Status of technical education in India: Emerging issues and challenges

Naresh Kumar

Technical Education plays a crucial role in the growth of human resources by generating skilled manpower, enhancing industrial productivity and the quality of life. Technical education offers courses and programmes in engineering, technology, management, architecture, town planning, pharmacy, applied arts, hotel management and catering technology. Technical education in India is coordinated by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which is the statutory body for proper planning and development of the technical education system. Over the years India has registered a substantial performance in technical education, which is being further accelerated by the policy of economic reforms and liberalisation. Indian policy makers have recognized the importance of technical education for nation building and have provided full policy support and public funding to create one of the world's largest technical education systems. Subsequently, measures are being taken to improve the quality of technical education by greater use of technology in the teaching-learning processes. Engineering and technical education has been a driving force for human development in the wider sense and has an impact on technological development and competitiveness. However, most technical institutions/universities have not been able to maintain high standards of engineering education and are unable to keep pace with international developments. The lag is attributed to limited financial support from the government and a slew of controls. Therefore, the National Knowledge Commission suggested for a new paradigm in regulation, accreditation, governance and faculty development across the engineering education spectrum. In this section an attempt is made to gauge the current status of Indian technical education, to understand critical issues in technical manpower development and to identify strategies to reform the system. T1 - 67

Growth of infrastructure The technical education system comprises Central Government funded institutions, State Government/State-funded institutions and Self-financed institutions. Fast growth of infrastructure is observed in the self-financed/private institutions, marginally state funded institutions as compared to central funded institutions. There are only 81 Central funded institutions as given in Table-1.

Table 1: Central Government funded institutions S. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Type of Institution Indian Institutes of Technology Indian Institutes of Management Indian Institute of Science Indian Institutes of Science Education & Research National Institutes of Technology Indian Institute of Information Technology National Institutes of Technical Teachers Training & Research Others (SPA, ISMU, NERIST, SLIET, NITIE & NIFFT, CIT) Total Number 15 13 1 5 30 4 4 9 81

The Central and State Governments are planning to expand better infrastructure in the field of technical education, since fast growth of self-financed institutions was observed in the post liberalisation era which resulted in increase in intake capacity and programmes of different courses (Figure 1&2).

T1 - 68

12000 10000
Numbers

8000 6000 4000 2000 0

2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11

Programmes

Fig 1. Growth of different programs in technical institutes Source: AICTE, computed and accessed in March 2011

2500000 2000000 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11

Numbers

1500000 1000000 500000 0

Programmes

Fig 2. Growth of seats in different programs in technical Institutes Source: AICTE, computed and accessed in March 2011

Presently (2010-2011) there are 7,361 degree providing institutions who run 10,364 programmes with an intake capacity of 19,54,482 students. However, the engineering and technical infrastructure is not uniform and is more skewed towards South Central, South and North West region. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have the T1 - 69

largest number of institutes and North East States have least number of technical institutes. Geographical and state wise distribution of different courses, intake capacity and institutes is provided in Figures 3-8.
25 20 e g 15 a t n e c r e 10 P 5 0

Fig 3. State wise intake (distribution of seats)

Source: AICTE, computed and accessed in March 2011

25 20 e g 15 a t n e c r e 10 P 5 0

Fig 4. State wise distribution of Institutes

Source: AICTE, computed and accessed in March 2011

T1 - 70

Fig 5. Programme wise distribution of Intake

Source: AICTE, computed and accessed in March 2011

Fig 6. Programme wise distribution of Institutes

Source: AICTE, computed and accessed in March 2011

T1 - 71

Fig 7.

