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Education Plus
Needed: at least 1, 500 universities
T.V. SIVANANDAN
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Expansion of opportunities in higher education crucial, feels NKC
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State of affairs: Financial constraints should not hinder higher education
The National Knowledge Commission (NKC) has made several significant recommendations to the Union Government to bring about a thorough reform and overhauling of the higher education system in the country. The NKC, headed by Sam Pitroda, said that the objective was to introduce the new concept of “Expansion, Excellence and Inclusion.” The first task was massive expansion of opportunities. For this to happen, the Union Government must increase the number of universities to at least 1,500. This will increase the gross enrolment ratio in higher education to 15 per cent by 2015 from the present seven per cent.
In another major recommendation the NKC suggested the establishment of an Independent Regulatory Authority for Higher Education (IRAHE) to end the multiple regulatory agencies in the sector. In the present system the barriers to entry are too high and the system of authorising entry was also cumbersome.
The proposed IRAHE should be “at an arm’s length from the Government and independent of all stakeholders including the Ministries concerned.” The IRAHE should be the only agency authorised to accord degree-granting power to all the higher education institutions and the sole authority for licensing accreditation agencies. The recommendation said that the role of the University Grants Commission should be re-defined to focus on the disbursement of grants and maintenance of public institutions in higher education.
Higher allocation
The regulatory functions of the AICTE and the MCI should also be performed by the IRAHE. The role played by these regulatory institutions should be redefined and limited to that of professional associations. The Government should increase the allocation to higher education to at least 1.5 per cent out of the total of at least six per cent of the GDP for the education sector.
The NKC also wanted the Government to create in phases at least 50 national universities that can provide education of the highest standard. In the next three years, at least 10 such national universities should be established. They should train students in a variety of disciplines including humanities, social sciences, basic sciences, commerce and professional subjects at both the undergraduate and post-graduate levels.
On the admission to the national universities, the NKC said that this should done on an all-India basis adopting the principle of “needs-blind admissions,” providing scholarship for needy students.
Referring to the existing universities, the NKC said that the present curriculum needs to be revised/restructured once in three years. The annual examinations which test memory rather than understanding should be supplemented with continuous internal assessment which could begin with a weightage of 25 per cent in total, to be raised to 50 per cent over a stipulated period.
The NKC said that the university should become the hub of research once again to capture synergies between teaching and research that enrich each other. The appointment of Vice-Chancellors should be freed from direct or indirect interventions of the government and it should be based on search processes and peer judgement alone. Stressing the need for creating smaller universities, the NKC said that they are more responsive to change and easier to manage.
Remodelling
The need to restructure undergraduate colleges affiliated to universities was also felt. Some of the colleges could be remodelled as community colleges which could provide both vocational and formal education. The NKC felt that a central board of undergraduate education should be established along with the state boards of undergraduate education, which would set the curriculum and conduct examinations.
Stressing the importance of creating accountability, the NKC said that “the expansion of higher education which provides students with choices and creates competition between institutions is going to be vital in enhancing accountability.”
At the undergraduate level, the NKC said that the evaluation of courses and teachers by the students as well as peer evaluation of teachers by teachers should be encouraged. Another recommendation said that it is necessary to formulate appropriate policies for the entry of foreign institutions into India and the promotion of Indian institutions abroad, while ensuring a level playing field for foreign and domestic institutions within the country.
The NKC said “education is the fundamental mechanism for social inclusion through the creation of more opportunities.” Hence, it is essential to ensure that no student is denied the opportunity to participate in higher education due to financial constraints. There is a need to make it unlawful for educational institutions to take into account any financial factor while deciding whether or not to admit a student.
A well funded and extensive National Scholarship Scheme targeting economically underprivileged students and students and groups that are historically and socially disadvantaged should be established. Reservation was one form of affirmative action and the disparities in educational attainments are not only related to caste and social groups but also related to other indicators including income, gender, region and place of residence.
There was a need for a framework that would address multi-dimensionality of differences that still persist. The deprivation index could be used to provide weighted scores to students.
The NKC said “It is important to recognise that there is a quiet crisis in higher education in India which runs deep. The time has come to address this crisis in a systematic and forthright manner.”
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