Management of Higher education in India

I. Management of Higher Education 

The Indian higher education system is one of the largest such systems in the World. It is estimated that during the X Five Year Plan period (2002-07), there will be a tremendous pressure of numbers on this system and a large number of additional students will be knocking at the doors of higher education institutions in the country. There are also new challenges of management and regulation being faced by these institutions, which require serious attention, both at the institutions in the public sector and also those in the private sector now growing at a fast pace. As a result, the old structures of management established in pre-independent India and working during most of the twentieth century are now required to undergo drastic changes. Besides, the demands of the society for equity and accommodation cannot be neglected any more. The new regime under WTO where competence is the cardinal principle of success in international operations has made it abundantly clear that the country should exploit its excellent potential in higher education and training facilities and prepare itself to export the Indian brand of education to foreign countries. Policy planning and evolving strategies for this task are somewhat new for the country. But, this is an opportunity which cannot be missed by India, as it offers interesting possibilities for strengthening of the nation’s talent and resourcefulness. 

The following five sub-sections, cover important aspects of the deliberations, recommendations and action plans of UGC Golden Jubilee Seminars organized at different Universities in the country:

• Public/Private Partnership in Higher Education, at University of Calicut, Kozhikode, Kerala; 

• Governance of higher Education, at University of Jammu, Jammu, J&K; 

• Access and Equity in Higher Education, at G.C.D .University, Bilaspur, Chattisgarh; 

• Export of Higher Education, at J.N.V. University, Jodhpur, Rajasthan and 

• Policy Planning for Higher Education under WTO and GATT regimes at North Bengal University, Darjeeling, West-Bengal. 

• Economics of Higher Education, at N. E. Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya.

1.1 Public/Private Partnership 

Indian higher education system has undergone massive expansion in post-independent India with a national resolve to establish several Universities, Technical Institutes, Research Institutions and Professional / Non-professional Colleges all over the country to generate and disseminate knowledge coupled with the noble intention of providing easy access to higher education to the common Indian. The Public initiatives played a dominant and controlling role in this phase. Most of the Universities were Public institutions with powers to regulate academic activities on their campuses as well as in their areas of jurisdiction through the affiliating system. Even the private institutions enjoyed large-scale financial support in the form of grants from the public exchequer. Private funds as well as individuals played key roles in the cause of higher education. With the public funding being no more in a position to take-up the challenging task of expansion and diversification of the higher education system in the country to meet the continuously growing demands at present, there is little option other than bringing in private initiatives in a massive way to meet the various challenges. The deregulating mechanism of controls started with the granting of “Autonomous Status” to identified Colleges in the 1970s.. Some of these Colleges have graduated further to receive the “Deemed to be University” status in later years. Now, the country is on the threshold of the establishment of Private Universities in different States. These and related issues figured prominently in the discussions at this Seminar, whose recommendations are as follows:

1.1.1 Recommendations

1. It is the primary responsibility of the State to provide the eligible with good quality higher education at reasonable cost. There shall be no withdrawal of the State from this responsibility. In fact, the investment in this area by the State shall be stepped-up to 3% of the GDP. This is essential for the intellectual strength of the State to address equity concerns. 

2. A huge dedicated fund say, National Human Resource Development Fund, to the tune of at least one- percent of the GDP, may be created to tackle the equity problems. It shall be the accepted principle that ‘no talented person shall be denied access to higher education opportunities on the grounds of economic and social backwardness’. This fund may be dedicated to offer direct financial support in the form of scholarships, partial financial assistance and educational loans to students directly, based on the criteria of talent and financial and social backwardness. A well-designed mechanism to spot talents in different disciplines of knowledge is needed for this purpose. Further, foolproof criteria to determine financial or any other social backwardness is required. 

3. Taxing the individuals, who had the benefit of the State resources in the past for their education, and the industries, which are likely to derive advantage from good human resources, are the options for creating such a fund. While it is difficult to arrive at an ideal solution to the equity problems, the absence of a credible and efficient method of addressing these problems will lead to lowering of the quality of human ware and large-scale discontent. The society may be the ultimate looser. 

