Volume 2, Number 1, January-March’ 2013 ISSN (P):2319-9059, (O):2319-9067

A MOMENTOUS ASSESSMENT OF GLOBALIZATION AND ITS BELONGINGS

TO INDIAN EDUCATION
Kiran Soni1 Surekha Soni2

ABSTRACT

Globalization “is the flow of technology, economy, knowledge, people, values, ideas…across the borders. Globalization
affects each country in a different way due to a nation’s individual history, traditions, culture and priorities”. To cope with the
‘Globalization’, the higher education system has to re-orient its structure and function besides enlarging the scope of its
provisions to meet the challenges of Globalization. This re-orientation process is termed as Internationalization.
Internationalization of Higher Education is one of the ways a country responds to the demands of globalization. Globalization
has a multi-dimensional impact on the system of education. Author has laid emphasis on the modern techniques of teaching it
promotes new tools and techniques in this area like e-learning, flexible learning, distance education programs, and overseas
training. Globalization will mean many different things for education. In the near future, 'it will mean more competitive and
deregulated educational system modeled after free market but with more pressure on it to assure that the next generation of
workers are prepared for some amorphous 'job market of 21st century.

Knowledge is the driving force in the rapidly changing globalised economy and society. Quantity and quality of specialized
human resources determine their competence in the global market. Emergence of knowledge as driving factor results in both
challenges and opportunities. It is well known that the growth of the global economy has increased opportunities for those
countries with good levels of education. Globalization brings education to the front lines. In the prevailing discourse,
education is expected to be the major tool for incorporation into the ‘knowledge society’ and the technological economy. In
this paper we are going to see the impact of globalization on knowledge, education systems, and equity policies.

KEYWORDS

Globalization, Education, Knowledge, Learning, Growth, Economy etc.

INTRODUCTION

The process of globalization has transformed world trade, communications, educational activities and economic relations since the
latter part of 20th century. Student’s option for higher education is no longer constrained by national boundaries. For the first time
in history in the era of globalization, world’s student population truly has access to a ‘global market place’ of higher education.
With the dramatic rise of a new Indian middle class and increased wealth of the Indian upper class, the number of students who
are able to pursue education in other countries has really increased. It has led to very rapid integration of countries across the
globe in terms of commodities as well as finance.

There is a direct nexus between the industry, corporate world and higher education, which has brought a Transformation in the
skills needed for jobs. There has been a corresponding change in the boundaries between Arts and Science subjects. Pure Sciences
are relegated to a lower position than are the Applied Sciences and professional skills. In the hierarchy of disciplines, new
disciplines such as Management, Media and Mass written on the patriarchal imprint on the subject choices of women in higher
education and on the feminine and masculine dichotomy of subjects.

HIGHER EDUCATION CHALLENGES IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD

Globalization is interdependence. Globalization is neither good nor bad. It is exactly what we do that decides the ethical decisions
made in higher education from both a macro and micro approach that decides our course of actions. Just as universities purged
their holdings that were found to support transnational crimes, we now must continue to review our policies and implementation
practices that impact the global humankind. Multiple voices must be present on our leadership teams to ensure all aspects are
critically analyzed. The conflicting aspects of market forces and our fundamental mission to educate is our most pressing issue.

Globalization is a growing challenge to higher education institutions worldwide since it brings not only opportunities but also
concerns to higher institutions and universities. Duderstadt, Taggart and Weber (2008) go so far that they argue that there is a
serious imbalance between educational need and educational capacity-many of our universities are in the wrong place, where
populations are aging and perhaps even declining rather than young and growing, driving major population migration and all too
frequently the clash of cultures and ethnicity. They further argue that current estimates suggest that the number of students
seeking university degrees will roughly double over the next two decades to as high as 250 million, with most of this growth in
the developing world; and, there is no doubt that higher education institutions, especially research universities, are among the
main agents of global convergence.

Globalization breaks down barriers and connects institutions across the world making universities in every country visible to each
other, facilitating knowledge flows, values on global learning, and creation of new opportunities for advanced graduates. The

1
Assistant Professor, Pacific Institute of Management and Technology, Rajasthan, India, soni.kiran77@gmail.com
2
Lecturer, Rajdev B.Ed. College, Rajasthan, India, soni.surekha01@gmail.com

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president of NYU, John Sexton developed the concept of “idea capitals” for research universities. Regarding the global spread of
research universities, Sexton stated, “the evolving global dynamic will bring about the emergence of a set of world centers of
intellectual, cultural, and educational strength; and recognition that research universities will be key to these “idea capitals”.