Region wise breakup of Intake

Source: AICTE, computed and accessed in March 2011

Fig 8. Region wise breakup of Institutes

Source: AICTE

International comparison of professionals The demand for technical professionals has increased in India, consequently professional courses are attracting more students. China is producing maximum number of engineering graduates, followed by India, while a marginal decline was noticed in USA. However number of engineers per million persons was highest in India among the emerging economies. The

T1 - 72

percentage of engineering doctorates to bachelors engineering degrees was found highest in U. K. followed by USA and Germany, while in the case of India the ratio was low. Overseas migration rate of students for higher education is also increasing. USA is the favourite destination for all foreign students. Table-2 (NSF Report, 2010), provides a summary of students enrolled in US, UK and Japanese universities in Science and Engineering (S&E). It is obvious that India is the third largest sender of students to USA in S&E after South Korea and China.

Table 2a. Foreign undergraduate student enrolment in U.S. universities in S&E by selected places of origin (April 2008 and 2009) Country India China South Korea Brazil Taiwan Japan 2008 5230 4610 7,950 750 1740 4250 % of total S&E 7.19 6.34 10.98 1.03 2.39 5.84 Engineering 2630 1220 1820 160 500 410 2009 5940 7990 8940 860 1710 3630 % of total S&E 7.37 9.92 11.10 1.06 2.24 4.50 Engineering 2980 2300 2070 180 490 370

Table 2b. Foreign undergraduate student enrolment in U.K. universities in S&E by selected places of origin (2001-2002 & 2006-2007) % of total % of total Country 2001-02 Engineering 2006-07 Engineering S&E S&E India 790 1.88 360 1940 0.33 1060 China 3060 7.29 940 7700 13.37 2350 USA 800 1.90 90 ---Germany 1800 4.28 340 2310 4.03 500 France 2210 5.26 1060 3210 5.57 1400 Japan 590 1.40 80 ---Table 2c. Foreign undergraduate student enrolment in Japanese universities in S&E by selected places of origin (2001 & 2008) % of total Country 2001 % of total S&E Engineering 2008 Engineering S&E India 98 0.37 46 n.a. n.a. -China 8430 32.46 885 27546 67.85 3396 USA 42 0.16 1 n.a. n.a. -Brazil 42 0.16 19 n.a. n.a. -S. Korea 6602 25.42 1159 7770 19.14 1288

T1 - 73

Number of Indian recipients of US doctorates in engineering is also more than other Asian countries (Table-3), except China, which implies that speaking in absolute terms Indian students are more mobile compared to students from other Asian nationals.

Table 3. Asian recipients of US S&E doctorates by country of origin (19872007) Field All fields S&E Engineering Science Agricultural sciences Biological sciences Computer sciences Earth, atmospheric, & ocean sciences Mathematics Medical/other life sciences Physical sciences Psychology Social sciences Non-S&E Asia 1,68,627 1,43,927 53,621 90,306 5,746 23,637 7,186 2,947 6,888 4,621 21,162 2,198 15,921 24,700 China 53,665 50,220 16,183 34,037 1,562 11,532 2,166 1,461 3,184 992 10,181 350 2,609 3,445 India 24,386 21,354 9,419 11,935 534 3,240 1,791 230 641 888 2,606 265 1,740 3,032 South Korea 26,402 20,549 7,965 12,584 807 2,386 849 367 921 492 2,561 369 3,832 5,853 Taiwan 22,577 18,523 8,332 10,191 727 2,701 959 319 700 819 2,038 308 1,620 4,054

Source: Science and Engineering Indicators 2010

Foreign students flows can also be viewed in terms of plans to stay in the host countries. Since, USA is the most preferred destination for foreign students for higher studies consequently they also prefer to stay on in the USA. Table-4 shows patterns of students intending to stay on in the USA, for the six major countries of origin of foreign doctoral recipients Indian students had the highest percentage with firm plans to stay on in the USA

