scholarly journals Reforming Higher Education in India: In Pursuit of Excellence

Author(s):  
Chetan Singai ◽  
T R Kumaraswamy ◽  
Ajay Chandra

Higher education has emerged as one of the most critical factors for the Nation’s economic, political, social and cultural growth and development. Reforming the higher education sector has become an emergent norm across the globe, especially in the developing world. India is one such emerging nation, witnessing a major shift in its ideological, pragmatic and policy directions in the last few years. The higher education sector in India has witnessed unprecedented expansion. However, given the distinctive social-political-economic context and its complexity in India, expansion in higher education is often linked with ensuring equity and access. Whereas in the developed world, expansion is often associated with quality or excellence in higher education i.e. creating world-class universities. Further, excellence in higher education is arguably the most critical component for the survival, sustenance and growth of the sector. To this end, the paper examines the convergence and divergence in policies and practices related to the pursuit of excellence in higher education and its institutions in India vis-à-vis the dominant global reforms in higher education. Erstwhile policies related to quality in higher education and the current draft National Education Policy-2019, provide a reference to the local-distinctive strategies for seeking excellence at the systemic and the institutional level, with an aspiration for global reputation. For instance, National Institutional Ranking Framework, University Grants Commission’s graded autonomy, Institutional restructuring, National Accreditation and Assessment Council and Quacquarelli Symonds- India rating and so on. The paper also sets direction on how Local strategies for global aspirations could unpack a series of issues regarding the reforms in education and delineate in what ways that these emerging global reforms, strategies are effective and appropriate to the local higher education system and its institutions.

Author(s):  
Gopal Krishna Thakur

Higher education is considered as an invaluable instrument for the sustainable development of human being and society through a dynamic process of creation, advancement, and dissemination of knowledge. In a fast developing country like India the role of higher education assume utmost importance. Universities have a pivotal role in realizing this goal. Our higher education system has had a glorious past in the form of world-class universities like Nalanda, Vikramsila, and Taxila, which attracted students and intellectuals from all over the world those days. However, in the present time we are lagging far behind in terms of qualitative education and research. This necessitates a serious concern and introspection to look into the nuances and flaws of our system that make our higher education system stand at where it is now. This paper, based on the analysis of various reports and Govt. documents, discusses some of the issues, which are at the core of the main concerns pertaining to higher education in India. Taking a snapshot of the historical trajectory of higher education system in India to the present time, this paper presents an overview of the higher education system in India and points out some most relevant concerns troubling the issue at the core.


2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 629-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Oba

For a very long time the Japanese government concentrated its higher education investment on a handful of national institutions, until the policy came to be called into question in the late 1980s in the face of globalisation and other factors. Higher education reform was significantly accelerated in the 1990s: the government has continuously deregulated the higher education system including the incorporation of national universities, and has brought more and more competition through diverse competitive funding schemes. Some policies – not only higher education policies but also science and technology ones – were explicitly designed to develop ‘world-class’ education and research centres, such as the 21st COE programme. This article suggests that although a funding policy based on competition, with a strict evaluation, seems to be a move in the right direction, a right balance of budget allocation between competitive funds and basic education-research funds should be sought. Furthermore, the programmes of the government have to be offered in a more consistent manner, and more concerted and integrated efforts will be required, to address the critical problem of building world-class universities.


2017 ◽  
pp. 88-92
Author(s):  
Prerna Pandya

The Indian higher education system is facing a crisis that is affecting its ability to build world class higher education institutions. Indians have the ability to cope up with that crisis but sometimes they fail to do so because of the ‘EDUCATION SYSTEM’. This paper will focus on issues and challenges related to quality, access and integrity of the higher education system in India.The government is responsible for the overall development of the basic infrastructure of Higher Education sector, both in terms of policy and planning. The combination of these two will expand the access and quality improvement in the Higher Education, through world class Universities, Colleges and other Institutions. The paper will throw light on the Vision, Mission, Objectives and Functions for making Higher Education peculiar by using public policies.


