Golden Research Thoughts

ISSN 2231-5063 Volume-2, Issue-11, May-2013 Available online at www.lbp.world

PARADIGM SHIFT IN THE FIELD OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Prof. Dr. D.K. Bisen Prof. N.S. Kudnar

Head , Department of Geography Head , Department of Geography

Asso. Prof. M.B. Patel College Devari, Gondia. Asst. Prof C.J.Patel College Tirora, Gondia.

[email protected] [email protected]

Absract:-
Higher education is critical to India's aspirations of emerging as a major player inthe
global knowledge economy. The global competitiveness of Indian industry and alsoits
employment generation potential is clearly dependent on availability of required skillsand
trained personnel. But as several recent studies have revealed the overall state ofIndian higher
education is dismal and therefore poses a severe constraint on the supply ofqualified
manpower. Despite remarkable progress in reforms covering a number ofsectors and sub-
sectors of the economy, there is little informed debate on reforms inhigher education. This
paper tries to fill this gap and lays down an agenda for reforms inthe higher education sector
in India.The paper relates the growth of higher education in India to the changing
fundingpattern and suggests ways to ensure that higher education remains both affordable
andaccessible to all. The author emphasizes the need for greater adaptability in the
highereducation system so that it continues to provide the needed skills and trained
workforceto the economy as it integrates with the world economy. Policy measures required
topromote, sustain, and enhance world-class research are also included. Considering
theweaknesses in the prevailing regulatory and quality assurance environment, the
paperprovides a roadmap for reforms towards improved accountability of the system.
Keyword: - higher education, educational institution, human development.

Introduction:-
The University Education Commission (1948-49), under the Chairmanship of Dr.
S. Radhakrishnan, gave the foundations of the future of Indian Higher Education. The report
of the Education Commission (1964-66) under the Chairmanship of Dr. D.S. Kothari
symbolized the symbiotic relationship between education and national development.
Higher education in India suffers from several systemic deficiencies. As a result, it
continues to provide graduates that are unemployable despite emerging shortages of skilled
manpower in an increasing number of sectors. The standards of academic research are low
and declining. Some of the problems of the Indian higher education, such as – the unwieldy
affiliating system, inflexible academic structure, uneven capacity across various subjects,
eroding autonomy of academic institutions, and the low level of public funding are well
known.
This paper takes a comprehensive look at the various facets of higher education in

1
Golden Research Thoughts
ISSN 2231-5063 Volume-2, Issue-11, May-2013 Available online at www.lbp.world

India. It adopts a systems approach for achieving policy coherence and multi-level
coordination required to address genuine concerns in the Indian higher education on a long-
term basis and uses the experiences of other countries to suggest measures to tackle its
various systemic deficiencies.

Objectives:-

1. The growth of higher education in India

2. It adopts a systems approach for achieving policy coherence and multi-level
coordination required to address genuine concerns in the Indian higher education on a
long- term.

Data Collection & Methodology:-

The data has been furnished from the related articles, research papers, reports and
th
11 plan document of the government of India. Some data has furnished from the websites
of the government of India, as well as time magazine.

Higher Education System in India

The higher education system in India grew rapidly after independence. By 1980,
there were 132 universities and 4738 colleges in the country enrolling around five per cent of
the eligible age group in higher education. Today, while in terms of enrolment, India is the
third largest higher education system in the world (after China and the USA); with 17973
institutions (348 universities and 17625 colleges) is the largest higher education system in the
world in terms of number of institutions. The number of institutions more than four times the
number of institutions both in the United States and entire Europe. Higher education in China
having the highest enrolment in the world (nearly 23 million) is organized in only about
2,500 institutions.
Level and type of higher education institutions
There are different types of universities and colleges in the higher education system in
the country. They vary in terms of their academic, administrative and financial arrangements.
In addition, there are many institutions like the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) that
only award diplomas. Most universities and colleges offer multidisciplinary programmes,
however, there are also some that are confined to a particular discipline only – such as
agriculture, law, technology, language, medical etc. There are also open universities that offer
distance education programmes only.
Academic structure
It comprises three levels of qualifications - Bachelor’s or undergraduate degree
programmes, Master’s or post graduate degree programmes and the pre-doctoral and doctoral
programmes [Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)]. Normally a
bachelor’s programme in India requires three years of education after twelve years of school
education. A PhD degree is awarded two years after the. M.Phil. degree or two years after the
Master’s degree. The students are expected to write a substantial thesis based on original
research for the award of a PhD degree.

