Regulating the classroom

Governments may wash their hands off the Chhattisgarh higher education fiasco but the root of the problem lies entangled with all that red t...

Governments may wash their hands off the Chhattisgarh higher education fiasco but the root of the problem lies entangled with all that red tape at Delhi8217;s Shastri Bhavan, seat of the Union HRD Ministry. Successive governments have not really bothered to address the politically sensitive issue of private players entering higher education.

The late Madhavrao Scindia, as education minister in the early 1990s, was the last such functionary to seriously address the issue. S.R. Bommai, HRD minister in the volatile UF government, had little time for longterm planning. Murli Manohar Joshi, his successor, was himself a former professor and his first loyalty was to his constituency of professors. Privatisation was never a distinct part of his agenda. And hemmed in by the Left, Arjun Singh was tentative.

THOSE opposing the entry of private players in higher education argue only two per cent of 90 lakh college and university students are enrolled in private institutions. Says Professor Marmar Mukhopadhyay, acting director of the National Institute for Educational Planning and Research, 8216;8216;We have to look at both simultaneously. We cannot exclude the government colleges from the larger picture when we are considering the future of private colleges.8217;8217;

But education planners admit this half-hearted approach has been a stumbling block. 8216;8216;This is the reason why nobody thought of enforcing a better regulatory mechanism when private universities were conceived,8217;8217; says a former HRD bureaucrat. B.S. Baswan, higher education secretary, agrees, 8216;8216;There has been need for a mechanism to control unbridled market forces.8217;8217;

But being pragmatic, Baswan suggests in the same breath that a proper regulatory mechanism does not mean the role of private players should be restricted.

But Baswan believes, as does former UGC chief Professor Yash Pal, that universities should not be in private hands at the moment.

More private players should be allowed to run colleges and once they really acquire a self-regulated set of standards, they can be permitted to upgrade their colleges to universities. Baswan also believes that universities should not be degree-manufacturing factories. The first eligibility criterion for university should be research, as is the norm the world over.

Story continues below this ad

In public interest

8226; In 1995, a serious attempt was made by the Narasimha Rao government to push through the Private Universities Establishment and Regulation Bill. It was introduced in the Rajya Sabha but was stalled because some political parties opposed it
8226; The Sikkim Manipal University of Health, Medical and Technological Sciences Act, 1995, was a private university set up in Sikkim in collaboration with the Manipal Pai Foundation because the young state did not have enough resources to set up its institutions
8226; The Chhattisgarh Niji Kshetra Vishwavidyalaya Adhiniyam, 2002, had several inadequacies. The Act has been questioned in the Supreme Court for allowing universities to be set up through notification in the Government Gazette, without the legislature deliberating and voting on the issue

SOME officials suggest the government should first enter into a dialogue with private educators on what sectors of education are they looking at. True, few of them would be willing to promote the liberal arts unless the courses offered included more sought-after streams like commerce and economics. Accordingly, the government can urge private players to open more colleges for which the regulatory mechanism is in place.

The University Grants Commission has a set of guidelines on the basis of which the quality of teaching in all colleges, private or government-run, can be monitored.

BUT two issues need to be looked at without delay. The world over there has been a phenomenal growth of private institutions. In Brazil, there were no private universities in 1980. Today of the 62 universities in the country, 42 are run privately. In Japan, of the 4,790 institutions, 4,117 are in private hands.

Even in the relatively conservative United States, 20 per cent of undergraduate students go to private, as opposed to public-owned, universities. In effect, India has to fast devise a set of guidelines for private universities.

Story continues below this ad

Secondly, there is need for a fresh look at the way higher education is subsidised. Following the Supreme Court judgment in T.M.A. Pai versus State of Karnataka 8212; it outlawed capitation fees 8212; governments both at the Centre and the states have been less than responsive to requests for private participation in higher education.

Yet there is a clientele in the country willing to spend on quality higher education.

A parent sending a child to an Ivy League school in the US has to budget for US 36,000 a year as fees alone. Education in the US, the UK, Australia or New Zealand costs the Indian student an average of

US 16,000 a year on the academic component. Multiply this by the 1.1 lakh Indians who go abroad to sudy every year and you8217;re staring at a drain of wealth.

Story continues below this ad

On the other hand, even after taking into account the more expensive private professional courses, the average Indian institution seldom charges beyond Rs 20,000 a year. From telecom to insurance, every emerging business area needs a regulator. What about education? That is Chhattisgarh8217;s question. India awaits the answer.