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| EDUCATION TRIBUNE |
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Higher education thinly spread Unchanged face of students’ agitations India offers avenues to Chinese students Paying through your nose
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Higher education thinly spread There is a considerable body of popular opinion, which holds that the basic reason for the continuing crisis of the university and college system in India is its vastness. The expansion, which is dated to the 1960s, was, it is alleged, without any quality controls. Moreover, controlling quality in such a vast system has been difficult in the absence of requisite bench-marking techniques. Or, at least such had been the case till the advent of the NAAC and its quality certification procedures. But even with the NAAC, the issue remains: how to enable such a vast body of colleges and universities, even those which have opted for quality enhancement in the manner quantified by the NAAC, to move towards better quality? It is important to notice that for a society with a shortage of resources, the country has been spending a considerable amount on the growth of education. While in 1950-51 only 0.64% of the GDP was being spent on education, by 1978-79 the figure had grown to 3% of the GDP and in 2000-2001 to 4.11%. In absolute terms it means Rs 64.46 crore, Rs 2994.94 crore and 77847.66 crore respectively for those three years. These are no mean figures by any stretch of imagination. Such expenditure meant a substantial growth of education. There were 27 universities and about 550 colleges of different sorts soon after Independence. The number of universities crossed the century mark in 1975-76 while the number of colleges that year was about 7,000. In 2000-2001 there were over 250 universities in the country and the number of colleges of different kinds had crossed 10,000. Current estimates put the number of colleges to be over 13,000. The number of teachers in higher education too has gone up. In 1961 the number of teachers in colleges, universities and other institutions of national importance was estimated to be 62,000; in 1997 the number had crossed 320,000 and now it is believed to be over 330,000. The number of students enrolled has increased from a mere 17.9 million in 1961 to 72.4 million in 1991. In themselves these figures look impressive. Little wonder that oftentimes it has been claimed that India has the third largest pool of scientifically and technically trained manpower in the world. Yet, higher education in India, despite looks to the contrary, is actually rather thinly spread and suffers with serious logistic problems. Take for example, a comparison with the spread of higher education in the United Kingdom. In 2003 some 1.5 million UK citizens were enrolled in institutions of higher education and were being taught by 119,900 teachers. In terms of the work that is expected of every teacher this implies each full-time staff member in the UK is expected to handle just 13 students. In contrast, the figure in India is 220 students for each teacher. The implications of such overload are left to the readers’ imagination. Moreover, the UK has a total population of about 60 million. This means that one out of every 40 UK citizen is studying in an institution of higher education. In contrast, out of India’s 1 billion, it is out of every 14,000 people that only 1 is partaking of higher education. Let us imagine that out of the 66% literate population of India actually only 0.1% are “confidently literate”, i.e. of a calibre to partake of higher education. Even then we have 66 crore people who are already equipped to benefit from higher education while actually we have only about 8 crore who actually get to go to a college or university. The author teaches in History Department of PU, Chandigarh. |
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Unchanged face of students’ agitations May be because of the fact that out of about 3,000 students in a college, only a handful come equipped with books, notebooks or a pen. The only perceptible change is that a majority of them come on expensive motorbikes and quite a few carry mobiles in their hands. Small wonder that whenever any small group of so-called student leaders, persuades these time-pass students to go on a strike, may be on as flimsy an issue as that of the size of a samosa in the canteen, they readily oblige. In fact, just a few “hai hai” calls are sufficient to gather a number of giggling groups that soon turn into a mob. Let us have a closer look at the student agitation that has rocked city colleges now for weeks. A recent fee hike and alleged disparity in fund collection among local colleges affiliated to Panjab University is reported to be the “immediate cause”. Its immediacy can well be gauged from the fact that the first instalment of the hiked fee was deposited by students a few months ago without a moan! Waste of valuable teaching time apart, a few ill-advised students went to resorting self-inflicting violence for the “cause”! All this led to a volatile situation that embarrassed the university authorities, being the venue of the strike. The situation eased temporarily after the intervention of politicians, who met the authorities that be and issued high sounding statements in favour of the student community. Fund, fee or samosa, whatever the issue, the student community should realise that while losing valuable paid learning time, they cannot justify their demand for reducing the alleged financial fee/fund hike. Before asking for concessions or fee-fund reduction, they should grab what they have already paid for. It is high time that they ask for more teaching hours than what is stipulated for them. Paying for 100 lectures and asking for 65 is simply a ridiculous demand and not worth a strike. Until Indian parents stop paying, at times through their nose, for the higher education of their children, who should start learning only after earning themselves, the situation, perhaps, will not change. |
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India offers avenues to Chinese students India’s prestigious higher educational institutions, which offer high-quality courses at a fraction of the cost compared with those in developed countries, will welcome more foreign students, according to senior HRD Ministry official. “India has some of the best institutions for higher education, which are recognised globally for their quality. Now we are in the process of marketing our strengths globally, including for the first time in China,” Additional Secretary in the Department of Secondary and Higher Education under the Ministry of Human Resources Development Kumud Bansal said in Beijing. On the sidelines of a major Chinese educational exposition in Beijing, she said the HRD Ministry has for the first time targeted China as a potential market for foreign students. “This is the first time for India to participate in an education exposition in China and we are very pleased with the initial response from Chinese students and their parents,” Ms Bansal said. She said the Indian stall at the exposition received a lot of enquiries from Chinese students on different courses, especially in information technology (IT). Ms Bansal, during her meeting with Chinese higher education officials, emphasised that India offers the best education destination for foreign students. She also pointed out that since the Indian higher education system had English as the predominant medium of communication and learning, the country could offer Chinese students excellent courses in a range of subject at a fraction of cost compare to educational destinations in developed nations. She said India was keen to attract foreign students into its higher educational institutions by offering courses in the field of engineering, medicine, agriculture, management, humanities and social sciences, fine arts, etc. —
PTI |
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Paying through your nose Little hands and feet, carefree laughter, sparkling eyes: these are our children, nurtured with love and care. But vulnerable parents are being exploited by education shops which have mushroomed within the city and its surroundings. It starts from forms which are expensive. Then comes the time for the interview. Parents hunt for a 'contact' who can get their child admitted without any hassles. The "ordinary" parent faces the interview board where a psychologist is there to judge you as to how good a parent you are. Questions like: "Do you want the child to be an extension of yourself?", perplex many a parent and many come out perspiring. Then starts the monetary drainage. No kindergarten charges less than Rs 10,000 as registration charges. The monthly fee starts from Rs 900 onwards. The schools offer different packages. Air-conditioners, coolers, filtered water, neat and clean ayahs, smart, English-speaking teachers, swimming pools, picnics (outdoor excursion), well-equipped library and smart uniforms to be picked up from specific shops. The greater the list of facilities being offered, the higher the charges. Nothing wrong in these incentives, only one thought that occurs. Are our children not entitled to these facilities in all schools, even government schools? Why should there be such a huge difference in the quality of government and private schools? Why should the charges be so high? More important, why should parents boast outside that their child has got admission in the best kindergarten (read expensive) and grumble inwardly that they are being looted? These double standards are being exploited by the kindergartens. |
What is new yesterday, becomes obsolete today. Everything moves at a fast pace. But strangely enough, students’ strikes have not changed a wee bit.