Higher Education in India: Coping with

Emerging Challenges
17th Joint Meeting of ENIC &NARIC Networks,
Paris, June 20-22, 2010

Prof. Ved Prakash

Vice-Chairman
University Grants Commission, New Delhi

profved@gmail.com
 Presentation
• Provides for educational governance, its structure,
Centre & state relationship, financing, qualifications
framework, higher education & its challenges and the
new initiatives, etc.
Educational Governance:
• Education is a concurrent subject.
• Federal Government (MHRD) plays a key role in ensuring
coordinated development of education.
• Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) provides
critical inputs for educational policy, planning &
implementation.
• Provincial Governments, ( 35 States & UTs ) share the
responsibility of administering education at all levels
• Management of school education has been decentralized
in most of the states 2
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E L E M E N T A R Y E D U C A T IO N SEC. EDN H IG H E R E D U C A T IO N

P . G . U n iv

B . Ed. M . E. d
B . Ed.
UNDER

COURSES
Ph.D.

M.Phil.

GRADUATE

Acad/Voc.

O P E N U N I V E R S IT Y

B .E ./B .T E C H .
SR. SECONDARYSCHOOL/

M .T e c h
SECONDARY SCHOOL

PRE-PRIMARY
PRIMARY SCHOOL
M .B .B .S
M . D /SM.
UPPER PRIMARY SCHOOL

P R I.T E A C H E R
TRNG

T E C H N IC A L IT Is & P O L Y T E C H N IC S
S C H OL SO , IT Is

OPEN OPEN
S C H OL O S C H OL O
N O -FN O R M A L
CENTRES
N O -FN O R M A L C E N T R E S

C O M P U L S EO DR UY C A T I O N
EDUCATIONAL STRUCTURE IN INDIA

3
 Public-Private Partnership in Education*
Levels All Public Institutions* Private Unaided
(in %) (in %)

Primary schools 93 7

Upper primary schools 84 16

High/Higher Secondary schools 77 23

Higher Education 76 24
(Universities)**
Source: Selected Educational Statistics, 2001-02, Government of India, Ministry of
MHRD, New Delhi.
Note: * Provisional, including private aided institutions.
** The ratio has increased in favour of private in the recent past.
4
Higher Education in India

5
 National Qualifications Framework
• Four Principal levels of qualifications
• Diploma courses both at UG/PG
• Bachelors Degree - 3 years
• Master’s Degree - 2 years
• Pre-Doctoral & Post-Doctoral Program – 1 to 4
years.
• University Grants Commission (UGC), a statutory
body of the Government of India, is responsible
for specifying the Degrees.
• 163 specified degrees (74 UG & 89 PG)

6
 Under-Graduate Degrees (74)

S.No. Broad Categories Number of Degrees

1 Basic Sciences 05
2 Liberal Arts 12
3 Commerce 10
4 Law 06
5 Languages 02
6 Teacher Education 07
7 Engineering & Technology 10
8 Medicine 10
9 Library Science 02
10 Ayurveda 07
11 Unani 03
TOTAL 74
 Post-Graduate Degrees (89)

Number of
S.No. Broad Categories
Degrees
1 Basic Sciences 04
2 Liberal Arts 19
3 Commerce 09
4 Law 03
5 Languages 18
6 Teacher Education 06
7 Engineering & Technology 07
8 Medicine 17
9 Library Science 02
10 Ayurveda 02
11 Unani & Homeopathy 02
TOTAL 89
 Recognition of Qualifications
• AIU – national agency dealing with recognition of
foreign degrees.
• Equivalence is established on course to course
basis.
• Vital parameters like entry requirements,
curriculum, duration, pass requirement, conditions
for award of degree, etc. are taken into account.
• Foreign degree studied on full time basis are
recognized in India.

9
 Number of Degree Awarding Higher Education
Institutions
S.No. Types of Institutions No. of Institutions*

1. Central Universities including 41

IGNOU
2. State Universities 244

3. Deemed to be Universities 130

4. State Open Universities 13

5. Private Universities 61

6. Institutes of National Importance 38

Like IITs, AIIMS, PGIMER etc.

Total 527
* Besides there are 21,686 colleges.
 Growth of Higher Education

30000
Growth of Higher Education Institutions 600
21686
20000 527
400
16000
300
14000 Colleges 256
12806 250
12000 Universities/Deemed
Univ./Inst.ofNational Imp. 190
10000 200

8000 133 7346

150
6000 102
4722 100
4000 56 3604
32 50
2000 1542
695
0 0
Year 1950-51 1960-61 1970-71 1980-81 1990-91 2000-01 2009-10*
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 GROWTH OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION SINCE 1947

Growth of Engineering Institutions Since 1947

1800 1495 1559

1600 1346
1400 1208
1057
1200
1000 776 838
No. of Institutions

662
800 558
471
600 337 375
258
400 151 179
46 80
200
0
1947 1955 1965 1975 1985 1990 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Years
12
 Centre-State Relationship in Financing of Higher
Education
• Public finances for HE provided by Centre & States
through budgetary allocations.
• States contribute about 80% of the total expenditure on HE.

