HIGHER EDUCATION

09 January 2023 18:55

Data: AISHE Survey 2019-20

1. Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Higher Education: increased by a minuscule 0.8% in 2019-20.
2. Female Enrolment: overall increase of 18% in female enrolment in higher education in 2015-16 - 2019-20.
3. Teacher's: 15,03,156 comprising 57.5% male and 42.5% female
4. Attractive Disciplines: 85% of the students (2.85 crore) in the six major disciplines such as Humanities, Science, Commerce, Engineering &
Technology, Medical Science and IT & Computer.
5. Pupil Teacher Ratio: 26 in Higher Education in 2019-20

Challenges in Existing Education Svstem: Higher Education

• Access and Participation
1. Poor Research Infrastructure: investment in R&D remained constant at 0.6% to 0.7% of GDP far below than US (2.8), China (2.1), Israel (4.3) and
Korea (4.2).
2. Poor standards: No Indian universities in Top 100 in QS rankings.
3. Poor exploitation of ICT: Less universities with distance learning options through online classes etc.
4. Over-regulation: such as UGC, NMC, which decide on aspects of standards, appointments, fees structure and curriculum

• Quality
1. Teachers: inadequate, improper training, recruitment of UGs as teachers, ad-hoc appointments and low pay scale,
2. Curriculum: outdated and rote learning based
3. Poor Outcomes: "Degrees' not turning into Jobs
4. Misaligned research orientation: where research is not need based
5. Assessment and accreditation: Proliferation of substandard education universities with 'fake' degree
6. People to Teacher ratio: 29 if regular mode enrolment is considered compared to 12.5:1 in USA, 19.5:1 in India and 19:1 in Brazil.

• Equity(Education is hard to access for)

1. SC/ST: GER is 19.9%(SC) and 14.2% (ST), while national GER of 24.5%.
2. Regional Disparities: College density varies from 7 in Bihar to 53 in Karnataka.
3. Gender-wise: Nearly 51.36% of enrolled are male & 48.64% are female.

Initiatives taken by Government

1. National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology ot to (NMEICT): to leverage the potential of ICT to make
content accessible to all learners free of cost.
2. Rashtriya Ucchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA): for providing strategic funding to higher er educational institutions
3. Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP): for an action plan to give a multi-pronged boost to the higher education
system.
4. Prime Minister's Research Fellowship: attract the talent pool of the country to doctoral programmes for carrying out research in cutting edge
science and technology.
5. Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC): for improving the research ecosystem of India's higher educational
institutions by facilitating collaborations between Indian institutions and the best institutions in the world.
6. Global Initiative for Academic Network (GIAN): to tap the talent pool of scientists and entrepreneurs from abroad.
7. Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA): to finance the creation of capital assets in premier educational institutions.
8. Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022: to qulitatively upgrade tne research and academic infrastructure to global
best standards to make India into an education hub.
9. Learning Outcome-based Curriculum Framework (LOCE): Issued UGC, to speciy What graduates are expected to know, understand and be able
to do at the end their programme of study.
10. National Institutional Ranking Framework: published annualy to rank educational institutions across the country

Way Forward
1. Academia-lndustry link: To ensure academia must understand and reorient itself to the demands of the industry.
2. Regulation: To curb illegal and unaffiliated colleges that fraud students
3. R&D: budget for R&D must increase to incentivize more students to pursue research rather than filling up employment pools
4. Higher Education Promotion Commission: designed such that it cannot resurrect the Inspector Raj of the UGC regime.
5. Technology: Accelerating deployment of new technology for pedagogy and online delivery of courses
6. Revamping curriculum: More focus is needed on critical thinking, analytical reasoning, problem- solving rather than memorizing and writing
skills.
7. Internationalization: Inculcating strategies to attract more international students apart from the laudable aims of making India's curricula
comparable to the word's best
 8. Diversifying finances: Exploring financing models, including more public-private partnerships and alumni funding Flexibility: Flexibility in
pursuing multiple degrees
9. Best practices:
*Finland: the municipality can change the policies of education for its region accordingly, meaning that a small body is free to make education
policy there. Also, special teachers are appointed for weak children who do not have to pay any fees.

