The Indian higher education ranks low among other countries with the Indian universities being ranked poor in the global rankings. It is obvious that we cannot expect to see significant improvements in a year or two, while the major concern is that none of the top institutions in India secured a better rank in 2011 when compared to 2010.  We have bigger challenges that need to be faced.

In the Indian context is it really important to have world class universities? Will they be just means to boast of in terms of global rankings? Or should we have more important priorities?

The challenges faced by the Indian higher education sector

The challenges that the Indian higher education system faces is well known among the observers. The enrollment ratio in the higher education sector is very low in the country. The quality of faculty in the higher education institutions vary widely. Moreover there is the problem of shortage of faculty. Another major concern is with the employability of the graduates. A major portion of the graduates from Indian institutions are not employable, according to a recent study. The syllabi that the Indian higher education institutions follow are outdated. Learning in the Indian education system is limited to memorizing rather than practical or application oriented. This was very well emphasized by Professor Vijay Gupta who observed that universities in India should award BA degrees than BE degrees in engineering as most of the examinations held for engineering are descriptive in nature.

Criticisms against the Indian higher education

A major criticism against the Indian higher education system is that it does not carry the Indian ethos, a connection to the India’s rich culture and civilization. The education system has failed to consider important aspects such as values and ethics, or to nurture more comprehensive and rounded young graduates. Only a few institutions in India such as Viswabharati and Dayalbagh have come forward with alternatives to address the criticism. The not so encouraging fact is that only very few institutions in India seek to imitate them.

But at this point of time the issue of culture is not that significant. In the recent times the Indian students have built up on social sensitivity. The same helps in contribution of social entrepreneurship, inclusive growth and also bottom of the pyramid models. This development is clear from the different student activities which are organized in the educational institutions in India.

The issue of scaling up

Another major challenge is scaling up. The current models in higher education that we follow in India are capital intensive. This makes it difficult to reach the level we desire due to constraints in resources. In current situation, the important question that we have to ask is whether scaling up the existing model is the right track to follow.

The advent of internet and its impact

With the widespread diffusion of internet, the way we live changed forever from the last decade on. Today internet has become so popular among the masses with the advent of social media, while it was acclaimed as it promised to overcome an important trade off between richness and reach. The real potential of internet has been realized in some of the sectors such as financial services and consumer retail. But in India we have failed to exploit the benefits of internet in the field of education, where it could have made the greatest impact.

Bridging the gap between quality and scale

What is the importance of internet in higher education sector in India? It is so because the main gap that exists in the higher education in India today is between quality and scale, i.e., richness and reach. After the independence, the Indian higher education system concentrated on quality (IITs, IIMs, NITs, etc.), and the focus shifted to scale. The shift is evident from the exploding growth of private run professional education institutions in the last two decades. But now the focus has shifted back to quality which is witnessed from the setting up of central universities, IITs, IIScs, IIMs, and NITs.

A country which is the second most populous country in the world, with one sixth of the world’s population, is considered as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. India is expected to become an economically developed country within the next 10 years or so. The Indian ambitions to become a global power require us to find ways to close the gap between quality and scale trade off.

Should we adopt Best practice or innovation?

In management there are situations where there is a dilemma on the course to be pursued; whether to adopt established best practices or try to innovate. The common understanding is that if one is below the current productivity standard, adoption of best practices helps to achieve the standard quickly. This is what most of the manufacturing firms do when they follow world class quality and manufacturing practices. Still, it is evident that disruptive models presents the opportunity to leapfrog ahead (developing new productivity standards) even though they may start by being inferior to existing methods of doing things.

The advantages of innovation in the Indian context

Latest technologies may present India with the opportunity to leapfrog. What we have to consider at this point of time is whether we are leveraging such technology. What we have done so far is uploading video sessions of professors on the internet and study materials which can be downloaded for free. Even though these are good steps, we have failed to use the internet for more interactive and collaborative learning. The government’s effort to launch the low cost computing device for students has finally become a success with the launch of Aakash tablet. It is a favorable development, as far the use of mobile technology is concerned. But where do the students get the necessary content for their studies from? How can we make use of the social media to enhance the quality of education? These are the questions which needs to be addressed.