Advancing cooperation in higher education
It
makes sense for India and the US to strengthen ties in four critical areas of
higher education: financing, teaching quality, research and governance
It
is that time of the year when India struggles to meet the educational
expectations of its youth. An increasing number of school graduates are
enrolling in college but the shortage of quality institutions has led to
unreasonable entrance requirements. Despite recent visa restrictions, the US
remains a favoured destination for resourceful Indians seeking higher education
opportunities. An estimated 100,000 Indian students advance innovation and
research in US universities, and have the potential to make significant
contributions in such sectors as science, business, health and agriculture when
they return to India. It therefore makes sense for both India and the US to
strengthen ties in higher education. There are four critical areas for
cooperation.
Financing:
This is a major
bottleneck in the Indian higher education system. With pressures to cut fiscal
deficits and tight government budgets, there is an extreme shortage of
resources for expanded access. To overcome this bottleneck, the government has
allowed foreign universities to open campuses in India. However, regulatory
constraints and a cumbersome bureaucracy remain serious impediments.
Teaching
quality: The quality
of a higher education degree is only as good as its curriculum and the quality
of the teachers. Universities are unable to compete with rising private sector
salaries and find it difficult to recruit and retain top-quality teachers.
Research: Good independent research, the
hallmark of any global university, actively feeds into pedagogy through
cutting-edge curricula, promotes business development in the corporate sector,
and can be an anchor for government policymaking. Except for a handful of
stand-alone research institutes, India lacks the culture of independent
academic research and can learn from the experience of the US higher education
system.
Governance: For higher education institutions to
compete globally, India must develop a robust university governance structure.
India could learn from the regulatory framework and accreditation system of the
US higher education sector that make it flexible and innovative.
The
US Agency for International Development (USAID) is tasked with providing a
range of high-level analytical, diagnostic and organizational development
services to support the efforts of the Union ministry of human resource
development (MHRD) in setting up Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). USAID
is also going to boost the In-STEP project (India Support for Teacher Education
Program) through three-month customized training programmes for over 100 Indian
teacher-educators at the Arizona State University. This would enable the
teacher-educators to offer high-quality training to Indian teachers back home,
thereby raising the overall teaching quality.
Starting
2012, both countries have also pledged $5 million to the 21st Century Knowledge
Initiative, to support research and teaching collaboration in the fields of
energy, climate change and public health. The Fulbright-Nehru programme
supports more than 300 scholars between the two countries. The US government
has relaunched the “Passport to India” initiative, in partnership with the Ohio
State University, whose main objective is to work with the private sector to
increase internship opportunities, service learning and study abroad
opportunities in India. The India-US Higher Education Dialogue creates
opportunities for student mobility and faculty collaboration across the two
countries through initiatives such as the Global Initiative of Academic
Networks (Gian) programme, where the MHRD creates a channel for US professors
in science, technology and engineering to teach in Indian academic and research
institutions on short-term exchanges. Indian institutions will gain
tremendously from such visits, and such appointments should be facilitated and
strongly advertised.
Given
the gap between the quality of higher education in Indian institutions and the
demands of the job market, skilling is a top priority for the current
government. Employability is a key concern and several efforts are being made
to encourage new certification programmes, knowledge sharing and public-private
partnerships between the two countries. For example, there is an agreement
between the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) and the American
Association of Community Colleges (AACC) for curriculum development and
training of the future workforce.
Beyond
government initiatives, Indian universities also have to develop an incentive
structure that would welcome such collaborations with US universities. How can
such collaborations be made independently sustainable? Do Indian universities
have the flexibility to employ high-quality foreign faculty? Would Indian
universities accept course credits for students who spent semesters in
US-regulated universities?
Most
of these ideas highlighted for US-India collaboration will remain token
measures until the Indian higher education system undergoes a tectonic shift in
its governance structure and regulatory framework. The announcement to reform
the University Grants Commission (UGC) is a very welcome move, and if done right,
it will improve access to quality higher education for Indian students and
raise the research and teaching capacity of India’s faculty pool.
This
article is the third in a four-part series, co-authored by Brookings India and
Brookings Institution scholars, on the India-US relationship.
Shamika
Ravi and Darrell M. West are, respectively, senior fellow at Brookings India
and vice-president and director of governance studies at the Brookings
Institution
Source | Mint | 22 June 2017
Regards
Pralhad Jadhav
Senior Manager @
Knowledge Repository
Khaitan
& Co
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