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| Monday, November 26, 2007
Is it education or mere profiteering?
Opinion is divided on the merits of foreign universities coming
to India.
In this quantitative age of numbers and figures here is a statistic
which would surprise you, if not shock you out of your wits.
In a country with a population of around 111 crore, there are
only 400 universities for higher education, private and public
sectors included, and an alarmingly low enrolment rate of eight
per cent (according to the Association of Indian Universities).
Compare this to a UNESCO world average of 20 per cent and we
know that we are nowhere near the millennium development goals.
Sam Pitroda’s Knowledge Commission report calls for immediate
action and says that 2,000 universities should be opened immediately.
Combine this with the fact that the Central budgetary allocation
for higher education is less than one per cent, and you know
that a solution is nowhere in sight.
Lack of regulation
The Foreign Universities Bill is nowhere near being even tabled.
But in spite of the lack of any regulation and complete ambiguity
over the Government’s stance on this issue, foreign universities
are setting base in India by the dozen.
According to the procedure, individual courses come under the
purview of the AICTE, whereas universities with collaborations
have to deal with the UGC. In the past year the AICTE has recommended
11 courses across the country for accreditation, all of which
are waiting for approval from the Ministry of Human Resource
Development. Reputed institutes such as M.S. Ramaiah Institute
of Advanced Studies-Coventry University and Ohio-Christ College,
which have been issuing degrees to students over years, have
their accreditations pending with the AICTE for the past four
years.
While there are numerous reputed universities, there are an
equal number of less-reputed ones which are of dubious quality
and charge exorbitant fees. A student who would like to verify
the credentials of universities listed is at a loss, since there
are no regulatory forums or bodies that maintain such records.
The AICTE has put up on its website a list of three colleges
which have been approved. With “bucket-shop” universities
that do not do well in their own countries floating around their
prospectus, several students get duped into courses that are
sub-standard.
“The glamour factor around these colleges attracts students
who prefer these third-grade universities over our own courses
which are quite strong in content. UGC is looking at upgrading
content and making it more relevant, but the foreign factor
prevails,” says Alphonse Xavier, member of the University
Grants Commission.
“There are good universities which do not enter India
because of these procedural delays. I understand the need for
regulations since there are colleges which are ‘foreign’
only in name,” says Shivaprakash, Director of Ohio-Christ
Business College.
Bagari, Regional Officer of AICTE, Bangalore, says that they
receive routine complaints against such universities and conduct
inspections regularly. “While some fail to meet standards
and are denied accreditation, others have been recommended for
accreditation, but it is not in our hands anymore.”
“The university system in India is fossilised and follows
the Macaulay structure. The only way it can be revamped is by
allowing these foreign universities to step in and set higher
standards for everybody,” says Ramaswamy, founder member,
Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
Huge difference
While opening up the higher education sector to foreign participation
seems to be the solution to the inadequate structure in place,
one cannot deny the question of equity and access.
While a management course in Bangalore University costs Rs.
12,000 a semester, and private colleges charge up to Rs. 2 -
3 lakh, most of these foreign courses average around Rs. 6 -
7 lakh. While most academicians think that it will bring up
the value of education, they also think that most of these players
have no rationale but that of profit.
“Is their objective to educate people or to take money
home? I am more interested in the average man who cannot afford
such fees. What will he do?” says K. Eresi, Director of
Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Bangalore University. Colleges
maintain that the high fees is to meet the cost of bringing
in foreign faculty and covering a part of their salaries and
infrastructure.
M.S. Thimmappa, ex-vice-chancellor of Bangalore University,
believes that this issue can be solved by regulations which
can dictate the social dimensions. “Regulations should
concentrate on quality as well as increasing access and not
stop at mere licensing,” he asserts.
Course content
In an increasingly global world, as far as the youth of today
is concerned, employability is more of a problem than employment
itself. Most of the syllabi offered at these universities are
tailor-made to suit global standards. While those who are fighting
to keep the university system intact will say that this will
lead to an erosion of values and lead to an alienation of sorts;
today’s industry is merciless and does not care about
values.
“There is nothing alien about foreign courses, and it
saves me the trouble of having to live in a different country,”
says Vivek K., who studies with Wigan and Leigh. “The
course may suit the industry and be strong on practicality,
but our syllabus provides a firmer grounding with better content,”
says Mr. Eresi.
The C.N.R. Rao report in 2005 proposed several methods of regulation
for the entry of foreign universities, from forfeiture of security
deposit (to prevent them from taking off) to rigorous inspections.
The MHRD recently made proposals to formulate rules such as
51 per cent investment and disallowing repatriation of profits.
With the urgency in demands placed on the higher education sector,
the issue is not about liberalisation anymore but of introducing
regulations to ensure quality and accountability.
Political instability and vested interests have long stood in
the way of development in the education sector. “It does
not pay to dish out low quality education which is State-sponsored.
There are institutes with very good track records which need
to be validated by bringing in a system of regulation,”
says Prof. Thimmappa.
Sluggishness at making policy-level decisions and unwillingness
to tread what was once a forbidden path is retarding the pace
of development. In a country like India there is no lack of
academicians and there is no dearth of talent. What is lacking
is much more basic — avenues and access for those who
seek higher education. The abysmal statistics quoted at the
beginning of the article are the result of a study done by the
MHRD. Perhaps the Government should take a closer look at these
statistics and try to set the record straight.
Courtesy: The Hindu - Education Plus
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