Education in India

Education in India: Past, Present and the Future. Ideas, Policies and Initiatives

July 06, 2009

Full text of Kaushik Basu's dissent note to the Yashpal
Committee Report
Prof. Kaushik Basu wrote a dissent note to the Yashpal Committee Report, the full text of
which (as provided by Prof. Basu himself) is as follows.
Report of The Committee to Advise on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher
Education in India

A Note of Dissent

Kaushik Basu

The broad ideas outlined in the main report, such as forming an apex body for
managing Indias higher-education sector, nurturing inter-disciplinarity and extending
university education to much larger and diverse segments of the populationare
commendable. My apprehension, however, is that without more detailed plans of
action and sharper targets these broad aims will remain unfulfilled, like so many well-
meaning previous pronouncements. There are many areas where we need reform and
which have been dealt with in the main report. What I mention here are items which,
in my opinion, deserve consideration but are omitted or not emphasized in the report
and also some fine points on which I have a difference of opinion.

Till a few decades ago India's higher education system stood out for its excellence, in
comparison to developing countries but also some industrialized nations. The high
economic growth that India has witnessed since 1994 has several causes; one of them
is our good higher education. Unfortunately, this sector is now faltering. Several
nations which trailed India on this score are now ahead of us. This is not because
India has changed but because India has not changed while others have. If our nations
development is to be sustained and we want to be a progressive and enlightened
nation, then it is imperative that we reform our system of higher education.

First, the main report speaks about the need for greater autonomy for colleges and
universities. However, one stumbling block for this objective is the huge power vested
in the UGC and AICTE. There is need for these organizations to divest themselves of
some of this power.Also, there should be a refocusing of their main function. It is the
responsibility of the UGC to maintain the quality of our higher education and
research. However, this must be achieved by nurturing excellence instead of spending
a disproportionate amount of energy creating barriers to entry, and preventing new
colleges and universities from coming into existence. The latter has led to the creation
of what is effectively a licensing system in higher education. Just as India gave up on
industrial licensing in the early nineties (and thereby unleashed growth), the reformed
UGC and AICTE should give up on the licensing of higher education. At times we
forget that the market with all its faults does perform certain functions reasonably
well. Poorly-performing colleges and educational institutes, if information about their
performance is made easily available, will be competed out of existence by the
pressures of the market.

For this reason, one principal activity of a revised UGC should be to rate universities
and institutes of higher education. As we know from the modern industrial sector,
good quality rating is vital for the economy and successful nations spend a lot to
collate information and rate corporations. The UGC should, likewise, produce and
publicize ratings of and information about all universities and institutes of higher
education. This should be a detailed, annual exercise and be prominently available on
a website.
Our main aim must be to nurture excellence instead of spending a disproportionate
amount of energy trying to curb the lack of it. While the United States has arguably
the world's greatest universities, it also has many sub-par ones. The existence of the
latter does not harm the reputation of the US as a nation of academic excellence. If
there was a perfect way for the state to efficiently weed out the bad, I would be for it.
But as we learnt from our experience with industrial licensing, often the effort to weed
out the bad by using bureaucratic control can do more harm than good.

What has to punished is misinformation. Many private colleges levy charges midway
through the course of study by when the student has no choice but to pay up; they
advertise achievements of the college which are false; they promise to offer courses
without any intention to actually do so. These need to be severely punished.

Second, we have to recognize that it is not possible for any government, let alone the
government of a developing nation, to run over three hundred universities with equal
generosity.Such an agendum is bound to cause either a fiscal breakdown or doom the
university system to mediocrity. It follows from this that we have to reconcile
ourselves to the differential treatment of institutions and universities and also of
individuals. This has to be based on a transparent system of objective evaluation, so
that every individual and every university has the same opportunity. But to expect
the outcome to be the same across individuals and universities is to court failure.

