Cover Story

Springtime for India’s private sector education heavyweights

With a mere nine million students from india’s 900,000 primary schools and 133,000 secondaries entering tertiary institutions of learning, quite clearly the state led education delivery model has been a miserable failure. hence a broad societal consensus is driving an unstoppable edupreneur-led boom in indian education. Dilip Thakore reports

Clockwise from bottom right: Ranjan Pai, C.R. Swaminathan, Chenraj Jain, Niranjan Hiranandani & Ashok Chauhan

Imperceptibly but surely, the tectonic plates beneath the

With contemporary India lumbered with the world’s largest population of 300 million adult illiterates and a pathetic 66 million of the 170 million children in primary school making it into secondary education of whom a mere 9 million enter tertiary institutions of learning, quite clearly the state-led education delivery model has been a miserable failure. Hence a broad societal consensus is driving a massive, unstoppable edupreneur-led boom in Indian education.

As a consequence private sector initiatives span the entire spectrum, from nursery to college and university education. Pre-primary nursery schools are springing up in every neighbour-hood in urban India and a rash of expensive nexgen five-star schools offering kindergarten-class XII internationally benchmarked syllabuses and curriculums are mushrooming on the green belt peripheries of the country’s increasingly crowded and polluted cities. Coterminously the number of deemed and private universities established across the country has spurted from half a dozen three years ago to over 20 currently.

Nor is booming demand for private education an exclusively upper class phenomenon. According to a report in the Financial Times, London (January 3), in the slums and shanties of Hyderabad fee-levying privately promoted primary schools have overtaken free government schools in terms of number and student enrollment. The reason: they offer — more accurately, promise — English medium education unlike their state government counterparts which feel obliged to thump the vernacular language drum.

Apte: demonstrated capability

And though the Delhi-based Dr. A.K. Shiva Kumar, advisor to Unicef, member of the National Advisory Council and visiting professor at Harvard University believes that the private sector can make only a marginal contribution to universal education for all with the state obliged to play a dominant role, he concedes that a mix of public and private institutions is inevitable.

"Greater private involvement in education is inevitable though it may be neither sufficient nor always desirable. In many instances, private primary schools spring up because of the poor reach and performance of government schools. In other instances, private schools are the result of the drive and initiative of innovative educationists offering different systems of education. Such education entrepreneurship needs to be encouraged. In the final analysis it is important to judge education institutions not on the basis of their ownership, but on the results they produce for children and students," says Shiva Kumar.

Shiva Kumar: marginal contribution

Secondly, intensifying private sector competition and presence in primary and secondary education, partic-ularly in rural India and urban slums will signal the end of moonlighting and mass teacher absenteeism, a defining characteristic of primary and secondary government education in contemporary India. According to Delhi-based management consultant and social scientist Gurcharan Das, on any given day 25 percent of teachers in government schools are absent. This translates into a staggering number of almost one million teachers per day. On the other hand it’s well known and accepted that in private schools where they can be peremptorily sacked, teacher attendance in class is 98 percent.

There are several other reasons why India’s powerful educracy which is particularly well entrenched and fortified in state capitals, is untouched by the winds of liberalisation and deregulation and reluctant to smooth the road for greater private participation in the education sector. The elimination of ‘speed money’ extracted from even the best-intentioned educationists apart, there are numerous other highly profitable rackets operated by educrats which would be jeopardised by greater private participation in Indian education. Among them the great textbooks printing, uniforms making, teacher transfers and other rackets (see cover story ‘Dirty dozen corrupt practices destroying Indian education’ EW October 2004; and special report ‘India’s unchecked textbooks racket’ EW January 2005).

This explains why despite huge pent-up demand for quality education which has prompted the promotion of a plethora of high-end five-star internationally benchmarked secondary schools charging tuition fees of upto Rs.3-4 lakh per year, and a huge annual migration of students abroad for higher education which costs Rs.10 lakh plus per year, the annual rush for admission into mid-price institutions with a reputation for delivering quality education shows no signs of abating. For example every year over 150,000 college graduates write the Common Admission Test (CAT) of the six Indian Institutes of Management scattered across the country of whom only 1,200 are admitted. Likewise only 3,500 of the 180,000 brightest and best who write the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) of the seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are admitted annually. And in mid-priced primary-cum-secondaries such as Bishop Cotton, Bangalore and St. Columbus, Delhi, the waiting period for admission is a decade plus.

