quick fixes, we can't take too long deliberating our options. The following road map can help make a new beginning:
Policy reforms: The government must focus on primary and secondary education and leave the task of funding new colleges and universities for the private sector.
* The Private University Bill must be legislated to facilitate private funding
* The government can play the role of facilitator and regulator.
* The government should set standards, offer inputs such as concessional land and tax holidays.
Resource mobilisation: Cost recovery, efficient use of faculty and financial restructuring of universities can reduce dependence on the exchequer.
* Recurring expenses can be raised from student fees to 20 per cent from the current 3 per cent as per the UGC suggestion.
* Setting up an Education Development Bank of India to provide soft interest rate loans
* Existing institutions should have the freedom to innovate and generate their own resources.
* Need-based students scholarships to finance higher education
* Foreign direct investment especially in technical education and research
Innovative use of technology: Innovative alternatives to capital-intensive campuses and technology use in off campus education will ease the pressure.
* Open universities and correspondence courses can cover much bigger numbers through use of IT and e-learning.
* Integrating higher education with information communication tools like online exams and virtual campuses can increase accessibility
Global leverage: Foreign educational provi-ders can facilitate access to a wider variety of courses
* Foreign universities and professional institutions of repute must be allowed to operate within the country.
* The arrangement could include franchising, twinning programmes (interlinking with local universities), study centers, programme collaborations, and offshore or branch campuses.
