Higher Education in XII Plan : Challenges and Imperatives.

                                                                                   

                                                                                    

                                                                       Dr.T.K.Chatterjee

It is now accepted by all that education in general and higher education in particular  is the tool for economic growth and it defines the development map of a nation. Higher education is viewed as the most powerful instrument for bringing economic growth, diversification, distribution, internationalization, integration and   socio-economic welfare in a society. Added to this is the  spread  of higher education from privileged few or elites   to the masses  in view of rapid expansion of elementary and secondary education as well as emergence of a knowledge-based society. Yet another factor emerging in the world of higher education in the 21^st century is the revolution in ICT which  has brought education to the door of learners without barriers of intake capacity and choice of subjects or disciplines endowed with flexibility of learning at any time from anywhere.  ICT reach has also accelerated  large scale  interaction among the stakeholders  as well as  accessing higher education beyond national boundary at small costs.

The national policy in the XII Plan period ( April,2012 – March,2017 ) in higher education is centered around three Es, namely, Expansion, Equity and Excellence. A Mission Mode National Programme called RUSA ( Rashtriya Uccha Siksha Avijan ) will be implemented to create new Universities and Colleges and increase intake capacity of existing institutions by 50%. The GER is proposed to be increased to 27% by March,2017 which will be the largest in our history. Access will be coupled with equity and inclusion by bridging regional imbalances and disparities across disciplines and address spatial, economic, social and technological needs of the country. The initiatives will be capped with enhancing inputs for quality and excellence in all spheres of higher education like student intake, faculty enrichment, curricular reform, revamping governance structures, greater emphasis on research and innovation by creating efficient regulatory framework.

At present, India is still at the elite stage of access of higher education, with 13% GER in 2012 up from 6% in 1991 in the age cohort of 18-24 yrs..The higher system in India is differentiated but this differentiation is neither coherent nor conscious at the management level. The system has grown in response to ever growing demands  of access and equity ( bulk of the learners being from middle classes ) but without planning for creating the access   to serve an expanding economy. The curricular work, therefore, has no relevance with industry or societal need. The responsibility for higher education is divided among several agencies in the central govt., state govts., regulatory bodies and private sector but without effective  co-ordination. What is even alarming, over the years, efforts of reform have  sidestepped the traditional universities and rather have added new institutions alongside them. It is now clearly discernible that emphasis is laid to nurture some elite institutions like IITs, IIMs, Central Universities, IIITs, IISERs, IISc , NIFT, RGIPT, JIPMER, other institutes of National Importance etc. 70% of budgetary support is diverted to these few institutions.  However, the mainstream comprises of  about 500 universities ( including 124  deemed and 94 private universities ) and 31,500 colleges where about 90% of the enrolled students study. This is the Achilles’ Heel of our higher education system. These institutions, apart from a handful   which have received Autonomous College status, are characterized  by endemic underfunding, mismanagement, political interference, corruption in appointments, poor governance, low quality and inadequate facilities and infrastructure. A majority of the private institutions, particularly those in technical and management disciplines, are run ‘for-profit’ motive with rampant commercialization. These mainstream institutions are deprived of financial support and attention from the policy making ministries and departments as well as regulatory bodies. However, these   are accused of  producing graduates, majority of  whom are unemployable,  as reported in recent surveys conducted by AICTE-CII and FICCI-World Bank. The central govt. and MHRD must realize that unless they grapple with problems afflicting the  traditional institutions forming the mainstream  and until these  are reformed and improved, our higher education sector will not be able to excel and languish in the gridlock.

