GS paper 2
Syllabus: Issues related to the development of the social sector involving education etc
Directions: Important for mains, you can use it as an issue in higher education in India
Context:
- The Union Ministry of Education released the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings for
- An analysis of the top 200 institutes of technology and engineering colleges is a worrying picture.
Issues:
- Misleading Placement news and consequent free increase: The ‘hard work pays’ and ‘institutions matter’, these stories attract prospective students and justify increasing fees.
- Lack of clarification from Engineering colleges: The reported packages are the rupee equivalent of U.S. salaries in dollars with no regard for the cost of living or for purchasing power parity.
- Take-home salaries: The take-home salaries are only a fraction of what is mentioned in the headlines.
- Sign-on bonus for the job: It is rarely paid upfront, instead, it is usually disbursed over about 24 months.
- Rare offers: Placement headlines rarely reveal that such offers are rare, limited to only a minuscule number of graduates
- International placements: The placements are generally confined to international placements, mostly in the Information Technology sector.
Impact of misleading advertising by colleges:
- Mindless race: This triggers a mindless rat race to get students into institutions of national importance.
- Chasing placement: Students chase quality institutions, those that offer an assured placement, preferably with a dream package.
- Capitalization: Above factors, coupled with the scarcity of seats, makes a fertile ground for commerce to capitalize on.
- Focus on admissions: Children are often forced to take time off from their studies to focus on admissions
- Parents and peer pressure: Children are forced to realize the dream that their parents and peers have seen for them and become doctors and engineers.
Way forward:
- Engineering education at affordable cost: India has many institutions offering quality engineering education at an affordable cost.
- In business parlance, that is the ability to deliver value for money.
- Quality of technical higher education: The scope of enhancing the intake in the existing quality institutions also appears limited.
- The need is to improve the overall quality of technical higher education across the board.
Insta Links:
India Rankings 2022 of higher educational institutes
Mains Links:
Q. National Education Policy 2020 is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals-4 (2030). It intended to restructure and re-orient the education system in India. Critically examine the statement(UPSC 2020)
Prelims Links:
NIRF ranking
NEP
SDG 4
Which of the following is/are parameters used by NIRF for ranking of higher educational institutions?
- Teaching, learning and resources(TLR)
- Research and professional practice
- Graduation outcome
- Inclusivity and perception
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
a.1, 2 and 4 only
b.1, 3 and 4 only
c.2 and 3 only
d.1, 2, 3 and 4
Ans: (d)
Justification:
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