TO UNDERSTAND EDUCATION SYSTEM IN INDIA

India is counted among large democratic countries around the world. Since the change in education delivery system, the education
system in India implemented new strategies and modules to assure improvement in providing education. The demand for
education in this country is huge and students are looking for quality information to support their academic career. Therefore, it
was necessary to extract genuine information and put it together for the student’s use. Experts at the education board believe that
new ideas are beginning to show drastic improvements in ascending the education level to the top. Transformation is beginning in
the grass root level of education board. Education experts in India have come established to the fact that using modern learning
systems in the pre-school education system would build a strong foundation for development. These new learning methodologies
include: a) Skills presentation, b) E-learning, and c) Software drives for skill enhancement.

Financial Endowment

The Indian government has discovered that without proper financial endowment, it is impossible to achieve academic success.
Therefore, the expense criteria for education have expanded. And every financial year, the cost is rising in this sector. However,
the returns are sufficient enough to follow this procedure. Most of the money is used in improvising new strategies for the
education system. This bold step by the government has reduced the level of drop outs from schools in rural areas. As new
facilities are presented in schools and colleges, students are getting inspired to pursue higher education. According to statistics, at
the end of 2012, financial endowment for education in India would reach $70 billion.

Efforts to Attract Private Organizations

The Indian government is designing the overall education system to attract private organizations to invest and support the
education board. Cooperation with private companies would not only improve the education system but also open the doors for
job opportunities for students. As private organizations are linked with the modern business and education market, therefore, they
would easily help the Indian education board to understand the ascent and decent of world markets and prepare study material to
the benefit of the students. A few multinational companies who are showing affinity towards participating in the education
delivery system of India are Microsoft, L&T, and PWC.

Literacy Level

According to the latest survey done in the year of 2011, national literacy rate in India was 74.07%. The survey shows that one of
the drawbacks of the Indian education system is a difference in the education delivery process between rural and urban areas. The
percentage of woman literacy in India is 65%. It is a big difference in comparison to the male literacy rate of 82%. Among the
states of this democratic country, Kerala owns the highest literacy rate, which is 93%.

Technical Education

Technical education for career oriented courses have shown prospect in providing best future path to students. Therefore, Indian
education board has established new institutions to offer students best quality technical education. The number of technical
education graduates in the year 2011 has reached 700,000. A few popular institutions that have supported education system in
India are Institution of Engineers, Institution of Industrial Engineers, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Institute of Town
Planners, Institution of Electronics and Tele-Communication Engineers, Indian Institute of Metals, Institution of Chemical
Engineering, Indian Institute of Architects.

INDIA: STRUCTURE OF EDUCATION SYSTEM

Graph-1

Sources: Nuepa-Mhrd, 2008

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IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON INDIAN EDUCATION

The education in India is at a crossroads. Its liberal and secular character and content, carefully nourished during the last fifty
years, despite several vicissitudes, is now undergoing fundamental transformation.

Trends in Global Education which affects the quality of education:

 Dilution and trivialization of the aims of education,

 Fragmentation and compartmentalization of education,
 Alienation of knowledge from social ethos,
 Restriction of access through commercialization, privatization and competitive screening,
 Parallelization or hierarchical layering of school systems,
 Homogenization of socio- cultural diversities through increasing centralization.

The children of the poor and socially disadvantaged have been denied English medium school education. The rapid growth of the
software development and electronic communications industries is one of the few achievements of Indian industry in post-
independence India. Further, because of strong hold of the English language in MNCs and corporate circles, the divide between
rural and urban is almost complete in the field of education. In consequence, this great reservoir of skills and expertise offers the
opportunity to utilize them for the spread of quality education through several technologies.

CHALLENGES POSED BY GLOBALIZATION ON INDIAN EDUCATION

In the world of unequal opportunities, idea and knowledge are the emerging factors that decide development or lack of it,
education cannot be left entirely to market forces. Further, market needs should be kept in view while developing the curriculum.
The element of productivity orientation should guide the formulation of curriculum framework. It is also necessary that while
deciding about the fee structure and other student levies, the tendency towards commercialization of education should be guarded
against.

