Discuss the major challenges in higher education in india?
Answers
Primary education starts from Class 1st when child is 5 years old. Primary education does not only mean a classroom, books and a teacher (that is bare minimum) but nutrition, clothes and creating an environment where a child can learn new things every day, an environment that can help in bringing out best within a child.
Infrastructure like chair, table, books, stationery, a classroom and teachers is bare minimum that any government could provide.
They need to do more than that like teaching children how they can imagine and bring out their inner talent that they can use later in their life.
If we have to bring people out of poverty then we need social mobility and social mobility can’t be achieved unless we focus on primary education and health.
However on the other hand higher education does not solve this problem.
Higher education starts when you come out of high school or 10+2.
So if child is 5 years old and live in a family which is below poverty line then the child needs primary education not higher education.
Therefore if government is spending only on higher education that is not going to change the status of child because higher education is all about colleges. And by the time the child living in a family below poverty line reaches the age of 16 his or her mind has already been shaped.
So it is of no use if the government is spending on higher education.
That is the difference between importance of higher and primary education.
MORAL ISSUES:
Problems with Higher Education in India
So above we discussed issues that higher education is facing. Now we shall debate about some of the serious challenges that higher education is facing.
1. Gap in Supply and Demand
India’s gross enrollment rate (GER) is just 19% which is not good. GER is 6% below the world average and at least 50% lesser than developed world like Australia and US.
This has to change if we have to really improve state of higher education in India.
2. Mushrooming of Low Quality Institutes
Mushrooming of low quality institutes all over the country is not good for higher education. These new colleges lack capacity and they are all about fleecing money from students and their parents.
There is too much glamour and less quality of education.
3. No Project Based Learning
Higher education lack project based learning. Young graduates need to learn new skills especially vocational skills that can give them job.
So we are not focusing on project based learning at all. Just theory is not enough, we also need practical knowledge is also.
4. No Strategy
There is no strategy for higher education in India. We don’t have foreign students coming to the country and studying here.
Government has no plan for this and this is a big challenge.
5. Why Only Servicing Industry?
We are obsessed with servicing industry. We all want to get selected in campus selection so we love jobs in servicing sector only.
However higher education does not solve the problem when it comes to creating jobs in manufacturing sector. That is a big problem
Challenges of present higher educational system in India
Since we have got independence we are facing challenges to establish a great and
strong education system. Various governments came and gone. Off course they tried to
establish new education policies in the system but this is very sad to dictate that they were
not sufficient for our country. Still we are facing lot of problems and challenges in our
Education System. India recognises that the new global scenario poses unprecedented
challenges for the higher education system. The University Grants Commission has
appropriately stated that a whole range of skills will be demanded from the graduates of
humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and commerce, as well as from the various
professional disciplines such as agriculture, law, management, medicine or engineering.
India can no longer continue the model of general education as it has been persisting
in for the large bulk of the student population. Rather, it requires a major investment to
make human resource productive by coupling the older general disciplines of humanities,
social sciences, natural sciences and commerce to their applications in the new economy
and having adequate field based experience to enhance knowledge with skills and develop
appropriate attitudes.
Responding to these emerging needs, the UGC stated: "The University has a crucial
role to play in promoting social change. It must make an impact on the community if it is to
retain its legitimacy and gain public support". It seeks to do so by a new emphasis on
community based programmes and work on social issues. Concepts of access, equity,
relevance and quality can be operationalised only if the system is both effective and
efficient. Hence, the management of higher education and the total networking of the
system has become an important issue for effective management. The shift can occur only
through a systemic approach to change as also the development of its human resource, and
networking the system through information and communication technology.
There are many basic problems facing higher education in India today. These include
inadequate infrastructure and facilities, large vacancies in faculty positions and poor faculty
thereof, low student enrolment rate, outmoded teaching methods, declining research
standards, unmotivated students, overcrowded classrooms and widespread geographic,
income, gender, and ethnic imbalances. Apart from concerns relating to deteriorating
standards, there is reported exploitation of students by many private providers. Ensuring
equitable access to quality higher education for students coming from poor families is a
major challenge. Students from poor background are put to further disadvantage since they
are not academically prepared to crack highly competitive entrance examinations that have
bias towards urban elite and rich students having access to private tuitions and coaching.