Loopholes in Higher education in India

Higher education plays an important role in the development of any country. Our country has a well-developed educational set up in terms of range of programs but it lacks in terms of quality standards. There is wide gap between what is actually expected and what the reality is. The reasons for the current situation are manifold. The social composition of class rooms are changed dramatically, we have moved from classes to masses. This massive expansion however not accompanied by increase in quality education. Our best students can indeed be compare best anywhere in the world. But the system does not do enough to address the students at middle and lower level. We have extremely limited number of good institutions in the country and these institutions are oases in the vast desert of higher education. Most of our institutions are characterized by poor teaching, overcrowded class rooms, lack of competent faculty, and an absence of infrastructure .The article deals with the various challenges which will cover under different heads that are facing by the Indian higher education system.

Quality Vs Quantity: In terms of quantity, India is quite impressive every year India is producing millions of graduates and this figure is just after us and china. However in terms of quality India is falling behind the developed world, in fact many graduates cannot find the job as they are not up to the mark.

Weak Linkage of Education with the Industry: This is creating frustration among graduates when they find that education is not so useful in employment and in work situations .institutes need to understand industry requirements properly and accordingly design their curriculum and then teach the students.

Education- A Marketing Commodity: Higher education is become a marketing commodity. It is the most profitable business now a day. Foreign universities are also trying to have shares of Indian educational market; this shift of education from a social good to the market commodity is against Indian culture and these changes will be poor and disadvantageous for the people of India.

Increasing Cost of Education: The cost of education is quite high and has gone out of reach of Indian middle and lower classes. Government funding on higher education has been diminishing Year on year basis. Though the educational loan has been made easy to facilitate higher Education. Still terms and condition imposed by banks in terms of guarantee and criteria of minimum income restrict talent coming from the poor families to go for higher education.

Huge Demand Supply Gap: Huge demand supply gap is not in terms of seats available but in terms of seat available in the institutions who are providing quality education. For example our countries have very few IIT and IIMS, these institutions are like oases in the vast desert of higher education. We have world class students but not the world class universities.

Poor Infrastructure Facilities: Since Indian universities do not have sufficient funding naturally they cannot invest enough on improving their infrastructure. Indian colleges and universities must get more funding to set up world class laboratories and libraries for the development of students.

Change in Examination Pattern: Examination pattern, gradually shifting from the terminal, annual and semester examinations to regular and continuous assessment of student’s performance in learning should be implemented.

Lack of Attractiveness in Teaching Profession: Teaching is ill paid job in India. Lucrative salary and glamour act as a catalyst in attracting the talents. As a result many brilliant students are not coming in teaching profession .some Indian teachers and scholars are migrating to western countries for better facilities.

Lack of Time: The hours allocated to teaching are less in case of semester system. Reduce teaching time give less time for discussion and face to face meeting between teachers and students .it also reduce the opportunity for in depth reading of course material which ultimately reduce the quality of students.

Lack of Value Based Education: Now a day’s value based education is continuously deteriorating in our country. As a result of which various unregulated activities started in various institutes. It is very necessary to inculcate human values in the students like quest for peace, respect for motherland, adherence to truth and right conduct, love for all religion and living beings etc.

Credibility of Higher Education Degrees Completely Eroded: Our degrees and diplomas are expected to provide certification that the awardees possess basic skills of particular type, these certificates declare the minimum level of competency which the society can expect from the students .unfortunately our institutions have failed to perform this basic function with the result that society has no longer trust us. The credibility of higher education degrees completely eroded.

In the end we can say that the journey towards excellence in higher education has begun but there's still a long way to go. In India, higher education was traditionally looked after by the government, but in view of lack of resources to meet the increasing demand, private sector has been allowed to share the responsibility. The country has a well-developed educational set up in terms of range of programs but it lacks in terms of quality standards. Higher education emphasizes more on commercial aspect than creation of knowledge which leads to deterioration of quality of education. The councils and government bodies responsible for quality assurance do not have internationally matchable quality norms on one hand and an effective system to monitor and control violation of the existing norms by the institutions on the other. If India has to emerge as preferred location for higher education it will have to develop policy to address the challenges of meeting quality standards, effective systems of monitoring and control, good infrastructure facilities, reducing education and industry gap, providing skill professionals etc. for the growth and development of future generation.

The author of this article is Assistant Professor, Pioneer Institute, Indore