Quite obviously the demand-supply gap in education is the direct consequence of post-independence India’s notorious bureaucratic red tape given that there is no shortage of philanthropists, educati-onists and edupreneurs who bravely tramp the corridors of education ministries in Delhi and the state capitals. A recent study by the Wall St. Journal and the Heritage Foundation indicates that at an average of 89 days, India requires the longest lead time worldwide to start a business (cf. China’s 41 days). According to the go-getting Bangalore-based educationist Chenraj Jain (see box p.39), establishing a privately-promoted education institution requires a budgeted lead time of 500-700 days.

And last month, at a workshop on education at the Bharatiya Pravasi Divas (Festival for people of Indian origin abroad) staged in Mumbai (January 7-9), Union HRD secretary B.S.Baswan who made a presentation inviting NRIs to invest in Indian education was at a loss to answer a frustrated NRI’s query as to why certificates and licences are required from over 15 government agencies to establish a charitable school in the Greater Delhi capital region.

Given the power and capability of even low-ranking human resource ministry (aka education department) officials to shakedown and harass private sector educationists, the latter are wary about detailing the thousand unnatural shocks visited upon them by educrats in the state governments (who view them as fair game as they manage ‘elite’ institutions). But all of them plead for greater freedom to promote and manage schools, colleges and other education institutions. "Private entrepreneurs venturing into education need much greater encouragement than they are receiving currently. Governments at the Centre and in the states need to devise much better assessment and screening systems to distinguish between genuine educationists and charlatans. They need to broaden their outlook and learn to encourage philanthropic people in education. To be frank, our interactions with government agencies have been characterised by long delays and bureaucratese, so we have learned to tread with care," says Dr. Ashok Chauhan founder-president of the Ritnand Balved Education Foundation (est.1986) which manages the Delhi-based private sector Amity University and the Amity Group which administers five schools and 80 collegiate institutions with an aggregate enrollment of 25,000 students spread across 22 campuses in India and abroad. Chauhan’s is a remarkable story of a chemistry Ph D of Wuerzberg University who stayed on in Germany to become the most successful Indian businessman in continental Europe, before he returned to India in the 1980s to " tap and nurture India’s great reservoir of talent" (see interview p.37).

Nevertheless given that awareness of the vital importance of internationally competitive education is assuming tsunami proportions across the country, it’s only a matter of time before bureaucratic resistance to the growing number of philanthropists, educationists and edupreneurs crumbles, and the logic of economic liberalisation and deregulation which has miraculously transformed Indian industry, washes over the education sector. And despite the best efforts of the educracy in Delhi and the state capitals to thwart them, several determined edupreneurs have acquired sufficient momentum and grasp of the complexities — which have completely eluded personnel in the HRD ministries of the Central and state governments — of delivering acceptable quality education which the nation’s youth deserve and need.

In the pages following EducationWorld lists and profiles some private sector education heavyweights who are positioned to take a great leap forward if and when Indian education is freed from the shackles which have cabined, cribbed and confined it for the past five decades since the nation attained independence from disabling foreign rule.

Manipal Education & Medical Group

Ranjan Pai

Dilip Thakore interviewed Dr. Ranjan Pai chief executive of the Manipal Education and Medical Group which comprises 55 institutions (including the Manipal Academy of Higher Education — a deemed university) in India and abroad with an aggregate enrollment of 80,000 students.

What is the charter or mission statement of the Manipal Education and Medical Group? To what extent has this mission been accomplished?

Our mission is to become a global leader in human development delivering excellence in education and healthcare. This is a continuous process and we are working to improve and raise standards of our institutions in medicine, engineering and business management education. We are focussed upon contributing quality students, research driven faculty and vibrant campuses. I believe we have put India on the global education map and are proud of our initiatives in this direction.

