Higher Education In India

Progress of a nation is possible only when its citizens are dynamic, enterprising, and responsible. Without such citizens, a nation cannot achieve progress in any field and education is the most important tool to create such types of citizens. Higher education plays a vital role in the overall development and growth of a nation. It imparts in-depth knowledge of different ways of life. Further, it not only broadens the cerebral power of the individual within a narrow specialization but also gives a wider perspective of the world around. Higher education is no longer a luxury, it is essential for survival. The core mission of higher education is to educate, train, undertake research and provide service to the community. In the context of globalization, the scope and demand for higher education are increasing day by day and this demand can only be fulfilled by the quality of higher education. Quality education is the “Mantra” of the present-day education system whether it is elementary or higher education. The quality of higher education is the biggest need of the hour as our country is progressing towards becoming the educational hub of the world.

What is Higher Education?

To put it simply, it is a stage of learning that occurs after secondary education at the Universities, Colleges, and Institutes of Technology. Higher education aims to prepare a person to play his part well, as an enlightened member of society.

Higher education is a powerful tool to build a modern, value-based, knowledge-based, culture-based, and peaceful society that can lead the country toward becoming a superpower in the world. It is also considered one of the important and strong tools for the development of any country. Primary education is necessary for creating a base, while, higher education is extremely important for providing a cutting edge. Higher education contributes to the growth of the nation by providing specialized knowledge and skilled manpower.

Higher Education in India:

• India’s higher education system is the third-largest in the world, next to the United States and China.

• The main governing body of Higher Education is the University Grants Commission(UGC), which enforces its standards, advises the government, and helps coordinate between the center and the state.

• Distance learning and open education are also a feature of the Indian higher education system and are looked after by the Distance Education Council.

•  Indira Gandhi National Open University(IGNOU) is the largest university in the world by the number of students, having approximately 3.5 million students across the globe.

• As of 31 March 2021, The list of central universities published by the UGC includes 54 Central Universities and 436 state Universities.

• Gyan-Vigyan Vimukte (Knowledge Liberates) is the Motto of UGC as it captures the essence of knowledge and promotes excellence in Higher Education.

Issues and Challenges in India’s Higher Education:

Despite all these developments and growth, quality of higher education remained the main concern for all the stakeholders in the education system i.e. students, parents, institution management, faculty members, policymakers, and society as a whole because the poor quality of higher education affects the overall progress of any nation. In this scenario, a conflicting picture arises with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s words, “Our university system is, in many parts, in a state of disrepair. In almost half the districts higher education enrollment is abysmally low. Almost two-thirds of our universities and 90% of colleges are rated below average in quality parameters…”. Indian higher education is far away from the global educational standard. Let’s see few major challenges faced by our higher education sector

• Lower enrolment ratio

There is a huge gap between those who move out from school and those who enroll in the higher education system, which is needed to be bridged. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of India in higher education is only 25.2% which is quite low as compared to the developed and other major developing countries.

• Overcrowded Classrooms

Lack of an adequate number of teachers and classrooms forces many colleges to reduce their number of groups and merge them into larger groups making it possible for a teacher to carry out effective classroom interaction.

• Inadequate Student Services

Most of the higher education institutions today are not capable enough to provide services like conducting orientation programs, health services, hostel facilities, guidance, and counseling services to the students.

• Outdated Curriculum

Outdated, irrelevant curriculum that is dominantly theoretical and has a low scope for creativity. There is a wide gap between industry requirements and universities’ curriculum that is the main reason for the low employability of graduates in India.

• Research

Poor fund allocation in research, Low levels of Ph.D. enrolment, fewer opportunities for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research, Low levels of industry engagement, Low quality of research work, etc. are some of the factors affecting the research ecosystem in India.

• Faculty

Faculty shortages and the inability of the state educational system to attract and retain well-qualified teachers have been posing challenges to quality education for many years. Shortage of faculty leads to Ad-hoc expansion even in the premier institutions.

The Pupil-to-teacher ratio though has been stable in the country (30:1), however, it needs to be improved to make it comparable to the USA (12.5:1), China (19.5:1), and Brazil (19:1).

• Infrastructure

Poor infrastructure is another challenge to higher education in India. Due to the budget deficit, corruption, and lobbying by the vested interest group (Education Mafias), public sector universities in India lack the necessary infrastructure. Even the Private sector is not up to the mark as per the global standard.

• Increase in profit-making institutions

Though private player in the higher education contributes significantly to the growth of the sector, the profit intent of these institutions has threatened the very basic foundation of social development goal. Many private players who are politicians, realtors, businessmen/women mint huge money by creating educational institutions, which had made us say that no secret that the education industry has long lost its noble cause and is more of a business. This greatly harmed the higher education system.

