EDITORIAL ANALYSIS : It’s time for India’s universities to join the world

Source: The Hindu

• Prelims: Current events of national importance(Different social service Schemes, NEP, Qs ranking, THE ranking etc)
• Mains GS Paper I & II: Social empowerment, development and management of social sectors/services related to Education etc.

ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS

• India is assuming the G20 presidency, it is now time for it to join the world’s academic community as a major player.
  • India’s academic system is now the world’s second largest.

INSIGHTS ON THE ISSUE

Context

Times Higher Education (THE) ranking:

• THE is a magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education.
• The IISc is placed in the 251-300 band.
• Boycott by IITs: THE ranking has been boycotted by most Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) for the third consecutive year over transparency concerns.

Parameters for ranking:

• Teaching (30%)
• Research (30%)
• Citations (30%)
• International outlook (5(seven point five)%)
• Industry outcome (5(two point five)%).

In teaching and research, 15% weightage each is based on a “reputational survey”

Advantages for India to develop higher education:

• The world sees India as an increasingly important economy and geopolitical player.
• India plays an important role in higher education: mainly as an exporter of students and talent in many scientific fields
  • especially in information technology and related fields.
• There is a growing interest abroad in linking with Indian universities and research institutes, because of untapped talent and also due to disengagement from China by some Western countries.

Higher education system in India:

• The NEP’s focus is on consolidation, with the goal of bringing flexibility and multi-disciplinary education and improving quality.
• High-quality government institutions such as the IITs and AIIMS are expanding and improving,
• India has set up the National Institutional Ranking Framework, which has helped fuel competition among institutions.
• India’s global ranking in scientific publications improved from the seventh position in 2010 to the third in 2020.
• India ranks third in terms of the number of PhDs awarded in science and engineering.
• India’s Global Innovation Index ranking has also improved significantly, from 81 in 2014 to 40 in 2022.

Issues with Higher education in India:

• Indian universities have not scored well in the global rankings.
  • The highest-scoring Indian institution in the 2023 Times Higher Education ranking is the Indian Institute of Science, in the 251-300 range.
• The best-known institutions globally are the IITs.
  • These do not rank well because they are small, specialized schools and not comprehensive universities.
• Low Investment: China over decades has invested billions of dollars to improve its top universities.
• Funded through the University Grants Commission (UGC): universities are all subject to a very strict regulatory regime.

• Micro-managed by the regulatory authorities: faculty recruitment, student admission and the award of degrees
• Comfort with the practice: they rarely assert their autonomy
• Obedience: Central universities in the country are ranked on the basis of their ‘obedience’ to regulatory compliances.
• Research: Poor fund allocation in research, Low levels of PhD enrolment, fewer opportunities for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research.
  • India’s investment in R&D has remained constant at around 6(zero point six)% to 0.7(zero point seven)% of India’s GDP.
    • US (2.8), China (2.1), Israel (4.3) and Korea (4.2).

National Education Policy(NEP) about Higher education:

• Academic and administrative autonomy essential for making higher education multidisciplinary.
• Teacher and institutional autonomy are essential in promoting creativity and innovation.
• Faculty and institutional autonomy through a highly independent and empowered board of management(vested with academic and administrative autonomy).
• A light but tight regulatory framework insists that the new regulatory regime would foster a culture of empowerment.

Recent Initiatives taken by the Government:

Way Forward

• National Education Policy (NEP) of 2020: As articulated in the NEP, the country is actively pursuing reform and improvement.
• Opening to the world will make India more visible on the global academic scene and also learning about, and implementing, best practices from abroad.
  • The G20 leadership is an excellent opportunity to do both.
• Priority areas in education during India’s G20 presidency is ‘Strengthening Research and Promoting Innovation through Richer Collaboration’.
• The recent step by IIT-Kharagpur to establish a branch campus in Malaysia will help.
• Investment: For India to catch up, both in the rankings and in reality, will take significant investment over a sustained period of time.
• India’s academic environment are distinctive and worth highlighting to an international audience: The emergence of about a dozen top-quality non-profit private universities, mostly funded by philanthropically minded Indians.
• India uses English as the main language of science and higher education, which makes it much easier to interact with the rest of the world.
• India has more than 100 research laboratories in diverse areas sponsored by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and other Central government agencies.
  • Some are outstanding in terms of their research contributions and their relationships with India’s economy.
• Soft power: India’s universities and its scientific prowess are an important part of a soft power strategy.
  • The internationalization initiatives outlined in the NEP is an important start.
• India’s G20 leadership is also an excellent opportunity to exercise leadership:
  • Initiatives have been suggested:
    • conference in India of leaders of universities in the G20 countries with the aim of acquainting them with India’s academic opportunities.
    • creation of a prestigious scholarship programme, similar to the Fulbright programme, that would provide top Indian students and faculty time in leading universities abroad
    • China’s version of this is the China Scholarship Council.
  • Creating ‘world-class universities’: 20 universities – 10 each from the public and private sector – are being selected as ‘Institutions of Eminence’, to help them attain world-class standards of teaching and research.

QUESTION FOR PRACTICE

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) (200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)