Higher education ignored

Going by the reams of data and research material on primary education, it would seem that higher education is a poor cousin of primary education in India. Or, that it is considered merely a secondary part of a process and would take care of itself, if the first were fixed.

There is no argument that a solid primary education edifice would make the progression to secondary and higher levels smoother.

The ASER Survey 2011, an all-India representative survey of school children in rural areas, found that only 58 per cent of children enrolled in class three to five could read a class one text. Less than half — at 47 per cent — were able to do simple two-digit subtraction.

And only half of the children in classes five to eight could use a calendar.

So it is obvious that we have to not only scale and expand the reach of education to underserved areas of the country, but to establish clearly achievable benchmarks of quality outcomes to ensure educational consistency up the chain.

Need for perspective

But that is where the relationship ends, because we have seen that primary and higher education are two distinct ends of a process, each beset with its unique characteristics, limitations and possibilities.

Higher education indicators in India prove conclusively that this correlation is misplaced and can be singularly damaging to the country’s education landscape.

Startling facts abound to prove this point. India’s gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education is just around 18 per cent compared to China’s 30 per cent, the US’s 83 per cent and South Korea’s 91 per cent.

A Nasscom-McKinsey study states that only one out of 10 Indian students with degrees in humanities, and one out of four engineering graduates are employable.

Worse, only 30 per cent of universities, 16 per cent of colleges and 10 per cent of management institutes are accredited in the country.

Clearly, the emphasis we have given higher education is way behind optimal.

It could be argued, perversely indeed, that in the pursuit of fixing our multilevel, multidimensional problems with primary education we have almost sacrificed higher education at the altar.

However, this cannot go on and although there are signs of both worry and repair, we need to do a lot more, more quickly, to have any impact.

To begin with, we have to place policy in perspective with reality. Education as a right is constitutionally enshrined but the delivery of this enshrinement is stunted, owing to excessive state control at almost every level — a clear case of intention thwarted by effort!

PRIVATE involvement

There is, therefore, an urgent need to unshackle the system and allow private partnership on a massive scale to energise the sector and bring the fruits of education to a mass of India’s underserved learners at both ends of the market.

Conversely, while the market for higher education is growing, the supply is constricted due to paucity of quality teachers. Academicians must be highly paid but in an environment of accountability.

Allowing universities and institutions the freedom to scale up or down their remunerative models in accordance with their market strengths would streamline the current mismatch in the teaching profession and give a fillip to deserved, merit-based employment to teachers.

Similarly, there is a contradiction in terms that while we argue for a freer environment for institutions to exist, a number of those that are already existent do not conform to state accreditation norms and remain unrecognised. This is further complicated by excessive state-administered regulation.

Accreditation methods

Two things need to be put in place: a simplified template of regulations, and a trusted and simple accreditation methodology outside the clutches of established bureaucratic norms.

If teachers can be outsourced and allowed to teach on contract, so can a qualified third party accreditation system be employed to allow for an easier, faster and more transparent validation model.

This would release one of the biggest bottlenecks in higher education delivery and at the same time force ‘fly by night’ institutions out of the market.

India’s youth needs an equal chance to compete for itself globally. Skill-based, relevant and contemporary curriculum is, therefore, the need of the hour.

New possibilities are emerging in the employment market. Our colleges and institutions must respond to these new developments quickly, nimbly.

Old ideas in higher education must make way for new initiatives because technology based, IT-enabled education will define the contours of the next decade. India must be ready for this challenge with concrete plans to foster a new culture of higher education policies.

Today, owing to the huge demand-supply gap, there is a need for creation of 1,500 colleges and universities to reach a respectable Growth Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 30 per cent. But higher education is a bullish sector.

The author is Chairman and Managing Director, Educomp Solutions

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