10 June 2024 – The Indian Express

Process of Redesigning India’s Higher Education System

• Both India’s historical legacy and its hopes for the future are reflected in the country’s higher education system, which is one of the largest in the world. The country is home to a remarkable collection of educational establishments, including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), all of which are recognised on a global scale, as well as a vast network of universities and colleges. Based on the QS World University Rankings for Asia 2024, it has been determined that India’s higher education system is the most thoroughly represented.
• The current environment of higher education in India is characterised by a significant number of difficulties and opportunities, which are hidden beneath this expansive structure. Despite the fact that access has been considerably expanded, concerns continue to be raised about the quality, relevance, and capacity of the programme to prepare young people for the challenges of the 21st century. An alarming trend of increasing politicisation in Indian higher education institutions has also been brought to light in recent studies. This tendency poses a significant risk to academic freedom, intellectual discourse, and the general quality of education in India.
• How does the higher education system in India currently stand in terms of its current status?
• The following is a summary of the findings from the All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) 2021-22, which was published in January of 2019.
• A considerable increase from 4.14 crore in 2020-21 and 3.42 crore in 2014-15, the number of students enrolled in higher education institutions has reached 4.33 crore as of 2021-22. This is a major increase from the previous decade.
• As of 2021-22, the number of women who are enrolled in higher education has increased to 2.07 crore, which is a 32% increase over the 1.5 crore that was enrolled in 2014-15.
• It is at the postgraduate level that the percentage of female students is the largest, coming in at 55.4%.
• The Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) and the Gender Parity Index (GPI): The GER for the age range of 18-23 years in India is predicted to be 28.4%.
• Gender parity is indicated by the fact that the GPI, which displays the ratio of female GER to male GER, is 1.01 at the all-India level during the study period.
• In terms of enrollment, the Bachelor of Arts (BA) course at the undergraduate level has the greatest enrollment (34.2%), followed by the Bachelor of Science (14.8%), Bachelor of Commerce (13.3%), and Bachelor of Engineering and Technology (11.8%) programmes.
• Students who are enrolled in the social science stream at the postgraduate level make up the largest number of students (10.8 lakh).
• Engineering is the field that has the biggest number of students enrolling in the doctoral programme, followed by science and social sciences.
• The majority of students attend government institutions, which account for only 58.6% of all universities. At the same time, government universities are home to 73.7% of all students.
• When it comes to institutions that are controlled by the government, the state public universities have the highest enrollment percentage (about 31%).
• What are the most important initiatives for the government that are related to higher education?
• National Education Policy (NEP) 2020: The NEP 2020 aspires to revamp the education system, especially higher education, with a concentration on learning that spans several disciplines, the development of skills, and the promotion of research and innovation.
• It suggests that the Gross Enrollment Ratio in higher education should be increased to fifty percent by the year 2035.
• The colleges of Eminence (IoE) Scheme was initiated by the Ministry of Education in the year 2018, and according to the scheme, twenty colleges were to be chosen to have full autonomy.
• Across all levels of education, from elementary schools to colleges and universities, the National Credit Framework is intended to facilitate the incorporation of training and skill development into the educational system.
• It will be possible for students to access their earned credits through a Digilocker account that is linked to the Academic Bank of Credits, which will be a digital repository of credits.
• Redesigned Accreditation and Ranking Systems: In 2015, the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) was introduced with the purpose of ranking educational institutions of higher learning according to a variety of various categories.
• An overhaul has been carried out by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in order to guarantee that all institutions adhere to quality standards.
• Digital Initiatives: SWAYAM, which stands for Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds, is a platform that provides online courses across all educational levels, from elementary school to postgraduate.
• Access to a huge array of educational resources is made available to users through the National Digital Library of India.
• Study in India Programme: This programme, which was initiated in 2018, has the objective of encouraging a greater number of students from other countries to pursue their education in India by offering financial aid and making the admissions process easier for them.
• The University Grants Commission issued regulations in 2023 that make it possible for international universities that are ranked among the top 500 in the globe to create branch campuses in India. These universities are considered to be Indian institutions of higher education.
• Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE) under INSPIRE: The Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE), which is a component of the Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) programme run by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), is designed to encourage students to pursue research careers and study basic and natural sciences at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. This is accomplished by providing scholarships to candidates who demonstrate a strong need for such opportunities.
• What are some of the most significant challenges that the Indian higher education system is currently facing?
• Low GER and Inequitable Access: The access to higher education continues to be unequal, with major disparities based on factors such as socioeconomic background, gender, and geographical location.
• However, despite the fact that India’s GER has greatly improved (it is currently 28.4%), it is still lower than the average of 36.7% for the entire world.