The knowledge society in the 21^st century demands  a thorough overall of governance of the universities and affiliated colleges and exhorts the providers to perform new responsibilities. We must share the wide spread concern that the university system in India requires to develop and adopt appropriate strategies  to perform better   by inducing innovativeness in admission processes, teaching-learning pedagogy, infrastructure and learning resources and in organizational management  bringing  professionalism, quality assurance,  excellence, resource generation,  flexibility, community interface and technology intensiveness of much higher order than at present. In this perspective, some urgent responsibilities to be discharged by the institutions are  (i) providing academic programmes of new models based on flexibility and learner choice (ii) preparing students for information era by developing  ICT skill sets (iii) providing specialized skill-oriented courses of different levels (iv) continuous up gradation of infrastructure (v) continuous updating of curricular work (vi) thrust in maintaining  quality assurance in every aspect of governance (vii) maximising the learner base by correspondence course/distance education/on-line education in job-oriented subjects (viii) providing extension and social outreach (ix) providing consultancy services to industry and other economic functions (x) optimizing the available resources and (xi) innovating the good practices in governance of good institutions ranked A++ by NAAC and others..

In the contemporary society, all  stakeholders of higher education are demanding quality services of global benchmarks  from the higher education institutions (HEIs), namely, the colleges and universities. The student community now aspire to be empowered and endowed with knowledge, skill sets and competencies to meet the needs of human sources in a fast changing  and increasingly global market economy. The HEIs are now mandated to fulfill the urges of the learners and other stakeholders by achieving excellence in every sector of organization, management and governance. This can be achieved if the HEIs are able to adopt suitable strategies to execute the targets as enumerated above  within a time frame with a mission  and  passion.  

            The National Knowledge Commission ( NKC ) has stated in its report that there is, in fact, a quiet crisis in higher education in India that runs deep. It is not yet discernible simply because there are pockets of excellence, an enormous reservoir of talented young people and intense competition in the admission process.  The proportion of our population, in the age group 18-24, that enters the world of higher education is around 13% by March,2012, which is only one half the average for Asia. The opportunities for higher education, in terms of the number of places in universities, are simply not enough in relation to our needs. What is more, the quality of higher education in most of our universities requires substantial improvements. The reality is that we have miles to go.

              The XII Plan document does say that all three segments will have to contribute to facilitate the expansion in enrolment. It states “ All three segments have to be expanded to achieve the enrolment target ---  by creating additional capacity and ensuring equal access opportunities, while being supported to improve the quality of teaching-learning, attain excellence in research and contribute to economic development” ( Vol.3, p.90). It is significant that for the first time, the XII Plan document places emphasis on creating conducive conditions for investment flowing from the private sector which is needed to mobilize the resources of opening new institutions to realize the dramatic growth of GER to 27%. In  March, 2012, the private sector recorded a higher  gross enrolment of 58.9% as against 41.1% of the public sector. In the XI Plan period, enrolment in the private sector expanded from 54.2% to 58.9% with establishment of 98 private state universities, 17 private deemed universities, 7,818 private colleges and 3,581 private diploma institutions. The focus of expansion in access is going to be once again the private sector, the  targeted estimate being set at 18.5 million enrolment by March, 2017.. The private sector so far was treated as untouchable and treated with disdain by the policy makers although statistics vindicate  their role not only in term of increase of GER but in quality of education as well. The best universities and colleges in India are run by the private sector. For the first time, in the XII Plan document, this negative attitude towards the private player in higher education is about to be replaced by pragmatic policy considerations. The Plan document outlines some strategies to encourage the private domain and help to generate resources such as through public offerings of shares and debentures amounting to revision/modification of Section 25 of the Company Act  and according it ( private segment in higher education ) “infrastructure status” with similar financial benefits and tax treatment. It is expected that elaborations will come in these respects  in due course. It is suggested that the “not-for-profit” institutions may be placed at par with public institutions by providing faculty salary grant to some extent, student   stipends and scholarships, research funds, technology support and development grants. The UGC has stated that even private colleges and those  without 12B status will be given development grant. The Plan document has recommended re-examination of “not-for-profit” and “for-profit” approaches in the provision of higher education on reasonable grounds to compensate shortage of public resources and has indicated to allow making profit by the operators subject to regulations so that education does not amount to selling a commodity. This is a paradigm shift but appears to be an imperative in the perspective of our higher education scenario, the challenges and existing constraints of the public sector. However, the regulatory mechanism must be put on a sound track for ensuring good governance in the academic set up, the social ethos of equity, quality and excellence in the processes of  teaching-learning and research.