What policy initiatives are required in Indian education to help you realise your mission?

We want to attract international students to India. Therefore accreditation of courses, evaluation methodologies of international standards and simplification of student visa processes would help. Standardisation of accrediting bodies would give a boost to our education system.

Private initiatives in education still attract considerable criticism. How do you explain this?

Private universities like Manipal offer world class facilities and an open environment for students and faculty. We are also India’s largest foreign exchange earner in education and have the largest number of international students on our campuses. We have taken Indian education overseas to Malaysia, the Middle East and Nepal. These initiatives have raised the profile of our country and its intellectual capabilities. The government should appreciate and support our initiatives.

Some educationists believe that licence-permit-quota raj is expanding within Indian education. What’s your comment?

No comment.

Are public-private partnerships possible in Indian education?

Definitely. Speaking from our example, the Sikkim Manipal University (SMU) is proof of this concept. SMU was established in 1997 as a collaboration between the government of Sikkim and MEMG. Our medical school and engineering institutes there attract high quality students and faculty from the east and north of India. However for this to be successful, governments should honour their commitments.

What are your future expansion/ development plans?

We are looking at best affiliations for our various programmes — twinning programmes and tie-ups with leading universities in the US, UK and Australia. A new campus is being constructed in Bangalore which will be world class. This campus will focus on delivering management, IT and engineering and bio sciences higher study programmes. It will use our strengths honed over the years, with new technologies and methodologies. Simultaneously our main campus in Manipal is undergoing major investments in infrastructure which will provide excellent facilities to students. We are also looking at expanding overseas with campuses in Sri Lanka, USA and UK.

PSG Group, Coimbatore

C.R. Swaminathan

C.R. Swaminathan, chief executive of the Coimbatore-based PSG Group which has four schools and ten colleges with an aggregate enrollment of 16,992 students spoke to Hemalatha Raghupathi.

What is the mission statement of the group? To what extent has this mission been accomplished?

Our primary mission is promotion of world-class education, setting up centres of excellence in frontier areas and continuously developing our institutions to achieve world-class standards.

To this end we believe in continuous improvement in all spheres, establishment of linkages with selected onshore and offshore stakeholder organisations, and expanding the reach of PSG institutions through distance learning/ virtual learning centres.

What policy initiatives are required in Indian education to help you realise your mission?

Since we offer complete transparency in our institutions we should have the freedom to achieve our mission.

Private initiatives in education still attract considerable criticism. How do you explain this?

This is due to some undesirable elements entering the education sector. The government and councils such as UGC and AICTE should identify private education groups having the commitment and industrial backing needed to support their initiatives, and only they should be encouraged to expand their activities.

Some educationists believe that license-permit-quota raj is expanding within Indian education. What is your comment?

If governments at the Centre and in the states wish to genuinely support private initiatives in education, they should install a single window clearance system.

Are public-private partnerships possible in Indian education?

Definitely, public-private partnerships are possible and necessary in Indian education.

What are your future expansion and development plans?

We would like to become a deemed university and expand in new technology areas, concentrate on research and development activities and become an internationally benchmarked institution, ranked among the top 20 international education groups.

Kerala Catholic Bishops Council

T.K. Devasia interviewed Fr. Philip Nelpuraparambil, assistant secretary of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council for Education which manages 2,196 institutions including medical, engin-eering and nursing colleges, secondary and primary schools with a massive aggregate enrollment of 9.28 lakh students.

What is the charter or mission statement of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council for Education?

The church’s mission is to render assistance to all people for development of a well-balanced personality for the good of society and for a world more worthy of man. We are trying to refocus our education ministry on serving the poor, as commercialisation is increasing in education and aid from the government is drying up.

What policy initiatives are required in Indian education to realise your mission?