2
Golden Research Thoughts
ISSN 2231-5063 Volume-2, Issue-11, May-2013 Available online at www.lbp.world

Growth of higher education from 2000 onwards

Till the late 1990s, the expansion of higher education largely took place through
affiliated colleges. Some of the institutions took the deemed to be university route to get the
degree granting powers. Though, universities in the country are either set up by an Act of
Parliament or State Legislature, however, certain institutions are also given the status of a
deemed to be university in terms of section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956.
Over the last five years, there has been sudden jump in the number of deemed
universities. In the early years, this privilege was extended only to the government /
government aided institutions. Manipal Academy for Higher Education (MAHE) – a pioneer
in private higher education became the first totally self-financed institution to be declared as a
deemed to be university in 1976. After 2000, when the provision for conferring the deemed to
be university status to a de novo institution was introduced, there was sudden spurt in the
growth of deemed to be universities in the private sector. Between 2000 and 2005, 26 private-
sponsored institutions got the deemed university status.
Private institutions
In the post-1980 period, a few institutions were set up by religious and charitable trusts
of repute for philanthropic purposes. Most other higher education institutions were set up by
individuals or family groups. These were not financially dependent on the government and
came to be known as private unaided institutions.
Distance education providers
Distance education in India had its genesis in the early 1960s. It started as
correspondence education -- a supplementary method of education to meet the growing
demand for higher education. Since then it has expanded rapidly, particularly over the last
two decades. In 2005, there were 12 open universities [including the Indira Gandhi National
Open University – (IGNOU)] and 106 dual mode university distance education institutes /
centres in the country, catering to over 2.8 million students. Each year, nearly 1.3 million
students register for various courses in these universities. (Garg et al, 2006). This was
considered as an economical and a quick way of increasing enrolment in higher education.
Self-financing courses in public institutions
Since the 1990s, there has been an acute resource constraint in public financing of the
higher institutions. This had put a brake on the expansion of the public university system.
Non-university sector
The post-1980s saw the growth of the non-university sector to meet the immediate
demand of skills from a growing economy. There was rapid expansion of polytechnics and
industrial training institutes for the training of supervisors in industrial settingtraining of
workers in various skills, respectively.
Trend towards privatization
Growth trends in India show that the higher education sector was controlled by
the government till about 1980. After that there has been a clear trend towards privatisation of
higher education. Nearly 30 per cent enrolment is in private unaided institutions, which do
not receive any grants from the government. The growth has been predominantly in
institutions offering professional courses. Private universities and foreign education providers
that financially independent are also emerging on the scene. In future the number of

3
Golden Research Thoughts
ISSN 2231-5063 Volume-2, Issue-11, May-2013 Available online at www.lbp.world

government and private aided universities and colleges is not likely to increase significantly
while the number of private unaided higher education institutions may increase.

Action points on financing of higher education:-

1 Action points for sustainable financing of higher education

• There is a need to substantially enhance the level of funding for higher education in
the country by both augmenting support from the government and ensuring greater
contribution from the households.
• In future, little capacity creation and enrolment expansion is likely through government
support. Most of it would be through private initiatives. However, public funding for higher
education facilities in the underserved areas, such as in the farflung states in the North East
and Jammu and Kashmir shall continue to be required. Further, public funding shall continue
to be necessary for academic programmes that the market may not support. These could
include programmes that have strong social and cultural value and those that are aimed at
promotion of science and scholarship to enhance the country’s competitiveness on a long-
term basis
• Student-centred funding should also be extended to accredited private institutions12.
This would provide equal opportunities for all providers, be they public or private.This would
lead to adequate balance in sharing of costs and benefits and enhance competition on the
basis of quality. This would encourage private investment in higher education.
• Higher education institutions supported by the state governments face acute problem of
deteriorating infrastructure and facilities and large number of vacancies of faculty.
Adequate and continuing support is required to bring up the level of these institutions to
minimum standards.
2. New economy sectors
Till about mid-1980s, it was employers’ market. There was little job-hopping;
engineers, doctors and civil services were most coveted. After that, till about 1995, job
opportunities expanded as multinational corporations came in; MBA became a middle-class
dream degree. Between 1995 and 2000, there was a boom in the services sector;
manufacturing shed jobs and the multinational corporations continued to be big hirers. After
2000, manufacturing has rebounded; exports are doing well and the services sector is
continuing to boom. There is now a scramble for qualified people.
3. Global occupational structure
There is increase in trade of both goods and services across national borders. This paved
way for an integrated global economy.
4. Integration of job markets
Routine cognitive tasks, mostly services, were formerly almost non- traded across
borders. These services required real-time communications and coordination and massive
information flows.
5. Opportunity for India
The analysis of the occupational structure clearly shows that the organised sector

