HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA AND THE QUEST TO ACHIEVE INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

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The Indian higher education sector has witnessed a dramatic growth of educational institutions, especially in the private sector, making India the third largest in terms of student registration, next only to China and the United States. Today, the country has close to a 1000 universities and over 39,500 colleges.[1]  Of these about 38% universities and over 77% colleges are privately managed.[2] That said, all these institutions - public or private - are closely regulated by government approved bodies.  Despite these figures, India’s Gross Enrolment Ratio was 25.8, compared to the world average of around 27.[3]  In terms of international standing, not a single Indian higher education institution (HEI) in the country figured in the top 100 of the internationally-acknowledged QS World University Rankings for 2020.

Several factors inhibit the growth of Indian HEI.  Some of these include the dearth of quality teachers, academic rigor, and lack of quality research; absence of infrastructure that supports and facilitates quality research and; a lack of innovation in curriculum development.  However, one overarching factor for the morass that we find our HEIs in is the excessive control of state regulators over their functioning and a distinct lack of autonomy.  I can cite a couple of examples of how this phenomenon has played out recently.  In 2016, the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that the NDA government would create a regulatory framework to grant ten public and ten private higher education institutions autonomy to transform themselves into internationally competitive ‘Institutions of Excellence’ (IoE).  A four-member empowered experts committee under the chairmanship former Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami was given the task of identifying these IoEs.  Guidelines were framed and applications invited from HEIs across the country.  This was a path breaking initiative, which allowed HEIs to develop into world-class institutions by setting them free of government control.

Based on the recommendations of this committee, the Ministry of Human Resources Development announced names of six institutions (instead of 20) to be given the IoE tag.  The committee stated that it ‘could not find 20 institutes that would be able to find a place among top 500 global rankings in ten years.’ [4] The academic community across the country reacted with surprise to this announcement.  Several scholars were amused that the committee was unable to find even ten institutions that fit the bill.  However, what caused even more consternation was the fact that the expert committee chose to include the name of Reliance Foundation supported Jio Institute - an institution that exists only on paper – alongside that of premier HEIs like the IITs, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, and Manipal Academy of Higher Education!  In the end, the entire process again seemed influenced by government interference, contrary to what it originally had set out to do.

Another attempt made by the Narendra Modi led NDA government to reform the higher education sector was the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill.  After initially steering clear of the UPA-2 initiated Foreign Educational Institutions Bill, the Modi government now intends to allow foreign universities to set up their campuses in India.[5]  Provisions to allow foreign universities to enter India have now been incorporated into the HECI Bill.  Additionally, the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development, has set out to revamp higher education in the country through a five-year (2019-24) vision document imaginatively titled EQUIP - Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme.[6]  Ten Expert Groups constituted as part of this initiative outlined more than 50 initiatives to transform higher education and enable our HEIs figure among the best in the world.  One of the Expert Groups focused on internationalization of higher education in the country.  Apart from promoting academic collaborations with foreign institutions and attracting foreign students to study in Indian universities, this expert group led by former Indian School of Business Dean Ajit Rangnekar, looked at modalities of setting up campuses of foreign universities in India.

While it is still unclear what the provisions of the bill will be or how attractive it will be for interested foreign universities, this is clearly an idea whose time has come.  Foreign universities from world leaders in higher education like the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Germany setting up shop in India will be a much needed shot in the arm for higher education in the country.  A lot will depend on the amount of regulation and control that the Ministry of Human Resources Development or a government-appointed regulatory body exercises over the entire process.  Foreign universities will definitely find a lucrative market in India’s large prospective student numbers.  But for them to enter India, foreign universities will need to see a clear advantage (read profit) at the end of what could be a time-consuming, expensive, and exhausting process of getting past the maze of Indian bureaucracy.  Ultimately, a lot will depend on the will and intentions of our current lawmakers and administrators.

Several initiatives of the NDA government have raised hopes but have not yet succeeded in finding delivering results, leading one to believe that Indian higher education still has a long way before it can fulfil its latent capacity and make its presence felt in the global market.


[1] Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP) Report, Five Year Vision Plan 2019-2024, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India, June 2019. 9 https://sndt.ac.in/pdf/downloads/circulars/2019/equip-report.pdf  (accessed February 3, 2020)
[2] All India Survey of Higher Education, 2018-19. Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India
[3] EQUIP Report, pg. 9
[4] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/education/could-not-find-20-institutes-gopalaswami/articleshow/64891918.cms (accessed February 3, 2020)
[5] The original bill, Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulations of Entry and Operations) Bill of 2010, was introduced by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance during their second tenure. However, the then government could not mobilize numbers in support of the bill, which lapsed in 2014 after UPA lost elections.
[6] EQUIP report https://sndt.ac.in/pdf/downloads/circulars/2019/equip-report.pdf (accessed February 3, 2020)’; 7

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