Governments should honour fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India to minority communities under Article 30 (1). The government’s insistence on cross subsidisation of one half of the student body by the other half in self-financing professional colleges is an infringement of the rights of minority communities guaranteed by the Constitution. It is indicative of lack of vision on the part of the government and an inability to deal with the situation arising out of the tussle with professional colleges in the state.

Private enterprises in education still attract considerable criticism. How do you explain this?

Criticism levelled at private initiatives in education is misplaced and arises out of lack of understanding of ground realities. Most of our professional institutions in the state have been financed by donations from parishioners. These self-financing professional institutions run by the church are not elitist. Nor are they meant only for members of the Christian community. In fact the majority of students studying in Christian institutions profess other religions.

Some educationists believe that licence-permit-quota raj is expanding within Indian education. What’s your comment?

Licence-permit-quota raj has been on the increase since the government started promoting self-financing colleges. They have put all the burden of education on the shoulders of communities who have started colleges. This is opposed to protection granted to minorities under Article 30 of the Constitution. The government must not retreat from the education sector. They have to support eligible and financially backward students with adequate scholarships.

Are public-private partnerships possible in Indian education?

Public-private participation in education has been the standard practice in Kerala where most institutions are government aided. Institutional managements provide the infrastructure, while the state government has been taking care of disbursing salaries to staff.

What are your future expansion/development plans?

The church is actively considering promotion of autonomous colleges and tie-ups with reputed foreign universities. We will also be expanding our education network to the self-financing sector.

Amity Group, Delhi

Ashok Chauhan

Neeta Lal interviewed Dr. Ashok K. Chauhan, founder president, Ritnand Balved Education Foundation (RBEF) which runs the Amity Group of education institutions including Amity University, with over 22 campuses in India and abroad and an aggregate enrollment of 26,000 full-time students.

What is the mission of the group? To what extent has it been achieved?
The mission of the Amity group is to make India a superpower in the field of education by 2025 and of creating responsible, competent citizens through Amity institutions.

We have also worked out a blueprint to create education centres — for primary to higher learning — in all the states of India. We’re beginning with Uttar Pradesh this year where we’ll be building a network of charitable schools and five large campuses for industrial and vocational training. These skills-oriented centres will cater to students who have studied till class VIII and are looking for skills development.

Moreover within these campuses we’ll also have sports colleges because Indian youth still have a long way to go in sports. So our focus is as much on academics and skills development as on cultivating on-campus sports culture.

Amity Business School facade

What policy initiatives are required in Indian education to help you realise your mission?

There are several issues which govern-ments at the Centre and in the states need to look into to help us realise our mission. First, private entrepreneurs need to be encouraged a lot more and a screening system has to be developed to separate genuine educationists from others.

Are public-private partnerships possible in education?

Yes. Provided the existing system of licensing and clearing education projects in blind bureaucratic ways is abolished. Governments really need to broaden their outlook to encourage philanthropic initiatives in this vital sector. To be frank, our interactions with government agencies are usually bedevilled with delays and bureaucratese. So we’ve learnt to tread with care.

What are your future expansion plans?

We have already established more than 250 institutions, organisations or centres, which are our launching pads for our Mission 2030. Amity has also started activities in the areas of herbal and ayurveda. Herbal gardens have been established in Amity Education Valley, Manesar (Haryana) and in Najafgarh, Delhi.

Amity University is developing new and innovative courses to make education employment rather than degree oriented. Learning has to be enjoyable and a transformational experience. Over 1,500 Amity teachers, lecturers and professors are working to make it so.

Hyderabad (Sind) National Collegiate Board

Niranjan Hiranandani

Niranjan Hiranandani chairman of Mumbai’s highly regarded Hiranandani Group of construction companies (which has promoted five secondary schools in the nation’s commercial capital) was elected president of the Mumbai-based Hyderabad (Sind) National Collegiate Board (HSNCB) in November 2003. Immediately upon assuming office he discovered misuse of the board’s corpus and finances which he claims to have put back on an even keel. HSNCB comprises 24 higher education institutions with an aggregate enrollment of 45,000 students. Gaver Chatterjee interviewed him in Mumbai.