• States are bearing the most of the brunt of fiscal crisis.

• States with weaker resources find it hard to support the
higher education.
• State Universities have to resort to alternative methods of
resource mobilization mostly through recoveries.
• Paucity of resources has also resulted in relatively low
emphasis on affirmative actions such as student
fellowships.

13
 Education Expenditure & GDP
Educational Expe nditure as % Total Budge t
Expenditure & GDP
16
14 .4 2

14 % o f Exp . To All Sect o rs Exp .

13 .3 7
% o f Ed ucat io nal Exp . To GDP
12 .76
12 11.9 9
10 .16
10 .6 7
10

8 7.9 2

6
4 .3 3
3 .8 4 3 .6 8
4
2 .9 8
2 .11
1.4 8
2
0 .6 4

0
19 51-52 19 6 0 -6 1 19 70 -71 19 8 0 -8 1 19 9 0 -9 1 2 0 0 0 -0 1 2 0 0 4 -0 5*
Year

14
 Central Allocation in XI Plan
• XI Plan is named as Educational Plan.
• It has provided for an allocation of Rs. 2,620
Billions as against Rs. 420 Billions during X Plan.
• Elementary Education is given Rs. 1,250 Billions.
• Secondary Education is given Rs. 520 Billions.
• Higher Education is given Rs. 850 Billions.
• General Higher Education is given Rs. 464.49
Billions.
• Technical Higher Education is given Rs.385.51
Billions.

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 Demand for HE
• Demand for higher education is increasing by leaps and
bounds.
• Dramatic increase in students pursuing Professional
education.
• Number of bachelors degree in engineering has grown by
an average of more than 20% per annum.
• Rising student population is contributing to diversity.
• Quality of the graduates is being questioned.
• Graduate unemployment and shortage of skilled workers
co-exist.
• Demand for skilled workers, particularly in engineering,
professional and IT sectors has gone up due to integration
of labour market.
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 Challenges in Higher Education
• Access & Equity
• HE in India is very low and uneven across states, gender and different social groups.
• Autonomy and Accountability
• Sincere efforts need to be made to evolve charter of responsibility and devolution of
authority at different levels.
• Shortage of Faculty
• Large Scale vacancies in the faculty besides faculty not being fully qualified.
• Bright students not opting for teaching profession.
• Research
• Institutions are not able to keep pace with the advancement of research.
• Privatization & Commercialization
• A well thought out strategy requires to ensure how public and private systems can
co-exist.
• Multiplicity of Regulatory Bodies
• Absence of an overarching instrument for coordination is leaving much to be desired.
• Assessment & Accreditation
• Assessment and accreditation is a major concern.
• Entry of Foreign Institutions
• No policy in place for regulating entry of foreign institutions.
• Internationalization
• Indian institutions should attract more number of foreign students.