This takes us to the touchy topic of salaries and research support. The old system of a
flat scale, where every professor was supported in the same way across all the over-
300 universities, was once an attractive idea. It is no longer feasible. On the one hand,
most nations are switching over to the system of special salaries and research budgets
for star researchers and professors. This began with the U.S.. Now other nations,
including U.K. and even China, have switched to this. On the other hand, corporate
salaries have gone through the roof. Given these facts (about which there is little that
we can do), if we want to attract top talent to research and teaching, we have to allow
for pay differentials. The exact modality of this will entail discussion and debate. Two
ways of doing this are: first, designating, say, 20 universities, as centers of excellence
and putting them on a higher funding scale. The list of top 20 should be evaluated and
revised every three years so that all universities stand a chance of getting there. The
second option is to select a small number of professors in each field from the entire
nation and place them on a higher salary and research support. By higher salary I do
not mean 5% or 10% higher but three or four times the regular professorial salary.
This will create incentives for academics to work harder and also attract top minds
that would have gone to the corporate sector to come into academics and research. If
this system is properly managed, it can transform the quality of India's higher
education. Further this can be achieved with no additional fiscal burden. The average
salary of all professors all over India can be held constant and this achieved by simply
creating a graded salary system.

Third, we should allow private sector money to come into higher education.
Surreptitious privatization is already a fact of life. It will be better to let this happen
openly; there can then also be open monitoring. The purely-private colleges should of
course not be subsidized by the state. They should be allowed to set college fees as
high as they choose (as long as this is made transparent). It is true that such private
colleges will end up teaching mainly commercially-viable subjects and cater to
relatively rich students. There is no harm in this and some advantages, since the state
will now be able to allocate more money to the colleges and universities under its
charge and provide good education to the remainder at a lower cost.

There is an additional question: Should we allow these private colleges to be profit-

making organizations, that is, allow the owners or the shareholders to openly keep the
profit to themselves? A common presumption is that,if someone is interested in profit,
that person will not be interested in providing good education. This is a fallacy. It is
like assuming that, if Tata Motors is interested in making profit, it will not be
interested in producing a good small car. However, in reality, its interest in producing
a good small car could be because it is interested in making profits. Likewise, in
education. If a profit-making company wants to start a university, there is no reason
why we should not allow this. This is an idea that should at least be on the table.
There are not too many examples of such universities in the world. This can be a
pioneering effort on the part of India and, if successful, can cause a huge infusion of
funds into our higher education system.

