This paper attempts to explore the issue related to growth and expansion of higher education from diversification and an equity point of view in Indian context. First and foremost it highlights the ideaof equity in education. Furthermore it discusses the expansion in access to education and inequalities. It is followed by a discussion on the implications of policies and approaches related to improve equity. Moreover it also aspires to look into the role of state, market and civil society organization in ensuring equity. Lastly, analysis and conclusion has been made on the basis of synthesis of available literature.
Keywords: expansion, higher education, diversification & equity
Introduction
“Every society that values social justice and is anxious to improve the lot of the common man and cultivate all available talent must ensure progressive equality of opportunity to all sections of the population. This is the only guarantee for the building up of an egalitarian and human society in which the exploitation of the weak will be minimized” (The Education Commission, GOI, 1966. 108 cited in Kumari: 2014 p. 1).
Education is through which one inculcates knowledge, values, skills and attitudes. It is regarded as an empowerment right, which enables marginalised persons and communities to transcend poverty and obtain the means to participate fully in community life. It is a major tool for socio-economic improvement of an individual and it also reduces social inequalities, political assertion and income distribution. It is an important disguise of any human being’s life to encircling each and every sphere of its existence. The word education is derived from the Latin word “educatum” meaning to “lead out”. Education increase self-efficacy and self-esteem of an individual. In overall education helps an individual in leading a healthy and fulfilling life.
Education has been instrumental in defining and mapping out the aims and objectives of an individual. It has the potentiality for creating awareness of the difficulties and obstacles that may hinder the path of development.
Such awareness in a better way helps the deprived groups to go in search for alternative solutions of their problems for improving their lot and * Professor, Department of Social Work, GGV Bilaspur, MP.
climbing the ladder of social hierarchy. Education is central to the process of development of any individual or Nation. It empowers people and strengthens them. It benefits the individual, society, and the world as a whole. It is the one of the potent instrument known to reduce poverty and inequality. The development of any nation will not be complete and fruitful without the development of the weaker and deprived section of the society. Hence it is very important for any for any country to produce an educated mass who will contribute effectively to the development of a country.
Education is an important ingredient of human development (UNDP, 1990). It contributes to wellbeing of individuals instrumentally in terms of its contribution to higher income and intrinsically by raising capabilities and individual freedoms (Dreze & Sen, 2002). Besides being valuable to individuals themselves, education affects welfare of their future generations through intergenerational transmission. Improved education of parents may lead to more educated and healthier children. Education, as a public good, also affects welfare of other members of the society because of externalities (positive) derived from it. However, limitations of the average level of educational attainment as an indicator have long been recognized. This is especially so for developing countries such as ours, where disparity in educational attainment at higher level exists between the various &diverse populationgroups viz; between males and females, and among various social groups). An important issue in expansion is the matter of access and equity of higher education through diversification. We must feel that this should be based on the simple principle that “No talented and deserving person should be denied access to higher education. The need of the hour today is to focus on the quality of higher education in the country via expansion for various population groups. But a consensus on the definition of quality education has to be achieved first.
It constitutes the ability to think logically and analytically to take out an honorable living, to realize one’s potential for self-development through educational experience; and to acquire a discriminatory capability to appreciate and imbibe the emerging values of our times such as concern for ecology, equality, civility, harmony and cultural pluralism. Higher education is traditionally associated with university education. Historically, universities have played a central role in generating knowledge and transmitting it from generation to generation. As access to universities in the developed countries used to be quite limited, they were considered an exclusive domain for the elite. The expansion of higher education started as a linear process, but began to diversify primarily in response to varying demand emanating from different stakeholders. As the market increasingly demanded readily employable graduates – a ‘finished product’ approach – in different sectors of the economy, the demand for education shifted from theoretically oriented
to more occupation-related study programmes in order to produce a more vocationally trained labour force. Universities were increasingly seen as too rigid, overly academic, less oriented toward occupational preparation, and elitist. The traditional universities, given their elite orientation, could not satisfactorily cater to these varied demands for study programmes linked to the skills demanded in the labour market.
The Indian system of higher education is both enormous and complex. Established in the image of British universities in the mid nineteenth century, it has now acquired a more hybrid form, influenced after independence by both the Soviet and American traditions. India now boasts over 375 public and 40 private universities, with almost 20,000 affiliated colleges that teach programs developed and examined by key state universities (Agarwal, 2009).
