Funding public education

GS paper 2

Syllabus: Issues related to the development of the social sector related to education,

Source: The Hindu

Directions: Important for mains, can be asked directly or you can use it as an example as issues arising in higher education due to less funding

Context: This is an editorial article, emphasizing that the universities that need support from the state as well as self-funding.

Currently, the government is asking universities to generate their own fund or privatize:

• • • General Financial Rules of 2017: Encourage all autonomous bodies to maximize the generation of internal resources and attain self-sufficiency
    • Government expenditure (Centre +State on higher education): It dropped from 0.86(zero point eight six)% of GDP in 2010-11 to a measly 0.52(zero point five two)% in 2019-20.

Issues with privatization of Education:

• • • Non-inclusive: Substantial increase in fees and other charges from students.
    • Inequalities: The heavy dependence on privately-managed institutes as a means of education often perpetuates inequality in accessing higher education.

Other Challenges:

Recommendations:  

• • • Kothari Commission(precursor to the 1968 policy): Higher education should have been getting at least 2% of GDP.
    • The National Education Policy(NEP) vision:
      • Public education: Promote increased access, equity, and inclusion through a range of measures, including greater opportunities for outstanding public education.
      • Increase in public investment: NEP endorsed a substantial increase in public investment by the Central and State governments to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest.
      • The NEP 2020 envisages enrolment in higher education to be nearly double by 2035.

Insta Links:

NEP 2020

Kothari Education Commission

Mains Links:

Q. The quality of higher education in India requires major improvements to make it internationally competitive. Do you think that the entry of foreign educational institutions would help improve the quality of technical and higher education in the country? Discuss. (UPSC 2015)

Prelims links:

NEP

Kothari commission

General finance rules 2017