Setting up of Foreign Universities in India

Earlier steps
1. 1995 drafted the Foreign Education Bill which had to be shelved.
2. 2006, but the draft law could not cross the Cabinet stage.
3. 2010, the UPA-2 government brought the Foreign Educational Institutions Bill, which failed to get enough support in the Parliament.
4. The New Education Policy, 2020 allows for establishment of foreign university campuses in India

Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India - Draft Rules
1. UGC approval compulsory: All foreign universities that wish to set up their campus in India
2. Reputed institutions: top 500 to apply or will have to be “highly reputed” in their respective countries.
3. Quality assurance: UGC have right to inspect these Indian campuses of foreign HEIs at any time, and they will not be outside the purview of anti-
ragging and other criminal laws.
4. Offline classes only: All the foreign universities that open their branches in India will be allowed to conduct offline classes only, i.e. foreign
universities can offer only full-time programmes in physical mode.
5. Freedom to choose admission process, fee, and faculty: to ensure “quality of education imparted at their Indian campuses is on par with their
main campus.”
6. Admissions to all: freedom to enroll Indian as well as international students on their Indian campuses.
7. International funds transfer: funding will be as per the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999.
8. Safeguarding of students’ interest: FHEI shall not discontinue any course or programme or close the campus without the commission’s prior
approval.
9. Securing India’s national interest: FEHIs shall not offer any such programme or course which jeopardises the national interest of India or the
standards of higher education in India.

Benefits of the move

1. Human capital generation: would complement efforts to provide high quality human capital to India’s financial services industry.
2. Decreased overseas spending: Indian students’ overseas spending is set to grow from current annual $28 billion to $80 billion annually by 2024.
3. Reduce FOREX spending: can also help in reducing the foreign exchange outflow.
4. Prevents brain-drain: Education attracts opportunities.
5. Atmanirbhar Bharat push: will retain the domestic talent. More than eight lakh Indians gave up their citizenship in the last seven years.
6. Increase India’s soft power: provide further impetus to the government’s Study in India programme that seeks to attract foreign students.
7. Fostering a competition in quality
8. Increase in domestic enrolment: helps to increase Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education which is just 27.1%, among the worlds’
lowest.
9. Education quality improvement: in the QS World University Rankings 2022. IIT Bombay was the top-ranking Indian institute in the list with a
ranking of 177. Only eight Indian universities made it to the top 400.
10. Paving the way: London Business School, King’s College in London, the University of Cambridge, and New York University have started
preliminary discussion with the GIFT City authorities and the regulator to establish facilities at the GIFT International Financial Services Centre.

Challenges
1. Regulatory challenges: The following factors may deter foreign higher educational institutions from investing in India-
2. Multi-layer regulatory framework governing different aspects of higher education
3. Lack of a single regulatory body overlooking the collaborations/ investments and
4. Multiple approvals required to operate in India
5. Implementation issues: While NEP has taken the right steps to boost the education sector and pave the way for a globally-compatible education
system, its implementation has been slow and requires clarity.
6. Higher possibility of Brain Drain: A policy challenge that stands before the GoI is to facilitate such tie-ups in a way that the Indian talent chooses
to and is incentivised to remain in India and the Indian educational infrastructure is developed to match global standards.
7. Against social justice: absence of reservation
8. Lacks accessibility: as the fees in the FHEI is usually very high, it is difficult for poor to access
9. Cultural invasion: may impose and influence the young students by the western materialistic culture
10. Beyond degree: idea of import substitution is complicated as students do not go abroad for degrees alone; they also go for the experience, post-
study work visas, income opportunities and better career prospects

Conclusion
1. The intent of the GoI, with respect to international universities setting up campuses in India, is clear from the provisions in the NEP.
2. However, much clarity is awaited for the proper implementation.