The Indian Education sector is among the biggest, with a network of more than 1.4 million schools (with more than 200 million understudies enlisted) and in excess of 850 colleges and 40,000 advanced education organizations and is growing quickly in light of rising pay levels and developing an interest for quality education in the nation. Further, India likewise has the world’s biggest population in the age section 3 to 23 years which features the expensive addressable market for this segment. Indian Higher Education framework is eminent for its scholastic ability since antiquated history when we dive upon the scholarly ancient pieces, it reminds us of the equivalent.
Making available more financial and other resources both by the Government (Central and State) and private organisations is one of the major challenges that the higher education system in India is facing, said the top official at University Grants Commission (UGC).
The growth in the number of universities and colleges in the country correspondingly led to the growth in the recruitment and training of teachers. The total no. of teachers in the higher education space grew from 12.5 lakh in FY12 to 13.7 lakh in FY17. The student enrolments in higher education during the said period also witnessed a rise reaching 357.1 lakh in FY17 from 291.8 lakh in FY12. The enrolments grew at a faster CAGR of 4.1% during FY2012-17 as compared to the growth of teachers at 1.8% during the said period. This has resulted in the marginal decline in the Student-Teacher ratio of 23:1 in FY12 to 26:1 in FY17.
“As an apex education body, we wish that adequate funds be made available for higher education and research. India spends 0.6-0.7 per cent of its GDP on research and development which is very low compared to the US (2.8 per cent), China (2.1 per cent), Israel (4.3 per cent) and Korea (4.2 per cent),” said DP Singh, Chairman, UGC.
He added there is a need for higher education institutes to revisit their courses and assess the job opportunities that would be available in the coming five years. Courses that make students employment-worthy should be introduced.
No private player in the top of the list in global ranking and the one who are present are backed by government funding. “Now things are changing and private universities are taking initiatives to find a place globally,” he added. “This is because the global rankers prefer multi-interdisciplinary institutions, and in India, they are more stream-based, such as technical and medical universities,” Singh said.
On the initiatives being taken by the UGC to improve the quality of education, Singh said, “Those institutes with a Cumulative Grade Points Average (CGPA) of 3.5 and above have been rewarded with full autonomy.”