Revamping Higher Education in India - "DRAFT" New Education Poicy 2019

The Ministry of Human Resource Development has recently put up the Draft National Education Policy on its website and other sources requesting comments and inputs from general public (citizens). The draft was developed by a committee chaired by Shri. K. Kasturirangan (Former Chairman - ISRO). It is for the first time that a comprehensive education policy has been developed since 1986.

The draft is divided into 4 major parts :

1. School Education
2. Higher Education
3. Additional Key Focus Areas and
4. Transforming Education

In this article, I would like to share my key takeaways from the Part 2 : "Higher Education" of the "Draft". The "Draft" suggests the following key changes and inclusions in the present system of Higher Education in India:

A. Objective of increasing Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in Higher Education (HEI) from current 25.8% to 50% by 2035.

B. Revamping of Higher Education system by creating multidisciplinary (MD) higher education institutions. Moving towards a HE system consisting of large multidisciplinary universities and colleges each of which will aim to have a upward of 5,000 or more students.This multidisciplinary system will help breaking down artificial silos between various disciplines enabling students to develop both artistically and analytically. An university will be called as a Multi-disciplinary University if it offers at least 2 programs in the arts and humanities, at least two in science and mathematics and at least one in social sciences.

C.  The "Draft" puts more emphasis on moving to / establishing Large Multidisciplinary Universities. This will be carried out swiftly in a systematic manner in three ways:

1.     consolidating and restructuring existing institutions

2.     building new ones including establishing new world class model institution of this type across the country

3.     establishing at least one large high quality multidisciplinary HEI in / close to every district

Freedom of choosing one's own religion - Incredible Mauryan Empire!

The Great Mauryan Empire, stretching from the natural boundaries of Himalayas, to the east into Assam, to the west into Balochistan (Southwest Pakistan & Southeast Iran) and the Hindukush region of Afghanistan, is considered to be one of the most popular and celebrated empire which ruled the Indian Sub-Continent between 322 to 187 BC.

Every individual who has ever dealt or scanned through the pages of Indian Ancient History, will be familiar with the names of Chandragupta Maurya (Founder of Mauryan Empire) and Acharya Chanakya / Kautilya (Author of Arthashastra).

As we read through the pre-Mauryan and early-Mauryan history, it is fascinating to come across various events that led to the establishment of this great empire. Events like Chanakya's first encounter with Changragupta, Chandragupta's training at Taxila University, Dhana-Nanda's fall, Establishment of Mauryan Empire provides enormous amount of window to understand political, educational and economical conditions prevailing during that era.

Are we making Education in India "Prohibitively Expensive"​ in order to compete Globally?

"Growth & Development of Higher Education in India" has been one of the most inked sentences you will find in official documents of the Government of Republic of India.

Higher Education has always been a priority for any government that has governed this sub-continent since its independence may it be during the year 1950 when we had ~20 Central Universities and today during 2019 when the count has reached ~960 Central Universities. The nation has seen a drastic increase in number of Universities over these years owing to the demand and requirements of the nation.

Of late we see that in the context of Indian Education, the vision has slightly changed from "Creating / Establishing Higher Education Institution" to "Creating / Establishing Higher Education Institutions of Excellence". This is due to a drastic developments globally and in the way Global Universities are competing for recognition attributing to various parameters like Research, Academia, Infrastructure, Placements etc.

Institution Building for Nation Building...

In an alarming article published by “Economic Times” in 2018; over 3700 PHDs, 50000 Graduates and 28000 Post Graduates had applied for peon and messengers jobs in Indian State of Uttar Pradesh. These positions require a minimum eligibility of Class X or lower. Similarly, around 129 engineers, 23 lawyers, 1 Chartered Accountant and 393 Post Graduates were interviewed for the position of Peon in the Indian State of Rajasthan.

This situation is common in majority of Indian States where there is little or no correlation between the qualifications and the jobs; which is the result of poor quality of Higher Education and very minimal importance given to Research & Excellence. Quality & Excellence are intrinsic features of Education; and Education without these features can hardly be called Education at all. The need for promoting Quality & Excellence is one of the major challenges for Indian Education System.

Since the dawn of Independence in 1947, there has been a steady progress made by India in developing its Higher Education System. The number of Universities in India has shown a 5 fold increase from 20 in 1950 to 994 in 2019. During 1950, India had around 500 colleges which have increased to a total of over 42,000 in 2019. (Source: UGC Website)