Edu-leaders

In India’s liberalised market-driven economy, the delivery of knowledge is becoming increasingly competitive. The challenge for private higher education institutions, that aspire to be recognised as the best, is to create and sustain an environment that enables both students and faculty excel.

This requires innovation, creativity, use of technology to maximum strategic and operational advantage, and an ability to run institutions with same rigour as a successful enterprise. The EDU 2010 conclave was held on March 15 and 16 to address this concern and help leaders in higher education stay ahead of the curve.

Taking The Steps Together

KAUSHIK BASU

Education is the impetus behind a country’s development. Since 2003, India has been growing at a rapid annual rate of nine percent, putting the country in the second spot, behind China. This rapid growth happened due to reforms and investments made between 1991 and 1993. Initial investment meant that India was well-represented at international seminars and the Gross Enrollment Ratio in Indian higher education was ahead of many other countries. Unfortunately, investments dipped. Now, the current GER stands at 12 percent. If India wishes to turn the tide, it needs to be flexible, and formulate ideas that can usher in change. Thus, we need universities of excellence and front-line research. That will not be possible with government money alone. Therefore, for now, the government should allow privatisation, or to allow universities to raise funds from the market. Instead of seeing it as a bad word, a profit-making university allowing shares should be given the nod. Though we realise that a profit-making university cannot be top notch, it will go a long way to help the research and development of the country. It’s not too late for India to become a hub of higher education. A robust economy, and the population’s grasp of the English language would propel this growth further.

Collaboration Is The Key

HELLMUT SCHÜTTE

Talking about globalisation of management education, professor Schütte says that it is much less an investment game, and more about a change of mind. That’s where education comes in. A change in education is needed. Because most business schools are “stuck”, rather geographically anchored therefore they are charged with local or national objectives, are dependent on government funding and have mostly local and a few foreign participants (students). Such institutes also face a lack of resources (funds, people, knowledge and vision). Professor Schütte spoke of schools that offered management, undergraduate and MBA (full and part-time) courses, along with EMBA (part-time) courses, executive education and some doctoral (PhD) programmes. But the diversity of offerings makes the revenue models of each institute very different. A way out of these limitations is through internationalisation of management education by roping in more international participants (such as faculty either full-time or visiting), more international content and delivery mechanisms (such as books, internet and introduce languages) and introduce international administration.

Open All Doors

RAJENDRA S. PAWAR

The opportunity (for education) is huge. Looking at the present state we are in—it will take us decades to reach our goal of being a force to reckon with, require tens of millions of more skilled students to be added to the system, and tens of thousands more institutions to reach the 30 percent goal stated in the 11th Plan. Education is yet to become a serious movement, and we have taken too many steps back. But now, the Centre is showing an openness and is asking the right questions and entering into dialogues and discussions. Three basic areas in which reforms are needed:

Structural, government and funding. The 11th Plan has created an outlay for (government) funding that allocates a sum that is roughly nine-times of what was previously kept aside for education. It is however tenth of what was demanded for the development of the education sector. It is clear that the funding cannot come from the Centre alone. If it is to do the job alone, then it would have to devote one-fourth of the budget to the task. Philanthropic sources could be one way to getting funding. But, it cannot be the only source, given the distinct lack of surplus of profit. But government funding will continue to shrink as the Centre continues to support both primary and high school education along with higher education. In such a scenario, philanthropy and the quasi-legal sector will have to play an important part. All in all, we may plant the seeds for great institutions, but it will take us decades to make these institutions into world-class centres of learning. Especially, in the scenario where the government is spending less and less in it.

Research Linked With Real World

DINESH SINGH

Let’s look at a fellow called Manindra Agrawal—he’s a young man who has produced this stunning piece of research on prime numbers that makes Indians really proud. Are there more people like Manindra? I am afraid not. Why is this lacuna in the Indian system between excellent work and no-work-at-all? Because, none of us can really imagine out-of-the-box. There was a time when we could. Nalanda University was an example of liberated thought, of research for the sake of research. But it was not an isolated research. The university worked in tandem with the society—each fed off the other. Now, we have compartmentalised the real world and research, because, Indian higher education has moved from a liberated zone, to a restrictive one. Allow liberalisation in Indian education and open doors. Because great ideas will not happen in isolation—the problem that is plaguing the Indian education system is that we tend to think that we need centres, for excellence for ideas. But, Newton’s breakthrough happened at home, when he had left the university during the plague. Watson’s idea of the DNA was developed outside the confines of a university. Yes they all needed the help of the technology that a large university provided.