Finally, this is the time to consider steps to make India into the world's major hub for
higher education. Given our historic (though eroding) advantage in higher education,
our strength in the English language and our low cost-of-living, it is possible for India
to position itself as a major destination for students from around the world, not just
from poor countries, but rich, industrialized nations, such as Korea, U.K. and even the
U.S.. One reason why an African student goes to the US to study is to then acquire the
right to stay on there and work. Attracting such a student will not be easy. But
consider an American student who anyway has the right to go back to the U.S. and
work there. In the U.S. each year of education costs approximately, $50,000 or Rs. 25
lakhs. If India can build some good universities with high quality residences for
studentsand advertise globally, India can give this market tough competition. If India
charges tuition fees of Rs. 5 lakhs per annum from foreign students, then with all
other overheads a student can get quality education for Rs. 8 lakhs per annum, which
is one third the cost in the U.S. There is clearly a huge comparative advantage in this
and the scheme can attract lots of students to India. This can bring in a large infusion
of money, which can make it possible for the Indian government to subsidize the
higher education of Indian students and vastly expand the number of Indian students
Posted by Satya at 07:05 PM in Higher Education, Policies &
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Summary of the full text of the Yashpal Committee Report
The Full text of the 94 page report of the The Committee to Advise on Renovation
and Rejuvenation of Higher Education is up on the education ministry's site. The
24 member committee chaired by Prof. Yashpal included amongst others the
Chairpersons of UGC, AICTE, and NAAC, Vice Chancellors (current and former) of
publicly funded universities, Directors of IIT (Madras), IIM (Bangalore) and NCERT,
economists and bureacrats from the Planning Commission, the Finance, Education
and other ministries. Dr. Ramdas Pai, Chancellor of Manipal University, was the sole
member on the committee from a private university. A few others from outside the
education sector include Kiran Karnik (former President of NASSCOM) and legal
expert N.R. Madhava Menon who is a member on the commission of Centre-State
Relations.
Apparently, Prof Kaushik Basu, an Economics Professor at Cornell University, and a
member of the Yashpal Committee, has penned a dissent note to the report. There is
no mention of the dissent note by Kaushik Basu in the copy of the 94 page report put
up online at the education ministry's web site.
Addendum: Prof. Basu has provided the full text of his dissent note.
Here is a summary of the main points from the full text of the Yashpal Committee
Report (extracted and paraphrased by me as I have understood it, with references
provided to the page numbers on the report).
1. All universities must be teaching cum research universities. All research bodies
must connect with universities in their vicinity and create teaching
opportunities for their researchers. (p14)
2. We must prevent isolation of study of engineering or management. We should
look forward to the day when IITs and IIMs also produce scholars in areas like
literature, linguistics and politics. Institutions must be given the freedom to
expand and diversify as they see fit rather than thrusting an uniform diktat on
all institutions. (p15)
3. All syllabi should require teachers and students to apply what they have learnt
in their courses, on studying a local situation, issue or problem. There should be
sufficient room for the use of local data and resources to make the knowledge
covered in the syllabus come alive as experience. (p18)
4. Minimum set of occupational exposure to be made compulsory for all students,
irrespective of discipline, in the form of summer jobs or internships, with
evaluation of the students on this front. (p19)
5. Need to expose students at the undergraduate level to various disciplines like
humanities, social sciences, aesthetics, irrespective of the discipline they would
like to specialise in subsequently. (p21)
6. Teacher training for all levels of school education (from primary to higher
secondary) must be carried out by institutions of higher educations. The
absence of university-level interest in teacher training has resulted in poor
academic quality. (p21-22)
7. We need to build strong bridges between different fields of professional
education and the disciplines of science, social sciences and humanities, All
professional institutions must be part of a comprehensive university in a
complete administrative and academic sense. We must abolish intermediary
bodies that have been set up solely to issue licenses to professional colleges
alone and inspect them. This will also help new interdisciplinary courses and
research to evolve in the comprehensive universities. (p23)
8. All vocational institutions must also be part of universities. (p24)
9. It should be mandatory for all universities to have undergraduate programes.
All teachers in universities must teach at the undergraduate level. (p26)
10.Universities must take steps to reduce gender, class and caste asymmetries.
(p27)
11.Universities must study areas that are relevant in their immediate social and
natural milieu and create knowledge bases in those areas. (p28)
12.Universities must be motivated to identify and prioritise areas for reform and
initiate and implement the reform themselves from within rather than having
the reform thrust on them top-down by a national or state-level body. This will
be true autonomy. (p28)
13.There should be no discrimination between Central and State funded
universities. All benefits extended to Central Universities must also be
extended by State Governments to the state universities and the Centre must
incentivise the States to do so. (p30)
14.There is an optimum size for a University in terms of the number of affiliated
colleges, which must be maintained. (p31-32)
15.The inability of the state to drastically increase capacity in higher education has
led to growth of the private sector in higher education. To double higher
education capacity, we need all three kinds of universities: state-funded and run