• Concerns have been raised regarding the growing politicisation of higher education institutions, with allegations of political intervention in appointments and curriculum decisions. Additionally, there has been a lack of autonomy in the administration of these institutional affairs.
• There is a lack of autonomy at many institutions, particularly in areas such as faculty recruitment, curriculum design, and budget allocation, which hinders their capacity to innovate and adapt to demands that are constantly shifting.
• Over the past few years, there has been a large amount of controversy surrounding the appointment of Governors to the position of Chancellor and some Vice Chancellors of Universities.
• The Interim Budget 2024-25 for Education in India has been decreased by 7%, with the allocation for the University Grants Commission being reduced by 61%. This results in little funding.
• In addition, despite the fact that India’s research and development (R&D) sector is expanding, as evidenced by the Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) increasing from ₹6,01,968 million in 2010-11 to ₹12,73,810 million in 2020-21, the country is in a state of decline.
• In terms of the percentage of GDP that is allocated to research and development, India’s investment remains at 0.64%, which places it behind China (2.4%), Germany (3.1%), South Korea (4.8%), and the United States (3.5%).
• Higher education institutions in India are experiencing a serious shortage of skilled faculty personnel, which has led to a decrease in the country’s overall brain drain.
• At the end of the year 2023, more than thirty percent of teaching seats were empty throughout forty-five Central Universities in India.
• It is a big challenge that outstanding academics are leaving the country to work in other nations or in the private sector since they are offered greater possibilities and received more compensation.
• Inadequate Collaboration Between Industry and Academic Institutions In India, there is a lack of effective collaboration between higher education institutions and industries, which has resulted in a skill gap among graduates.
• The demand-supply gap in critical professions in India is between 60 and 73 percent, according to the India Skills Report 2024. These roles include machine learning engineer, data scientist, DevOps engineer, and data architect.
• There is a disparity in the development of higher education institutions between the various regions and states in India. This disparity is responsible for the unequal development of higher education.
• As an illustration, areas such as Delhi, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra have a greater concentration of reputable institutions, whereas a number of states in the central and northeastern regions are behind in terms of both quality and accessibility.
• In order to revamp the higher education system in India, what kinds of measures can be implemented?
• To redefine the role of universities, beginning in the second year, the emphasis should be shifted from memorization to the development of practical skills through the implementation of project-based learning, internships, and industry collaborations.
• Students should be encouraged to take responsibility for their communities and participate in civic activities, and universities should be encouraged to collaborate with local communities on social development projects.
• Higher education institutions are being transformed from merely issuing degrees to being generators of skills.
• Initiatives for Open Educational Resources (OER): Improving the National Digital Library of India and encouraging the creation and implementation of open educational resources, which are analogous to the OpenCourseWare initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which offers free access to lecture materials and other course materials.
• The implementation of this strategy has the potential to improve access to high-quality educational resources, lower expenses, and cultivate a culture that values the sharing of knowledge and working together.
• Establishing specialised entrepreneurship and innovation centres within universities, modelled after successful examples such as Stanford University’s StartX and entrepreneurship programmes, is an example of what is known as “entrepreneurship and innovation centres.”
• Mentorship, possibilities for funding, and an environment that is encouraging might be provided by these centres to students and faculty members in order to facilitate the transformation of their unique ideas into profitable businesses.
• Students in Class XII who are interested in pursuing professions in information technology (IT) will find that HCL TechBee is a big step in the right direction.
• Transnational Education Partnerships: The promotion of transnational education (TNE) partnerships, which involve the collaboration of Indian higher education institutions with reputable international universities in order to provide joint degrees, twinning programmes, or branch campuses.
• The implementation of this strategy has the potential to improve the international competitiveness of Indian higher education, as well as increase global exposure and enable the transfer of knowledge.
• The establishment of the IITM Zanzibar campus by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras marked an important milestone in this regard.
• Dual Study Programmes: Dual study programmes, which are comparable to the apprenticeship model used in Germany, are being implemented phase by phase. These programmes allow students to combine academic learning at universities with practical training in firms.
• The implementation of this strategy not only ensures the development of skills that are relevant to the sector but also improves employability and provides businesses with a skilled workforce.
• Competency-based Credentialing and Blockchain Certificates: The implementation of a competency-based credentialing system that acknowledges and validates the skills and competencies obtained through a variety of learning pathways.
• Utilising blockchain technology to issue digital certificates and credentials that are tamper-proof and verifiable, hence assuring transparency and confidence in the process of credentialing individuals.
• This method has the potential to encourage learning that continues throughout one’s life, education that is skill-based, and recognition of a variety of learning situations.