1.5 Economics of Higher Education
Access to higher education needs to be widened in the country, both within the formal system and through other effective innovative measures, such as a truly open system and networking of Universities. It is now imperative on the part of Indian Universities to generate their own resources to a large extent. This could be done through several methods, like raising tuition fee and collecting capitation fee, both of which having severe limitations; and others like, launching courses for foreign students, obtaining donations from philanthropists, etc., which have a good potential. In the globalized World, the State-protected educational system cannot withstand the pressure without making itself competitive. There seem to be four reasons why new policy initiatives should be taken by the Government in this connection. They are : (i) that the economic returns of primary education far exceed the returns of higher education; (ii) that the private returns on higher education far exceed the social returns; (iii) that the State funding for higher education is insufficient in countries like India; and (iv) that since private sector benefits the most from higher education, it is only just that it should make a decisive contribution. Whether or not one accepts the Government’s rationale, new strategies need to be developed for the survival and well being of the higher education system in the present scenario. Taking the problem of resource crunch in higher education at face value, some alternative ways were considered at this Seminar to combat the present situation, such as: research grants from industries, donations for admissions etc. which were found to be inadequate. It was observed that an organized structure for higher-educational fund raising and creating a culture of giving are the only possible solutions. Major recommendations of this Seminar are summarized below.
1.5.1 Recommendations
1 Raising of student fees to some extent, in consultation with student bodies and parents’ organizations.
2 Charging capitation fees and obtaining donations.
3 Launching lucrative and specific courses for foreign students.
4 Developing philanthropy and cultivating an organized culture of giving.
5 Promoting income tax inducement for obtaining donations..
6 Reorientation of educational programmes.
7 Linking education with employment.
8 Launching industry linked human resource development programmes.
9 Reorientation of the management system of Colleges and Universities.
10 Better allocation/utilization of the resources already available
11 Encouraging accountability at various levels of decision making.
12 Obtaining research grants from industries
13 Reorganization of the educational system in the country in line with the changes.
14 Providing professional and vocational education and preparation of students for this.
15 Making general education costlier and less widely available than vocational education as to induce more students to take up the latter.
16 Developing innovative educational programmes/products, having high potential for raising resources, making use of the institutional autonomy.
17 Minimizing wastage and under utilization of facilities.
18 Harnessing competitive advantages.
19 Harnessing the institution’s locational advantages.
20 Promotion of publication activities and printing College/University stationery.
21 Encouraging taking up national/international and Government funded R&D projects.
22 Using marketing strategies to attract funded projects from industry and other sources.
23 Setting up Alumni Associations, to benefit from alumni contacts/contributions.
24 Encouraging knowledge – based consultancy services at the institutions.
25 Interrelating with industry; some suggestions for which are:
ƒ Undergraduate industry-related courses should be organized with care, exposing the students to industry problems and requirements;
ƒ Undergraduate students should take up industry-related projects and
An Article with reference to University Grants Commission of India..
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