What is the charter or mission statement of the group/trust? To what extent has this mission been accomplished?

HSNCB — a charitable trust — was established by migrants of the Sindhi community who were uprooted from Pakistan after the partition of India in 1947. The leaders of the community were quick to realise that if they had to rebuild their lives, they needed good quality education. Therefore HSNCB was constituted by Principal Kundanani and Mr. Hotchand Advani, a prominent lawyer. Since then the number of institutions promoted by the board has grown to 24 with an aggregate enrollment of 45,000 students. The Sindhi community plays a very active and constructive role in the nation’s life. Therefore I would say HSNCB’s mission has been substantially accomplished.

What policy initiatives are required in Indian education to help you realise your mission?

We need first of all to become aware of the importance of quality in education. India cannot become a force in the new globally integrated economy without being top class in the field of education. Therefore the new emphasis has to be on real as opposed to ritual education. Towards that end, HSNCB institutions will experience a great quality upgradation endeavour. Teachers and principals in our institutions are gearing for a massive quality improvement drive.

Private initiatives in education still attract considerable criticism. What’s your comment?

Though they attract criticism, private initiatives in education have been very successful. Our HSNCB institutions which number more than 24 have contributed a large number of skilled professionals to the Indian economy and have established a good reputation nationwide. Unfor-tunately the board has experienced a slight hiccup recently, but by and large I think it has been very successful.

Some educationists complain that licence-permit-quota raj is expanding within Indian education. What’s your comment?

There should be no restrictions on promoting education institutions. Competition is necessary for the best educational institutions to thrive and survive. In industry and business, licences and quotas have been abolished. Similar initiatives are required in the education sector.

Are public-private partnerships possible in Indian education?

Of course. I think the government certainly has certain advantages in running education institutions particularly in remote rural areas. Private trusts and education institutions need to partner with government to introduce innovations.

What are your future expansion/ development plans?

We have already promoted two new institutions this year — a law and pharmacy degree college in Ulhasnagar in suburban Mumbai. Simultaneously we are planning the expansion and upgradation of our institutions in all locations. Currently negotiations are on to introduce a five year law degree programme in collaboration with a foreign university. Also on the cards is a new college in Dubai

Babu Banarasi Das Trust, Lucknow

A.K. Mittra

Vidya Pandit interviewed Prof. A.K. Mittra, director, management and computer applications of the Babu Banarsi Das National Institute of Technology and Management, which comprises six institutes with an aggregate enrollment of 7,000 students, in Lucknow.

What is the charter or mission statement of the Banarsi Das Group/Trust? To what extent has this mission been accomplished?

Our mission is to provide young people opportunities to develop their core competencies through a broad foundation of in-depth knowledge and personality development to meet the challenges of the new global economy.

Within the six years of our existence we have achieved high growth qualitatively and quantitatively. Our teacher-student ratio at 1:14.5 is better than the AICTE norm. Our reputation has grown and we have covered the whole of north India, attracting students from as far as Assam and Orissa. We have comprehensively achieved our mission and grown beyond it, but we are aware there is no place for complacency.

What policy initiatives are required in Indian education to help you realise your mission?

The state government should ensure that there are no regional imbalances. In Uttar Pradesh for instance more than 75 percent of the technical institutions are located in western UP and cater to just 25 percent of the population, thereby forcing parents in other parts of the state to send their children elsewhere for higher studies.

Secondly, government norms are very stringent as regards intake of students. However institutions that have built sound reputations should be permitted to admit larger numbers. The situation now is that technical institutions are conducting classes in small shacks. This negatively impacts quality.

Thirdly, AICTE needs to sanction technical and management courses other than the traditional ones. For instance there could be a blend of B.Tech and MBA to provide both technical and management skills. Moreover approval norms are such that in UP an institute has to undergo inspection three times — by AICTE, the affiliating university and the state government. This needs to be replaced by a single, combined inspection so time is not wasted.

Lastly, even after the Supreme Court has decreed that private institutes should be allowed autonomy in management, admission and fee structure, state governments continue to interfere on some pretext or the other. This tendency needs to be curbed.

