Mangapati Pallam Raju took over as Union HRD minister in October 2012. In an email interview, he explains his ministry’s plans for the higher education sector. Excerpts from the interview...
Why aren’t Indian institutions in the top 200 of any world ranking?
There are several entities which rank universities across the world as per their own criteria. So global ranking systems such as Quacquarelli Symonds system, Times Higher Education, World University Rankings and Academic Ranking of World Universities published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University use different values, indices and parameters which are neither universally accepted nor recognized. It’s also possible that some of these parameters may not be relevant in the Indian context and therefore, these rankings should not be the basis for benchmarking of Indian institutions.
However, it must be recognised that the purpose of these rankings is to provide some scale of reference to students and faculty on the quality and standard of such institutions. The ideal way to do this would be through a process of assessment and accreditation by a third party.
With the huge expansion that has taken place in the higher education sector in India, it is imperative that in order for students, faculty and others to make an informed decision, such assessment and accreditation is made mandatory and placed in the public domain. The National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill, 2010, which has also been introduced in Parliament, seeks to make accreditation mandatory for all higher educational institutions in order to ensure independent quality assurance mechanism. Pending the passage of the Bill, UGC has issued regulations making assessment and accreditation mandatory for all universities and colleges in its domain. AICTE too is in the process of issuing similar regulations for technical institutions. These measures will go a long way in ensuring that the quality of higher educational institutions improve considerably.
What steps has the government taken to create universities of an international level in India?
Traditionally, our universities have been teaching institutions rather than research institutions. It is for this reason that we have introduced a Bill in Parliament to set up Universities for Research and Innovation, which would be hubs for research and develop as clusters of education, research and innovation. These universities would be free from legacy issues, which may sometimes prevent existing institutions from focusing on research. Under the Rashtriya Ucchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) too, we aim to identify at least one state university, which can be nurtured and developed into a research university.
Even now, we are taking steps to promote research through various schemes which are implemented through University Grants Commission. For example, Universities with Potential for Excellence, Centre with Potential for Excellence in Particular Area, College with Potential for Excellence, Major Research Projects and Minor Research Project, Special Assistance Programme, Basic Scientific Research and Research Fellowships.
The Department of Science and Technology through its programmes — Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence, Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research, Fund for Improvement of S&T Infrastructure in Higher Educational Institutions, etc — provides support to universities essentially for research manpower cost, augmentation of equipment and computational facilities, research consumables and maintenance of facilities. UGC has recently formulated a new scheme called Universities with Potential for Innovation.
How are we going to increase GER, which stands at 18 per cent, in higher education?
At the start of XI Plan period, we had set ourselves the goal of increasing GER (gross enrolment ratio) to 21 per cent by the end of the XII Plan and an interim target of 15 per cent by 2011-12. It is heartening to note that at the end of XI Plan, our GER is touching 19 per cent (18.8 per cent as per the All India Survey on Higher Education 2011-12). So we are well on our way to surpassing our original target of 21 per cent by the end of the XII Plan. But it is true that we are still below the global average of 26 per cent. It is equally important to understand that mere increase in GER is not enough since this increase could be skewed across class, gender and region, which must also be corrected in order to have a more inclusive and balanced growth. The role of Central Government cannot end with setting up central universities, IITs and IIMs since over 94 per cent of our students are enrolled in the state university system.
It is for this reason that the Central Government plans to partner and support states through RUSA. It will be a centrally-sponsored scheme but will be driven by states through a perspective plan based on spatial and regional needs, accreditation and quality improvement measures, governance and academic reforms, review of the affiliation system, faculty planning, equity interventions and focus on research and innovation. The Abhiyan thus will not merely address the issue of expansion but also equity and excellence. Its success will ensure we reach global levels of GER.
The private sector is worried about profit-making than academic excellence. In the light of an increased call for PPP, how are we going to regulate them and also ensure quality?
Quality of education, infrastructure and prevalence of certain malpractices in some private institutions remain a matter of concern. Recognising this, the Government has introduced the Unfair Practices Prevention Bill in Parliament. Once the legislation comes into force, we will be able ensure that all relevant details of the institution including fees and other charges, infrastructure and faculty are compulsorily placed in the public domain. Any non-compliance will result in punitive action against the institution. UGC is also in the process of revising the regulations governing private universities as well as regulations on private involvement can be through philanthropic contributions, establishing chairs/schools/departments, funding under corporate social responsibility etc.