4
Golden Research Thoughts
ISSN 2231-5063 Volume-2, Issue-11, May-2013 Available online at www.lbp.world

in India cannot possibly absorb all the qualified manpower coming out of the Indian higher
education system. Global labour markets and technological changes offer an opportunity to
India. This sub section looks at the opportunities in three specific areas, namely - IT / ITES
sector, the manufacturing sector and the personal and community services sector.
6. Manufacturing sector
With increasing international competition, the (mass) production, demanding a work-
force with a low level of skills, tends to gravitate towards low-wage countries.
7. Higher education and research
With the fast pace of change and due to the impact of globalisation, the role of the
higher education institutions in furthering research and scholarship is becoming important.
8. Market structure of higher education
Clearing of demand and supply in higher education is unique. In higher education,
students are both consumers and producers. In the awkward economics of higher education,
there is a hierarchy of providers and they do not necessarily pursue profit maximization.
9. National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)
Though the National Policy for Education (NPE) in 1986 recommended to put in place
a quality assurance mechanism, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)
could only be established in 1994. Even after that it took almost eight years for NAAC to
accredit the first institution in January, 1998. Initially there was a debate on whether the
accreditation in India could be made compulsory and linked to funding. Finally, keeping in
mind that built-in controls in the form of regulatory bodies and a strong affiliating system
already existed, it was decided that assessment and accreditation would be used as an
enabling mechanism towards self-improvement (Stella, 2002).
The NAAC adopted core elements common to most external quality assurance systems,
namely, assessment based on a pre-determined criteria that combines self-study and peer
review that is valid for a specific period of time. Based on this, NAAC evolved its unique
assessment model that combined three basic approaches to quality assurance namely,
accreditation27, assessment28 and audit29 together. NAAC accredits institutions and
certifies for educational quality of the institution based on seven criteria30. It goes beyond
certification and provides an assessment that classifies an institution on a ninepoint31 scale
indicating where the institution stands in the quality-scale. External peer review report other
than its confidential part is made public.
10. Other Accreditation Bodies
The National Board of Accreditation (NBA) under the AICTE accredits programmes
that come under engineering and related areas. NBA follows the same process of external
peer review as that of NAAC. Programmes with more than 650 marks out of a maximum of
1000 points are “Accredited” and those that score les than 650 are “Not Accredited”.
Programmes getting a score more than 750 are accredited for a period 107 five-years, where
between 650 and 750 are accredited for period of three years. The outcome of NBA process
is not linked to funding.

References:
Agarwal, Pawan. (2006). Global competitiveness of higher education in India. ICRIER
Working Paper (forthcoming). New Delhi.

5
Golden Research Thoughts
ISSN 2231-5063 Volume-2, Issue-11, May-2013 Available online at www.lbp.world

Agarwal. Pawan. (2005). Engineering education in India: Changing realities and response. In:
Engineering Education - A Vision for Better Tomorrow, Association of Indian Universities,
New Delhi, September 26-October 2, 2005, Vol.43 No. 39
Agarwal, Pawan. (2006)- Higher education in India: Need for changes.
Altbach, P. G. (2006a). The Dilemmas of Ranking. International Higher Education
Number 42, Winter. 2006.
Becker, G. (1964). The Human Capital: A theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special
reference to Education. Columbia University Press.
Bertrand, O. (1998). Education and work. In. Education for the twenty-first century: Issues
and prospects. UNESCO Publishing. Paris. p157-192.

HIGHHIGHER EDUCATION IN