India is having the third-largest higher education system in the world. There were 799 universities and 39,071 colleges spread across the country in 2016. The growth of higher education in India over a little more than half a century has been even more amazing.
Between 1950 and 2014, the number of universities in India increased by 34 times, and, between 1950 and 2013, colleges increased by 74 times.
This quantitative explosion in higher education institutions has not been matched by the quality of the education they provide. In fact, the gap between quantity and quality is so large that it stands as one of the major obstacles in the way of India being a world leader. To become such a leader, India needs to develop a world class higher education system.
A world class higher education system is one that is student- or customer-cantered rather than institution-centred. It comprises certified and caring institutions that have the resources required and the core mission of ensuring that students/customers acquire the knowledge/skills/abilities and dispositions that they need to achieve their individual goals and to maximise their contribution to society.
India’s current system has been almost contrary to the above said thing. The focus has been primarily on a select group of institutions and individuals rather than embracing and addressing the needs of the whole.
In order to address the problem, the Narendra Modi administration attempted to put some emphasis on quality in higher education with its introduction of draft regulations for a new initiative called the “UGC Declaration of Government Educational Institutions as World Class Institutions Guidelines, 2016.