As per law, education in India is a ‘not-for-profit activity’. However, private involvement may be feasible through direct ownership and management of institutions, collaboration with higher education institutions in research, faculty development, infrastructure creation, student scholarships, governance etc. Viability Gap Funding could be a good route for the private sector to get involved in higher education, where it could be incentivised to make bulk of the investment with the government meeting the balance of the cost (usually up to 20 per cent), in order to make the project viable. In fact, many of the existing schemes of my ministry have a PPP (public-private partnership) component. For example, the schemes to set up polytechnics, IIITs and Model Degree Colleges. In fact, RUSA would also allow state governments to mobilise up to 50 per cent of their share of funding through PPP.
We are trying to raise GER by setting up more institutes. But this has led to a decline in standards. How do you plan to address this issue?
During the XII Plan, our focus will be on consolidation rather than setting up new institutions. Capacity saturation, infrastructure building, faculty recruitment and development and research orientation would be the key areas of focus. These are all vital components of RUSA. Under the Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme II, which is aimed at improving quality of engineering institutions, the focus will be on strengthening institutions to produce high quality readily employable engineers, demand-driven R&D and innovation by establishing centres of excellence for focused applicable research, faculty training, enhancing institutional and system management effectiveness.
The XII Plan hopes to increase government investment to 1.5 per cent of GDP. Isn’t this woefully low?
If you look at the current scenario, public spending on higher education is only 1 per cent of GDP. This certainly needs to be enhanced. Unfortunately so far, higher education has not received the attention and support that it deserves. Consequently, certain sectoral and governance reforms aimed at granting greater autonomy to institutions in order to not just build an appetite but an ability to effectively and productively consume these funds is the order of the day. So a target of 1.5 per cent of GDP is reasonable. What is more important is how the enhanced amount is utilised. Plan funds will be utilised strategically to incentivise greater state funding and promote efficiency in expenditure. This target is only for higher education. For the entire education sector, the target is 6 per cent of GDP (4.5 per cent for school education and 1.5 per cent for higher education).
We need to pump in a lot of money to create world-class universities. How would you raise the required funds?
I understand that to set up a world-class university, public funding alone will not be adequate. Hence higher education must see greater industry-academia interaction to encourage private funding flowing into the system especially in R&D, incubation centres and innovation. This will ensure research is focused and relevant, and students are more readily employed by industry. Under the provisions of the Universities for Research and Innovation Bill, these universities can be set up either in the fully public funded mode, fully private funded mode or under the PPP mode.
India’s demographic dividend would come to naught if our graduates are not employable. How can we increase the employability of our youngsters?
We have introduced a National Vocational Educational Qualifications Framework, which is a nationally recognised qualifications system covering schools, vocational education and training institutions, technical educational institutions and universities/colleges. It aims to formally integrate vocational education with conventional educational streams and allows mobility of students. Their absorption in the industry is based on skills acquired or should students choose to do so, the scheme allows them to be integrated with higher learning and acquire a formal degree and higher skills to work in lucrative jobs. National Skill Development Corporation has been set up by the Finance Ministry to facilitate development and upgrading of skills through skill training programmes.
Today, a large proportion of the workforce is either self-employed or employed in the unorganised sector. We must have in place an easily accessible means for them to upgrade their skills at any stage of life. This would be possible only through a flexible and open system, within the broad framework of higher education system of the country. We accordingly propose to establish 200 community colleges on a pilot basis, which would be accessible to a community, offering low-cost and high quality education locally, encompassing both vocational skills development and traditional coursework and providing opportunities for the learners to move directly to the employment sector or move into the higher education sector. These colleges would be set up in existing colleges so that they become functional from the academic session 2013.
The UGC implements a scheme of Career Oriented Courses, which is run in combination with BA, BCom and BSc courses. The objective of these courses is to provide students with requisite skills for gainful employment. A nationwide scheme of Sub-Mission on Polytechnics has been launched, wherein assistance is given to state governments for starting new polytechnics, revamping Community Polytechnic Scheme and for upgrading existing polytechnics.
How are we going to use ICT in higher education in the coming years?
Under The National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NME-ICT) e-Books and e-journals are being provided free of cost to learners. At present, access to 80,409 e-books and 3,828 e-journals, procured under NMEICT from best of the publishers, has been provided. The Mission has also launched around 90 Virtual Labs. At present, engineering students can use virtual labs in nine disciplines and can conduct 769 engineering experiments from anywhere and in any time mode. Efforts are also being made to launch the educational DTH channels. For this purpose the DOS, ISRO has allocated two Ku-band satellite transponders to MHRD.
— nithya@newindianexpress.com