India also has around 250 specialist teaching and research institutions, established to provide training in such areas as medicine, engineering, agriculture, and computer science, and to conduct high-level research (Jayaram, 2004). The system as a whole employs more than 400,000 teachers and caters for almost 10 million students. Increase in demand for higher education in India has averaged more than 4 per cent over the past four decades, and shows no sign of decline.
The growth of the financially independent, for-profit sector in higher education has perhaps been one of the most noteworthy recent developments in India. Also significant has been the increase in open and distance institutions, which now enroll over two million students. Indian higher education has evolved in distinct and divergent streams, all monitored by an apex body, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). The Planning Commission of India sets the broad parameters for the funding of Indian higher education, while the University Grants Commission (UGC) is responsible for distributing resources and promoting reforms. The UGC also has a role in the processes of coordination, accreditation and quality control. However, within the framework of a complex federalism, legislatively, it is the state governments that establish and oversee the work of most universities. Within a system that is intrinsically political, the attempts by the national government to assume greater control have been resisted by the states, despite the existence of twenty so-called central universities; with many more planned. As points out, in the context of India, ‘the term ‘higher education’ suggests a homogeneity, which glosses over the enormous structural and functional diversity within the system’. Institutions vary in their objectives and funding sources, and in faculty and student commitment, and zealously attempt to guard some level of autonomy.
Framework of Higher Education
Higher Education sector has witnessed a tremendous increase in its institutional capacity in the years since Independence. Higher education’ and
‘higher education system’ became popular terms as embedded in common frameworks of societal expectations, regulatory frameworks, and co-operative or competitive linkages. Higher education has come to be included in the list of items considered to be of priority and of strategic importance for the future of a nation: a generally accepted conviction that development requires an ever increasing level of education in the population. Structures of higher education systems, or more precisely the shape and the size of the national higher education systems, have been among the issues of higher education policy in the economically advanced countries of the world for more than four decades.
The term Higher Education can be defined as:
1. A higher education qualification at degree level takes a minimum of three years to complete, more typically four
2. Higher education mainly and generally means university level education. It offers a number of qualifications ranging from Higher National Diplomas and Foundation Degrees to Honors Degrees and as further step, Postgraduate program such as Masters Degrees and Doctorates
Various researchers and philosophers have stressed on the expansion and diversification of higher education with equity believing that it can be an effective tool for overall society development. The democratization of access to quality higher education and to increase access and reach a greater equity with quality education is a central question of education policy becomes a matter of extreme importance. The UGC was established in November 1956 as a statutory body of the Government of India through an Act of Parliament for the coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of university education in India.
The present day Universities are no different from the ancient institutions except for the fact that Universities today are much bigger in terms of both the subjects taught and the students.In India, “University” means a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, a Provincial Act or a State Act and includes any such institution as may, in consultation with the University concerned, be recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC) as per the regulations made in this regard under this Act. Higher Education is the shared responsibility of both the Centre and the States. The coordination and determination of standards in institutions is the constitutional obligation of the Central Government.
India has one of the largest education systems in the world and also one of the most complexes. The European system of higher education was introduced in India by the British in 1857 with the establishment of universities for European education in three cities and withdrawal of support for indigenous education.
At the time of independence, there were 20 universities and 500 colleges in India but the number has increased rapidly since then and the student enrolment has gone up by nearly 36 times.
‘The present-day educational structure in India consists of:
Central University: A university established or incorporated by a Central Act. State University:A university established or incorporated by a Provincial Act or by a State Act.
Private University:A university established through a State/Central Act by a sponsoring body viz. A Society registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860, or any other corresponding law for the time being in force in a State or a Public Trust or a Company registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956.
Deemed-to-be University:An Institution Deemed to be University, commonly known as Deemed University, refers to a high-performing institution, which has been so declared by Central Government under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act, 1956.
Institution of National Importance: An Institution established by Act of Parliament and declared as Institution of National Importance.
