No excellence sans equity in education

At a recent conference in the Capital, Mr Kapil Sibal, Union Human Resource Development Minister, said his vision was to bring university education to the doorsteps of students, especially in small towns, with use of technology.

He was talking about virtual universities — connecting Indian universities with the best in the world by using technology. But good intentions aren't enough. The ground reality is quite different.

Two recent books – ‘ Quality, Access and Social Justice in Higher Education' by Mr K.N. Panikkar, Mr Thomas Joseph, Ms Geetha G and Mr M.A Lal  and ‘Emerging Trends in Higher Education in India' by Mr K.N. Panikkar and Mr M Bhaskaran Nair –  bring out the gaping holes in our policies and implementation of reforms in higher education.

Both the volumes, published by Pearson India , contain essays by eminent scholars, educationists and grassroots practitioners, with most of them almost unanimous on one point – excellence cannot be attained without equity. And this can be achieved only if there is strong political will.

A case in point is Kerala. The State has the highest literacy rate in the country, but higher education standards were found to be wanting. Prof Panikkar points out that with various initiatives such as setting up of the Higher Education Council, the State Government has successfully introduced choice-based credit and semester system at the under-graduate and post-graduate level.

And one big reason why this system is yielding dividends is that all the stakeholders – the State, the teaching community, the students and private participants – were involved at every stage of the modernisation process. s a result, enrolment in higher education in Kerala has seen significant growth. Against the national average of 8 per cent, Kerala has a record 18 per cent, though still not satisfactory.   

Privatisation not the remedy

While it is a fact that globalisation has brought with it the need for greater excellence and skills. in India there are only a few such institutions, and those too are accessible only to a select few.

There is a view that the answer to all these ills is privatisation. Arguing against this is an essay by Jandhyala B.G. Tilak in the first book which draws attention to the fact that in India, the private system has actually worked in ‘out-distancing' the public

Citing examples of some developed and developing countries, the essay contends that while private participation is desirable, privatisation is not. He concludes that only countries with strong public higher education system have developed economically and socially.

Valuable insights

The essays in both the books offer valuable insights into the debates and challenges that the country faces in the sphere of higher education.

With the trouble brewing over the imposition of semester system in Delhi University, all stakeholders, especially the authorities and teachers could take a leaf out of these volumes to provide a meaningful future to students and make full use of the country's demographic advantage. As educationist, Prof Anita Rampal, rightly said recently, “We need to change the mindset that sees education merely in terms of employability”.

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