Open
Forum
New Delhi, 11 October 2019
NEP’s Higher Education
PREPARING THE RECEIVERS
By Dr S.Saraswathi
(Former Director, ICSSR New Delhi)
No Indian university has found a place in the
top 300 in the latest Times Higher Education World University rankings. Even
the highest ranked Indian university -- Indian Institute of Science (IISc),
Bengaluru , has fallen from 251-300 bracket to 301-350. The number of Indian universities in the list of 1,300 drawn
from 92 countries increased from 49 to 56, but only six in 300-500 bracket.
Rankings were done on 13 performances grouped
in five areas -- teaching (learning environment), research (volume, income,
reputation), citations (research influence), international outlook (staff,
students, and research), and industry outcome (knowledge transfer).
In the 5th Annual World Top 20
Project’s Global University Ranking to measure the quality of education and
training for youth in the age group 18-25 and the university’s economic and
social impact in promoting their country’s sustainable development, India has
not found a place. The regional rankings of top five universities for Asia are monopolised
by China and Japan for innovation, research, publications, facilities,
teaching, employability, and social responsibility.
Best Indian institutions are generally
characterised by relatively strong scores on teaching environment and industry
income, but get poor scores on international outlook in regional and
international comparisons.
Higher education is high in the agenda of
international bodies and the major element in globalisation and internationalisation.
Because of its role in promoting economic development and achieving the
objectives of knowledge economy, its quality is a matter of extreme concern. It
is time to find out the causes of our over-all bad performance. The
deterioration pervades the entire educational world in India from elementary
level to higher education.
The New Education Policy (NEP) envisages a
gross enrolment ratio (GER) of 50 per cent in higher education by 2035 from the
present 25.8 per cent. China’s GER stands at 39.4 per cent. We face a huge twin-problem
not present in educationally advanced countries to increase enrolment and also to
enhance and sustain standards. With the enormous increase in the number of first
generation learners in colleges in many States, India’s performance is not that
bad.
Proliferation of colleges is taking place,
but not accompanied with expansion of appropriate faculty and facilities. When degrees are looked upon as mere passport
to jobs, education gets a different goal. Unfortunately, the New Education
Policy does not adequately address the problem of recruitment of good faculty
in colleges. The modes of delivery have to change and keep evolving with every
improvement in technology. More than that, inadequate communication skills
bother even college faculty.
Private higher education institutions are today
occupying a big place and are recognised as major players and also
stakeholders. Governance of higher education has become complex, overlapping
and heterogeneous across countries.
As in all federal governments, higher
education has to respond to both Central and State governments. Many universities in India precede formation of
the present federal structure and were enjoying considerable autonomy in their
academic functioning. The educational system itself in India is a product of history
both in contents and structure. It is also subject to major trends in
federalism -- State traditions, political culture, and federal issues.
Legal and constitutional responsibility rests
with the Central government for higher education unlike USA, Canada, and
Australia where it rests with States/provinces. Coordination and determination
of standards in institutions of higher education or research and scientific and
technical institutions are in the Union List in the distribution of powers
under the Constitution. University
autonomy and academic freedom are core concerns in higher education.
The objective of the NEP 2019 with regard to
higher education is to revamp the system, and create world class multidisciplinary
higher education institutions across the country. At the earliest, it must be
readjusted, revamped and re-energised to fulfil the aspirations for higher
enrolment and higher quality of education so as to provide for the needs of the
age of technological and communication revolution.
The aim of quality education at
college/university level is not merely to impart subject knowledge, but also to
develop good, well-rounded and creative individuals. Besides learning one or
more areas of knowledge, education has many other objectives -- building
character, constitutional values, intellectual curiosity, spirit of service, 21st
century capacities across disciplines, constructive public engagement, and
productive contribution to society. In short, academic and skill education should be based
on sound values to shape good citizens.
Too much of specialisation starting at early
stages will be reversed under the new policy. Rigid separation of arts and
sciences, and academic and vocational streams will be replaced by integrated
courses. So also, professional courses will become integral part of general
education built on holistic approach to ensure broad-based competencies and
skills along with understanding of social-human-ethical context.
The policy is to entrust governance of higher
education institutions with independent boards with complete academic and
administrative autonomy. Regulatory system will be transformed to have only one
regulator for all higher education including professional. Accreditation of
basic parameters will be basis for regulations. Distinct functions like
standard setting, funding, etc., will be entrusted to separate bodies. All
higher education institutions will either be universities or degree granting
autonomous colleges. There will be no affiliating university or college.
How far the changes envisaged will be able to
correct the inadequacies in the present higher education system is a moot question.
The policy, set out in over 400 pages, is highly ambitious aiming at multiple
reforms in a situation when institutions are facing basic problems like
inadequate teaching staff.
Many federal countries have constitutionally
established the relative powers of the centre and units with regard to higher
education. The Central governments in federal systems may devolve functions,
powers, and funds to States, but this has not happened in India. There is
generally an idea that a national system is necessary for primary and secondary
education, but opinions differ on its importance for higher education.
In Canada, the primary responsibility for
higher education is assumed by the provincial and territorial governments and despite
this, a common model of the university has emerged and hence, there is no large
migration of students. In Brazil, federalism has aggravated differences in the quality
of education -- sub-national governments giving priority to local problems as
in India. Brazil’s New Education Plan calls for the creation of a national
system of education to coordinate the educational initiatives of different
governments.
In Russia, establishing and closing
universities, accreditation and control over them, basic financing and
development of educational standards are with the federal government. The
regions have the right to create and finance their own regional universities.
China has over 2,000 universities and
colleges and is one of the major destinations for international students. Unlike
in the West, private institutes are complements to State-owned public
universities and are in need of better regulations. Poorer institutes are tied
with model institutes to secure equipment, curricula and faculty
development.
Whatever adaptations we choose, education must
remain a fundamental pillar of human rights, democracy, sustainable
development, and peace promoting national unity and integration. To implement
the countless proposals of the NEP and avoid chaos in the field of education,
the receivers must first be prepared.---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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