Babu Banarasi Das National Institute of Technology & Mgmt.

Private initiatives in education still attract considerable criticism. How do you explain this?

Because of easy permissions to new groups to offer education, there has been a mushrooming of worthless institutions; hence the criticism. Some of the criticism flows from the popular belief that private colleges charge very high fees which is erroneous. Tuition fees need to be measured not only against the fee charged by government institutions but also against the facilities offered.

Some educationists believe that licence-permit-quota raj is expanding within Indian education. What’s your comment?

The tendency is growing because government institutions have mostly failed in quality upgradation. Hence the government is trying to enforce greater control over private sector institutions. But they should bear in mind that in education the greater the control, the greater the corruption.

Are public-private partnerships possible in Indian education?

Private institutions were allowed because of the failures of government run institutions. Private institutions have a lot at stake in doing well as they make huge investments. Governments on the other hand are irresponsible with public funds. With such conflicting attitudes, partnerships are not possible.

What are your future expansion/ development plans?

Our multi-pronged development strategy includes consolidation of existing institutions and quality improvement. We are adding two more professional institutes — for pharmacy and engineering education — in our Delhi campus. Moreover within the next three years we intend to promote a medical college. We are also exploring the possibility of promoting a technical institution in the Middle East and admitting foreign students.

Jain Group of Institutions, Bangalore

Chenraj Jain (centre)

Dilip Thakore interviewed Chenraj Jain, chairman of the fast-track Bangalore-based Jain Group comprising 21 education institutions (including the state-of-the-art Jain International Residential School, Bangalore) which have an aggregate enrollment of 16,400 students and 1,750 employees. Excerpts:

What were the promotional objectives of the Jain Group? To what extent have they been achieved?

The Jain Group of institutions which include schools, colleges and institutes of professional education were promoted in response to Swami Vivekananda’s teaching that knowledge is power and the prerequisite of national development. The prime objective of the Jain Group institutions is to create the intellectual capital without which India can never become a developed nation. We expect our graduates to add 2 percent to India’s GDP by the year 2015. Fifteen years after we began our mission, we have overcome our teething troubles and have built the foundation for super growth within the next decade.

What government policy initiatives are required to help you attain your mission?

It’s high time governments at the Centre and in the states allowed free growth to private sector education institutions subject to supervision by accrediting agencies such as NAAC and AICTE. The country needs 1,000 private universities within the next 10 years against the 20 operational currently. That’s because the Planning Commission has reduced the annual government allocation for higher education in the Tenth Plan to 18 percent from 28 percent in the Ninth Plan.

Why is there widespread suspicion and resentment of greater private initiatives in the education sector?

Fears of over-commercialisation, sale of degrees and substandard faculty and infrastructure are real and justified. Government knows that universities and colleges should not be under-capitalised and that they take 15 years or more to break even. What is required is a tripartite relationship between academia, government and industry.

Some educationists believe that the licence-permit-quota regime has migrated to the education sector. What’s your comment?

Liberalisation and deregulation which has inspired Indian industry has not happened in education. Though 95 percent of education institutions are owned by government, controls over privately promoted institutions are increasing. Private institutions need to join forces to present their case to the Central and state governments. A beginning has been made by the Federation of Jain Educational Institutes which represents 2,500 institutions. The federation is working with UGC and the Union HRD ministry.

Are public-private partnerships possible in industry?

Yes, very much so. In the writing and printing of textbooks, research, teacher training. And this is beginning to happen. The response time of UGC and AICTE is becoming much quicker. And permissions to introduce vocational and diploma programmes are easily forthcoming.

What are the future growth and development plans of the Jain Group of institutions?

The Jain Group has positioned itself as a cradle-to-grave education supermarket. Within the next five years we intend to promote 15-25 day boarding schools. In the longer term over the next ten years, our plan is to set up 100 schools, 100 colleges and an equal number of oppor-tunity, i.e free, schools for underprivileged children. This means that we expect our aggregate enrollment to rise to 500,000 students within the next ten years.