The Indian higher education system commanded awe and respect in the ancient world. Important seats of learning like Nalanda and Takshashila attracted the best students and academics from across the globe. Unfortunately, over a period of time, our higher education system lost its global competitiveness. This is exemplified by the fact that not many Indian higher education institutions feature in the annual world university rankings like the Times Higher Education World University Rankings or the QS World University Rankings. At the same time, India’s aspirations to establish world-class universities have never been greater. The book is a culmination of a range of ideas and perspectives that will shape India’s aspirations of building world-class universities through comparative and international dimensions. It is a recognition that the future of Indian universities and their ability to seek global excellence will depend on three critical paradigms: first is the need for creating a vision for higher education that will focus on research and knowledge creation, institutional excellence, and global benchmarking as the indicators for standard-setting; second, the need for pursuing substantial reforms relating to policy, regulation, and governance of higher education; and third is the need for investigating a paradigmatic shift for promoting interdisciplinarity in higher education with a stronger and deeper focus on the pedagogy of teaching and learning in different fields of inquiry. Through a series of contributions from noted academics and scholars from India and around the world, this book discusses these three strings of thought, to create higher education opportunities that will enable the future generations of students to pursue world-class education in world-class universities in India.


2017 ◽  
pp. 22-24
Author(s):  
Philip G. Altbach ◽  
Jamil Salmi

India’s higher education and research sectors have been generallyunderfunded, especially in view of the tremendous growth in numbers ofstudents. Compared to the other BRIC countries, the percentage spent oneducation, 4.1 percent of GDP, is second to Brazil. This article explores the Indian higher education system with respect to its potential to create world-class universities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-21
Author(s):  
Samik Shome ◽  
Yuvika Gupta

The education sector significantly affects the economic, political and social development of any nation and is a key to enhance country’s competitiveness in the global economy. Higher education is critical to India’s aspirations of emerging as a major player in the global knowledge economy. This paper takes a comprehensive look at the various stages of growth of higher education in India. It also examines the degree to which a labour market for academic staffs has developed in Indian education sector and explores its implications for academic professionals, their careers and work. It analyses the key elements and characteristics of this market. The paper draws and builds on findings from official national data and also evidence-based reports subject to secondary analysis. In conclusion the paper argues that there is a degree of insularity in the Indian academic market.


2017 ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Philip G. Altbach ◽  
Jamil Salmi

India’s higher education and research sectors have been generallyunderfunded, especially in view of the tremendous growth in numbers ofstudents. Compared to the other BRIC countries, the percentage spent oneducation, 4.1 percent of GDP, is second to Brazil. This article explores the Indian higher education system with respect to its potential to create world-class universities.


Author(s):  
Katta Rama Mohana Rao ◽  
Chandra Sekhar Patro

Higher education system in India has been expanded in a remarkable way, particularly in the post-independence period, to become one of the largest systems of its kind in the world. However, the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) is far below when compared to developed and many developing countries. The Government of India has focused on increasing the access and ensuring equity during successive plan periods. The resultant growth, though impressive, failed to ensure desired Quality in Higher Education. Only a few Higher Education Institutions earned reputation for high quality services. Globalization has resulted in significant changes in the knowledge economy and ushered new conditions for the provision of higher education to cater the skill requirement all across the globe. Under these circumstances, focus on quality enhancement of higher education in India assumes greater significance. This paper analyses the growth of higher education in India, the major quality concerns, the government initiatives and challenges for enhancement of quality of higher education in India.


Author(s):  
C. Raj Kumar

The chapter is a discussion on the future of higher education in India. It examines the current academic standards in Indian universities and the need for establishing world-class universities in India and, also discusses the role of private universities in higher education, the role of the government in framing education policy, and the challenges that face the higher education sector in India. In conclusion, the author highlights the goals of higher education and how they could be achieved.


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