4. Industries may be encouraged to be partners with educational institutions directly for the development of human resources dedicated to their interests. This could happen in the areas of creating infrastructure, faculty sharing and direct support with funds. The UGC may set-up a High Power Committee to explore these possibilities and to workout the modalities for such a partnership. 

5. The industries belonging to a specific discipline or related disciplines shall be encouraged to establish state of the art Research and Training centers to develop the necessary specialized man power. Automobile industry is a case point. Existing Public and Private Institutions and possible new Institutions may generate ample provisions for partnerships in this regard. A Committee shall work out the modalities and norms for this. 

6. The areas not capable of attracting private funds shall be supported sufficiently well from public funds. This, as indicated earlier, is essential for the balanced intellectual growth of the society. 

7. Industries and individuals may be encouraged to channel a percentage of their profits to the higher education sector, with no strings attached to such contributions. Viable incentives may be offered for attracting such investments from the private resources. A Committee may work out the modalities. 

8. Strong quality control measures to assure performance above an acceptable benchmark is essential for the institutions. We are at the moment weak in this regard. The various rating agencies shall evolve scientific, transparent and consistent bench marking techniques for this purpose. A regulatory system to ensure compliance to the set bench marking is needed with sufficient powers to close down non-complying institutions is a need of the hour. The Higher Education Policy needs to incorporate such features in it in the interest of the nation. 

9. A Total Quality Management for courses offered, monitoring the achievement of the students at all stages of the course, shall be introduced at all higher education institutions. 

10. An accreditation system for individuals in various disciplines may be thought of. Indeed, GATE and NET examinations with limited objectives are forerunners of such a system. The performance of students in such examinations may be made an important parameter for the accreditation of the institution. 

11. The idea of allowing students to do Diploma or Certificate courses side by side with their Degrees, recently put forward by the UGC, is a welcome step towards empowering the students to take-up work soon after their Degree courses. This is an area where private initiatives can come up to augment the activities of the Colleges. The Colleges can develop in-house faculty and other facilities for this purpose and make these facilities available at a reasonable cost. Such a measure will turn around many Colleges from the non-performing class to the performing class. There shall be a mechanism to accredit these courses and facilities to ensure quality. This is an area where public/private partnership has a creative role to play. 

12. It is important to realize that we live in a fast changing world, dictated by the developments in technology. Quick access to information has made knowledge creation fast, and the multiplier effect has made it even explosive. It is increasingly difficult to anticipate changes and respond to them with creative purpose. Designing courses with relevance to the future and developing the necessary manpower to deliver them is a challenging task. All this calls for a team of professionals in different areas to come together to develop proactive strategies for higher education to meet the future demands. A Strategy Planning Body and an Institution to design and develop futuristic courses for transferring them to the Universities and Colleges may be created. Good Faculty is a must for any higher education institution aspiring for Quality. It is high time that an Indian Higher Educational Service, along the lines of the IAS, is formed. This has the advantage of quality control of the teaching faculty for higher education. A new Human Resource Development Policy shall be evolved to facilitate this. This could assure that there is continuous infusion of young blood in to the teaching cadre; which is not happening at the moment. With some restrictions on faculty appointments, the present evil of inbreeding can be eliminated. The inbreeding has destroyed many departments at Indian Universities. 

14. Private Universities are a reality now and, as such, strong regulatory mechanisms are to be put in place immediately to monitor and control their activities with the objective of ensuring quality and social accountability. Higher education is a Public Good and cannot be left to the market forces to control. Those who venture investment in this area shall be properly scrutinized. Those with commercial interests dominating over the interests and ethics of higher education shall be eliminated.

 15. The present archaic administrative practices need a thorough reform. A healthy Public/Private partnership can do much in this regard by way of exchanging good practices. A management system, lean but professional, making use of modern communication and information technologies is required to facilitate quality higher education. 

16. According autonomous status to all performing institutions will facilitate rapid development of efficient and state of the art higher education institutions. 

17. There shall be a dominant role for genuine academics in the governing structure of higher education institutions. The proposed regulatory mechanism shall have instruments to ensure this.

This article is written with reference of policies of University Grants commissions of India