Although two of the four vital factors of production and national prosperity — labour and enterprise — are intimately connected with human resource development, there is an idée fixe in Indian society that land and capital (the other two vital factors of production) are the only measures of wealth. Development and nurturance of intellectual capital, organisational capability, energy and enterprise — equally, if not more important measures of the wealth of a nation — are strangely discounted and neglected in contemporary India.
Although the country grudgingly hosts the world’s largest population of children and youth (550 million citizens are below the age of 24 and 480 million below 18), from preschool to Ph D, the education system — in particular the public education system — is in a shambles. Perhaps the greatest damage has been done in the higher education system, dominated and over-regulated by the Central and state governments. One of the canons of Indian socialism sanctified by several convoluted judgements of the Supreme Court is that education — especially higher education — cannot be “commercialised”. Consequently a plethora of licences, permits, quotas, tuition fees control rules and other regulations are a distinctive feature of India’s tertiary education system.
The fallout of these controls and regulation by the heavy hand of government is that none of India’s universities — some of more that 150 years vintage — are ranked among the Top 200 in the annual league tables published by reputable rating agencies such as QS, Times Higher Education and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Worse, according to a 2005 Nasscom-Mckinsey World Institute study, 75 percent of engineering and 85 percent of arts, commerce and science graduates of India’s 33,000 colleges and 659 universities, are not fit for employment in multinational companies.
Moreover despite seemingly impressive numbers, India’s higher education institutions lack the capacity to absorb more than 13 percent of the country’s youth in the age group 18-24 as against 80 percent in the US and 21 percent in China. Against this backdrop, a Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010 was drawn up to stem the flow of Indian students to foreign universities, augment capacity and raise standards of higher education in India.
However for several reasons including poor drafting and logjams in frequently-disrupted Parliament, the Bill was stalled. Now it has been resurrected for enactment as a Central government ordinance issued under the University Grants Commission Act, 1956. In the meanwhile news of policy paralysis and brazen corruption of the Central government as also over-regulation of higher education in India, has spread worldwide. In the circumstances it’s a moot point whether its belated and ill-worded statement of intent and invitation to foreign universities to establish captive campuses in India, will receive any response. Our cover story in this issue discusses the likely fate of this initiative.
Also check out the pictorial essay of the over-subscribed EducationWorld India School Rankings 2013 Awards Nite gala dinner held in Delhi on September 14, celebrating the country’s top-ranked schools.