• Quality

Higher Education in India is plagued with rot learning, lack of employability, and skill development due to the low quality of education.

How to solve the problem?

• Adoption of technology

Technology has the potential to revolutionize the traditional teaching and learning process. It can eliminate the barriers to education imposed by space and time and dramatically expand access to lifelong learning. Students no longer have to meet in the same place at the same time to learn together from an instructor.

• Teacher Training

Teachers' training remains one of the most chaotic, neglected, and deficient sectors of India's vast education system. Institutions continue to appoint instructors based on academic qualifications and not the ability to educate. Higher education institutions and regulators need to recognize the importance of hiring for and providing formal training for their educators. Being a great researcher doesn't make you a great teacher and vice versa. And This needs to be changed as they virtually hold the destiny of the future generations in their hands. And while that system will be harder to change, it will be easier to introduce recognized training programs focusing on specific skills to help educators adapt and ease into today’s classroom.

• More government spending

India needs to spend 6% of its gross domestic product on education, every national education policy since 1968 has said. In 2019-’20, 52 years since that recommendation, India spent only 3.1% of its GDP on education.

• Distance and online education

Broaden the scope of Massive Open Online Course (MOOCs) and Open and Distance Learning (ODL) to provide access to quality education beyond geographical boundaries.

• Performance-linked funding and incentives

All central universities should develop strategic plans for getting into the top 500 global universities rankings in the next 10 years. Funding to these institutions should be linked to performance and outcomes through the MHRD and newly constituted Higher Education Funding Agency.

National Education Policy and Higher Education

The National Education Policy of India 2020 (NEP 2020), which was approved by the Union Cabinet of India on 29 July 2020, outlines the vision of India's new education system. The new policy replaces the previous National Policy on Education, 1986. The policy is a comprehensive framework for elementary education to higher education as well as vocational training in both rural and urban India. The policy aims to transform India's education system by 2040. Let’s see how this policy will improve the state of higher education in this country.

• Enhance GER To 50% By The Year 2035

The Gross Enrollment Ratio as of the year 2018 was 26.3 % NEP 2020 is planning to enhance the GER to 50% by the year 2035.

To make this plan a reality, around 3.5 crore seats or even more will be allocated to higher educational institutions.

• Holistic & Multidisciplinary Education

To help students learn as per their will, the new policy has introduced a holistic & multi-disciplinary undergraduate education approach.

It allows students the flexibility to combine multi-disciplinary subjects along with the integration of vocational courses.

UG programs can be of either 3 or 4 years.

The new element is that students will be given ‘multiple exit options’ & appropriate ‘certification’ will be given to them within their graduation tenure.

For instance, students will get certification after the completion of one year, advanced diploma after the second year, bachelor’ degree will be given after the successful completion of 3 years & a degree indicating research intelligence by the end of 4th year will be offered to students.

• Dismantling Of The ‘UGC’ And ‘AICTE’

A new ruling body called ‘Higher Education Commission of India’ (HECI) will come into existence in order to ensure best practices in the educational sector excluding the medical & legal field.

HECI will have the right to penalize institutions that don’t adhere to quality education.

• Financial Support To Assist Students

The government will make efforts to ensure that students belonging to ST, SC, OBC, and SDGs get scholarships as per their merit.

The officials would encourage higher education institutions to offer scholarships to support talented students.

The role & activities of the National Scholarship Portal will be broadened to keep a tab on the performance of students who’ve received scholarships.

• Technology In Education

The government will create an autonomous entity called as- the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), to ensure appropriate integration of technology in education. Institutions will be able to empower their faculty as well as students by streamlining classroom processes through ICT enablement.

• Distance Learning/Open Learning

The government will take several measures to ensure the highest quality education by opening the doors of open learning facilities such as –

• Online courses introduction

• Digital repositories

• Funds for research work

• Credit-based education

• Digitalization Of the Teaching-Learning Process

No more traditional classrooms!

A dedicated team for developing digital infrastructure including e-content, digital library, etc will be initiated to meet the needs of students & maximizing the learning outcomes.

Conclusion

India has traveled a long way in education, from the “Guru-Shishya” practice of learning under the shade of a tree in medieval times to becoming the third-largest in the field of higher education the world over after the United States and China, but we still have a long way to go. Indian higher education has expanded in quantity but lacking behind in terms of quality. India cannot progress until its higher education system is qualitatively strong enough because this poor quality is resulting in low employability, the low performance of the specialized individuals, lack of innovative and creative ideas, etc. which are the key elements of success and progress in the present time. Hopefully, the new policies implemented by the government will address this issue and with the combined effort of society and individuals, we will once again become the education hub of the world.