T1 - 74

Table 4: Plans of foreign recipients of U.S. S&E doctorates to stay in United States by field and place of origin (19962007) Foreign S&E doctorate recipients Country 2000 2004 199699 03 07 India 4798 3259 5759 China 10715 10105 15533 South 3580 3541 4743 Korea Brazil 721 544 599 Taiwan 4128 2293 1924 Japan 661 751 897 Plans to stay (%) 1996 99 90.1 92.6 50.0 31.5 60.2 46.9 2000 03 89.1 92.5 68.6 38.1 66.4 56.7 2004 07 88.9 90.8 69.2 47.7 64.6 58.9 Definite plans to stay (%) 199699 62.2 58.5 30.4 20.2 33.4 29.8 2000 03 66.5 63.6 45.7 27.6 40.3 39.3 200407 61.6 58.7 43.1 34.1 37.7 40.7

Source: Science and Engineering Indicators 2010

Indian recipients of foreign (USA and UK) degrees and doctorate degrees in S&E and engineering fields have been increasing. According to a study Indias growth rate of engineering degrees is higher than other countries, but China has a high growth rate for the Ph. D. degrees in engineering. Indias doctorate degrees are less than 1% of its graduate degrees.

Issues of concern and Conclusions India has a large system of engineering and technical education and produces thousands of engineering graduates every year, though the issue of quality is debatable. A high quality engineer or technician can obviously be created only through high quality teaching and training. Technical education is imparted at three different levels in India (i) Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), which offers trade courses for producing skilled workers (ii) Polytechnic Institutes, which provide diplomas to produce middle level technicians and (iii) Engineering Colleges, which conduct undergraduate and postgraduate studies in engineering and technology. Private engineering institutes are flourishing in India though Government expenditure in technical education has also increased manifolds from the first five year plan to the Eleventh plan. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is the apex body responsible for the accreditation of both state and private engineering colleges. The National Board of Accreditation of AICTE aims to bring standards of some of the programmes offered in technical institutions on par with programmes offered in institutions T1 - 75

in the USA and Europe by introducing a quality auditing system and establishing a mechanism for measuring the quality and excellence in engineering education. The Indian system of technical and engineering education is passing through a transitional phase as many private players are entering the technical education system. The entry of private engineering colleges and institutions raises issues of quality. Therefore, reforms are critical to maintain quality and produce comparable technical manpower to cope with challenges of future global competition. There is a consensus for reforms in technical education sector to strengthen Indias technological competitiveness. For establishing creditable national standards there needs to be a common framework for qualifications specifying the level of knowledge and skills. The objectives of curriculum frameworks should be to guide curriculum development and to meet market requirements. Assessment and certification of skills and competencies obtained through industry based training and experience, for partial credit towards award of degrees should be improved. Also, students mobility within and between institutions and states and outside India should be promoted. In addition faculty development schemes, including training programmes and a framework for faculty appraisal should be initiated. The major issues of contention may be (i) centralization and lack of autonomy and accountability the higher education system in India is subjected to multiple controls and regulations employed by the central and state governments, statutory bodies like University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). (ii) Poor quality and relevance though some technical institutions offer quality education and training in most engineering and technology institutions happens through inflexible structures and inappropriate programme content. (iii) Poor technology/infrastructure support in many institutions, physical facilities are obsolete (iv) Limited access and regional disparity the total enrolment in higher engineering and technical education accounts for less than 2% of the age-cohort. Due to various socioeconomic factors, vulnerable and disadvantaged sections of the society (rural youth, women, scheduled castes/tribes, and the physically disabled) are poorly represented amongst the beneficiaries, so the potential of the technical education system is also not being exploited fully. The quality of engineering education in average institutions in the private sector is questionable. Therefore, issues of availability of quality manpower, leadership in research and development in technical and engineering education, are of utmost importances which need to be addressed properly. This requires focusing on accessible learning, affordable T1 - 76

learning, and applicable learning. Curricular reforms, faculty development and promotion of a spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation are imperative and compelling. Finally, the universities and institutions should adopt more job and object-oriented engineering education curricula linked with industries and research organisations to meet the present and future challenges of rapid technological changes and industrial development in India.

T1 - 77