Globalization poses challenges like:

 Faculty Shortage,
 Quality of education,
 Incentive structures.

As the world moves on to forging an information society founded on education, India cannot remain behind as a non-competitive
knowledge economy. India has to create an environment that does not produce industrial workers and labourers but fosters
knowledge workers. Such people must be at the cutting edge of knowledge workers and, in turn, placing India in the vanguard in
the information age. This is not to argue that the opportunities opened up by information technology are to be shunned, but to
suggest its creative incorporation in the system of education. At the same time it is necessary to recognize the fact that the
educational conditions created by information technology are pregnant with the possibilities of intellectual colonization.

The breaking of the geographical barriers and communication restrictions are indeed healthy attributes of knowledge
dissemination, but it cannot be divorced from the economic and political contexts of knowledge production .Indian education
system is one of the most tightly controlled in the world. The government regulates who can teach, what you can teach them and
what you can charge them. It also has huge regulatory bottlenecks. There are considerable entry barriers: Universities can be set
up only through acts of legislation, approval procedures for starting new courses are cumbersome, syllabi revision is slow, and
accreditation systems are extremely weak and arbitrary. The regulators permit relatively little autonomy for institutions and
variation amongst them.

The shortage of quality institutions is a product of India’s regulatory structures. Increased public investment that the government
has promised is absolutely necessary to increase access Quotas became a symbol of the state’s power over Indian education: its
propensity to hoist its own purposes upon academic institutions regardless of their impact on the quality of these institutions.
Globalization requires two contradictory transformations in the state: On the one hand, successful globalization requires that the
state invest heavily in increasing access to education. But in higher education, globalization also requires the state to respect the
autonomy of institutions so that a diversity of experiments can find expression, so that institutions have the flexibility to do what
it takes to retain talent in a globalized world and, above all, respond quickly to growing demand.

Globalization demands a paradigm shift in the regulation of higher education. In India the debate has only just begun. There is a
mismatch between the supply and demand. As for Indian universities they function today without even the basic minimum
facilities and with teachers who have no access to the latest advances in their disciplines. These institutions churn out students
who complete their education as outcastes even in their own chosen area of knowledge. What these institutions offer is
unacceptable to the fast growing affluent Indian middle class. The situation is likely to aggravate in coming days with the UGC
reportedly being deprived of its funding functions and the introduction of an accreditation system, which would stamp many an
institution as academic slums without ever the possibility of an honorable redemption. Understandably education is a fertile land
for investment, particularly if it comes with a foreign tag.

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CONCLUSIONS

The purpose of globalization of Indian education is to make major sources of earning foreign exchange; to improve quality of
Indian education and to spread Indian culture and value. Setting up units abroad will create awareness about Indian education, but
it will not help us to earn a substation amount of foreign exchange because a major portion would be spent to run the institution.
Hence looking at the purpose, of various options of globalization of Indian education, the most appropriate option would be attract
the maximum possible number of foreign students. Globalization of higher education is to be promoted not only because it yields
financial benefits, but also because of the academic, political and social advantages that accrue from the presence of international
students on campuses.

Technical institution must re-engineer their vision and mission to carryout multinational activities. The technical institutions must
withstand the challenges of globalization. To meet this following steps to be followed.: All technical institutions must have
autonomy for academic, administrative and financial; Partnership between industries and technical institutions should be
encouraged and promoted; More effective means of information delivery must be used; Institutions should have freedom and
motivation to generate additional financial resources through research, consultancy, continuing education etc; Technical
institutions should be internationalized by developing linkages and partnership with –international agencies for the various
programmes and services offered by the institution; Communication through satellite for continuing engineering education
program will help a large number of country men in getting informed about the latest development taking place in the world.

Globalization leads to challenges and threats also. The major concern is to deliver world class education with updated curriculum
and practical exposure. This is possible only by attracting talented & experienced persons in to academics. At present it is difficult
to assess not only the nature and dimensions of globalization, but also what it means to the field of education. A few educational
researchers have attempted to make connections between the several dimensions of globalization and the policies of education.

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