17
 Internationalization
• Majority of the present genre institutions are not able to attract
foreign students.
• About 16,000 International students are studying in Indian
Universities.
• One of the reasons for not attracting foreign students is the lack of
physical facilities.
• Number of Indian students going abroad for studies is increasing
each year.
• About 123,559 students from India are studying abroad.
• Internationalization was expected to forge linkages by way of
sharing man and material across the institutions.
• Instead, it has ended up as a business enterprise between two
partner institutions with the sole motive of profiteering.
• The first and the foremost casualty in this approach is the quality.
• This is far from the concept of internationalization of HE and more
akin to globalization.
• Present form of internationalization does not prepare the students
to face the realities of the country of their residence.
• Institutions should attract more number of foreign students and
equip them with competencies and skills which provide them an
edge over others when they go back to their countries of residence.
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 Entry of Foreign Institutions
• Proliferation of foreign institutions.
• Issues like regulation of entry and operation, maintenance of
quality and prevention of commercialization are yet to be sorted
out.
• Absence of government regulations allow entry of low quality
institutions.
• It will be good for the country if it allows only those foreign
institutions to operate which are accredited in their homeland
and offer only those programs which they are offering back
home.
• Further, those institutions should also be subjected to all
hazards which are applicable to domestic institutions.
• The issues of credit transfer and mutual recognition of degrees
should also be resolved for the purposes of ensuring
internationalization of higher education.
• The country should not allow such institutions which indulge in
academic fraud and take uniformed children for a ride by giving
them the false temptation of a foreign degree and foreign job.
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 New Initiatives
• Country has witnessed several important
developments in HE in the recent past.
• GoI set up the National Knowledge Commission
(NKC) in 2005 which made a number of vital
recommendations to strengthen HE in the country.
• Some of its recommendations have been
conceptualized in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan.
• Further, in 2009, the GoI set up a National
Committee on Renovation and Rejuvenation of HE,
which also made a number of recommendations
for its reconstruction.
• In addition, the present Government in the Centre
has mounted a new wave of reforms in HE.
20
 Bouquet of Measures
• National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER)
to replace a number of regulatory bodies.
• National Authority for Regulation in Accreditation of HEIs.
• National Educational Tribunal to Fast-Track Adjudication of
disputes.
• National Education Finance Corporation to provide soft loans to
both students and service providers.
• Prohibition of Unfair Practices in respect of professional education.
• Bill for the entry of foreign education institutions.
• Policy to Attract Talent to teaching and research.
• National Mission on Education through ICT to focus on connectivity
and content generation.
• Introduction of reforms like introduction of curricular reforms,
semester system, choice-based credit system, grading system,
national testing scheme for admissions on the pattern of GRE.
• Task Force for the implementation of the aforesaid agenda within a
definite time frame. 21
 Contd..
• Central Government has proposed to set up 454 new
institutions of higher learning during XI Plan.
• 80 Degree awarding institutions and 374 colleges.
• GoI has recently set up 16 CUs, will set up another 14
Innovative Universities.
• 6 IITs set up, 2 more would be set up in 2010.
• To set up 10 new NITs, 20 IIITs, 3 IISERs, 7 IIMs, 2
SPAs.
• To set up 374 Degree colleges in lower GER districts.
• GoI has given 27% reservations to OBCs in all CEIs.
• All CEIs have been asked to increase their intake
capacity by 54%- not to affect the share general
categories.
• OBC reservations is to be implemented in a phased
manner spanning over a period of three years.
22
 Contd..
• GoI has decided to provide bouquet of other measures with a view to
making HE more inclusive. It includes:
• 1200 Post-Graduate Scholarships for single girl child;
• 2000 National Fellowships for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and
Scheduled Tribes (STs) for pursuing M. Phil and Ph. D programs;
• Unlimited number of Merit Scholarships for undergraduate university
rank holders to pursue post-graduate programs;
• 500 Post-Doctoral Fellowships and 6400 JRFs for pursuing M. Phil
and Ph. D programs. The amount of JRFs has also been increased
by 50%;
• Interest subsidy on student loans;
• Provision of assistance for creation of hostel facilities;
• Remedial coaching for SCs, STs and minorities;
• Scholarships for women in professional programs;
• High quality e-books, e-journals and e-contents in various languages
free of cost to genuine learners, etc.
• Encourage private participation in HE provided they make education
available at an affordable cost.
• Unlike in the past, GoI has committed substantial amount of
resources with a view to increasing access and equity in HE besides
incentivizing the States in setting up of new institutions. 23
 Contd..
• Attractive scales of pay to the teachers to make
teaching more attractive.
• Strengthening of Science based education and
Research in Universities.
• Expansion of Research Projects through funded
research.
• GFR to be modified to permit some portion of
research to be allowed for tapping the salary.
• A major expansion of faculty development
program.
• A program to train/ upgrade skills of 20,000
teachers to be undertaken; 10,000 from
Universities and 10,000 from TEIs.
24
 International Cooperation
• Cultural agreements with about 120 countries.
• About 75 CEPs were signed and most of them are
periodically renewed.
• Negotiations are on with about 30 other countries.
• The onset of liberalization and subsequent boom in
the education sector has necessitated delineating
education component from CEPs.
• The focus is now shifting to separate EEPs with 27
major countries.
• Negotiations are on for entering into exclusive
educational exchange programs with many more.
• The Educational Exchange Programs provide for
forming a Joint Working Group (JWG) to monitor the
implementation.
• The JWGs meet annually in either countries and take
decisions for follow up by both sides. 25
 Conclusions
• Demand for higher education is increasing much faster in
India.
• Economy has raised aspirations of one and all.
• Present system is not fulfilling these aspirations because of
the shortage of good quality affordable institutions.
• India has to double its GER by strengthening its existing
institutions as also by opening newer institutions.
• Need to mobilize additional resources.
• Priority must be given to the backward areas.
• Convergence between conventional and distance mode of
learning.
• Private service providers to be taken on board to implement
the social agenda.
• Support to the genuine in the form of soft loans and
subsidies.
• Government will have to realize the limitations of the private
service providers and set up institutions in those areas which
are very crucial for the wholesome growth of higher
education including research. 26
 Contd..
• Phasing out of the affiliating system
• Need to increase enrolment at the post-graduate and
research levels.
• Need to make strategic investment in research to have a
comparative advantage in the global market.
• Substantial investments to improve the internal efficiency of
individual institutions.
• Significance of existing institutions need not be undermined.
• Appropriate measures are required to reverse the change-
resistant structure of universities.
• Universities should be more flexible in offering courses to
meet the needs of a more diverse student community.
• Introduction of academic reform programs like curricular
reform, choice-based credit system, semester system,
internal assessment, grading, etc. on priority basis.
• In present times, the universities cannot compete with the
best unless they improve the quality of both teaching and
research. 27
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