Equity in Education
The term Equity means, “The quality of being fair and impartial in higher education is viewed as the ability of the brightest student to study in the best university, regardless of their socio-economic backgrounds”
Governments are among the major players in the sector, particularly in centralized higher education systems, but they are not the only ones. Quasi- governmental or independent quality assurance bodies, public and private institutional providers, employers, and students and their families play significant and sometimes determining roles in disseminating knowledge. Access, Equity and Quality are accordingly the main focus of new initiatives in higher education in India. Education Policy document of 1986 and subsequent policy announcements including the 1992 action plan have all been governed by five broad goals: enhancement of the higher education enrolment, provision for equal access to all, quality education and promotion of relevant education. The development experiences of the developed nations indicate that sustained economic growth requires a minimum of 20% to 25% enrolment in higher education. With this realization the 11th Plan aims to increase the GRE to 21% by the end of 12th pan with an interim target of 15% by 2012. It needs a massive expansion of opportunities for higher education to 1500 universities nationwide that would enable India to attain this target. Even to maintain the current ratio a new major university needs to be created every week. Given the paucity of quality faculty, inadequate infrastructure, lack
of well-equipped libraries, and the poor quality of available educational resources, operationalization of this target is going to be a challenging task. To make the educational system respond effectively and face the emerging challenges there needs to be a focus on transforming the higher education system into a more dynamic, flexible and diversified system having better linkage with social demands. Since the conventional teaching-learning methods cannot cope up with the scale of educational challenges, technologies of different kinds need to be harnessed to supplement the conventional teaching and learning process. It is in this context that OER is being seen as a means for ushering in a revolution in delivery of quality education in a cost effective and need-based manner. Of all the available modes and resources of education, OER have proved to be the most accessible, equitable, cost effective and multi- perspective resources, free from the constraints of time and space, and the rigidities of curricula. The National Knowledge Commission (NKC) has also strongly argued that, the success of a knowledge economy depends to a large extent on upgrading the quality of and enhancing the equitable access to education. This can be done by encouraging the development and dissemination of quality OA materials and Open educational Resources (OER). NKC also recommended that a National e-content and Curriculum Initiative should be launched which should initially focus on the rapid production and acquisition of multimedia and interactive content in high need areas in different vernacular languages through a collaborative process, pooling in the efforts and expertise of all major institutions of higher education in the country.
Expansions in Higher Education & Equity in Accessibility
The notion of ‘expansion’ as applied to higher education is an imprecise term which needs to be examined in terms which go beyond an increase in volume or a greater number of students passing through the system. The question of the expansion of higher education has been analyzed and interpreted from different disciplinary perspectives. The sociological angle has tended to be predominant in general discourse but more recently the economic approach has gained ground and it has become increasingly common to see expansion discussed along the lines of individual and social rates of return. The subject of expansion has most often been tackled on a national basis without any further justification or explanation, but it may be anticipated that geographical considerations will have implications for the way the question of the modalities of expansion is to be answered. The qualitative aspects of the various ways higher education can expand are not neutral in terms of their impact on higher education input, process and output. For instance, an increase in volume may not be the result of increased participation rates if the size of the relevant population has grown. On the other hand, if the size of the relevant population has decreased and volume increased, this signals
increased rates of access which will have qualitative implications for the higher education sector given the enduring structure of the social origins of its student intake. The pedagogical aspects of expansion are influenced by their operational characteristic that is the extent to which it is accompanied by an adequate level of investment in general infrastructure (e.g. buildings, material and facilities) and staff.
In this context, the qualitative aspect of the expansion of higher education has been concerned with the strategic options for economic growth favored by decision-makers. These strategic options have ranged from the priority given to broadening access to higher studies, with an implicit endogenous growth model based on the importance of human capital accumulation, to priority given to research activities, with an implicit exogenous growth model based on the importance of technical innovation as a driving force behind future economic growth. To speak of ‘expansion’ in relation to higher education is to use a term that conveys a broadly quantitative meaning to refer to numerous controversial qualitative matters. What is often at stake in the arguments that are used either to justify or question the necessity of higher education expansion is not so much expansion as such but the modality of this expansion.
Having said this, we will now turn to the more elaborate arguments that have been developed concerning the likely economic and social impact of growth in higher education. Double standards rose for access to quality higher education amonghaves and have-nots as for-profit higher education institutions consideredfinancial merit over academic merit. Principles of equity and social justice gotincreasingly marginalized in the context of for-profit higher education. Thoughsome attention has been given to inclusion, still a vast majority of vulnerablesections such as the economically poor, the rural areas, the women and the lowercaste students tend to be excluded.This development has severely restricted higher educational opportunities foreconomically vulnerable sections (besides inclusive measures). Equality of opportunity, equity and social justice are important concerns for comparative education. We noticedthat the utilitarian goal became stronger in higher education curriculum planning and revision. Disciplines are expected to prove their worth by their contribution to theeconomy. As a result disciplines and courses that have economic value are consideredattractive. This development has endangered diversity of knowledge. Diversity anddiverse forms of knowledge are considered essential for comparative education. Whilepaying attention to the risks and the opportunities of these developments, we hope tohave made some contribution to the field of comparative education. The liberalization and commercialization trends have created andhave expanded the duality in India. Educational systems, particularly higher education inIndia have reproduced the existing inequalities