universities, private universities and those funded and run by public-private
partnerships. All of them should work efficiently overseen by a transparent
regulatory mechanism. (p32-34)
16. All private universities must submit to a national accreditation system. Private
degree-granting universities must not be confined to select areas like
technology, medicine, management, finance etc.. They must be required to be
comprehensive universities covering the arts and social and natural sciences
too. (p35)
17.There must be tight regulation of private universities in terms of auditing of
accounts, payment of minimum salaries to teachers, certain percentage of seats
reserved for meritorious students who are to be provided scholarships etc..
(p35)
18.Granting of Deemed University status to be put on hold. All existing Deemed
Universities to be given three years to shape up (to have strong research
programmes, and become a comprehensive university as defined in this report)
failing which their Deemed University status is to be withdrawn. (p37)
19.Education must be made affordable for all through scholarships or loans
provided by the State. Every student who gains admission must get an assured
loan or a scholarship (for the needy) from the State. (p39)
20.Do we need foreign universities? Can the best learning experiences not be
provided to our students by opening our doors to foreign scholars? p(40)
21.If the best of foreign universities (amongst the top 200 in the world) want to
come to India, they should be welcomed. Such institutions should award an
Indian degree and be subject to all the rules and regulations that would apply to
any Indian university. (p40)
22.State funding, though increasing, will not be enough to expand supply and
progress towards excellence. Complementary sources of funding will have to
be found even for state funded universities. Philanthropy from society and
alumni as a source of funding needs to be encouraged, with appropriate
changes in regulation. Universities must be able to hire professional fundraisers
and professional investors to attract funding from non-government sources.
(p41)
23. Universities must be freed from the constraints imposed by funding agencies to
obtain approvals for every single post. Funding agencies must provide block
grants against a plan and universities must be allowed to spend them according
to their priorities, subject to the plan. (p42)
24.There are a large number of students who can afford to pay for their education.
Absence of differential fees has led to subsidising students who can actually
afford to pay. Those who can afford to pay must pay higher fees for which they
will be offered guarateed student loans. Free education will be provided only to
those who cannot afford it. (p42)
25.National tests like the GRE must be organised round the year. Students from all
over India must be allowed to take the tests as many times as they like and their
best score can be sent to the universities for admission. Currently the CBSE and
the State Board exams are a means of normalising school level competencies -
 this can be done by the National tests. We must seriously think of reviving our
faith in each school and its teachers to credibly evaluate their own students.
(p42-43)
26.India can provide affordable higher education to foreign students, if we remove
systemic impediments. It will also enrich the ethos of our universities. (p43)
27.Urgent measures are needed to attract good people who enjoy teaching and
research back to the university and offer them a positive and motivating
environment. Resources in terms of libraries, laboratories and research
assistance as well as competitive remuneration will need to be provided to
retain good people. (p43-44)
28.Student assessment of teachers needs to be instituted. Students can provide an
experiential assessment of the quality of teaching. Parameters of student
feedback can be drawn up to avoid distorted assessments by students. Teachers
whose feedback record remains poor in successive years should be required to
face formal precedures which might allow a university or college to shed them.
29. We need to improve governance of universities by developing expertise in
educational management, and avoid burdening good academics with
administrative chores. We must have a separation between academic
administration and overall management (including fund raising). State
governments must abandon the trend of appointing civil servants as university
administrators. (p45)
30.Teachers and students must have autonomy. In academic matters, the teacher
should have the autonomy to frame his/her course and the way he/she would
like to assess his/her students. Students should be allowed to take courses of
their choice from different universities and then be awarded a degree on the
basis of credits earned. (p46)
31.We should not blame private initiative, political interference, and other forces
for the loss of autonomy of universities. There was no rigorous resistance,
indeed there was willing abdication, from the academic community to the
 subversion in matters of policy implementation, appointments and day-to-day
functioning of the universities. Education was made subservient to ideological
compulsions, which led to its loss of respect. (p49)
32.We need a De Novo regulatory body - the National Commission for Higher
Education and Research (NCHER) under which the various functions of the
existing regulatory agencies would be subsumed. The new body would also
take over the powers vested in the existing regulatory bodies in terms of
creation of new institutions as well as their content/sylallbi. (p52)
33.The 13 existing professional councils created under various acts of Parliament
may after divesting their existing regulatory functions to NCHER look at
conducting tests for practicisng professionals affiliated to the councils,
prescribing syllabi for such tests and leave it to the universities to design their
curriculum based on such syllabi. (p55).
34. The NCHER would not interfere with academic freedom and institutional
autonomy. It would not follow the current inspection-based approval
method, it but woulduse move to a verification and authentication system.
Universities will put out mandatory self-declarations in the public domain.
(corrected)
35.
1. Given the federal nature of our country and the role of states in
education, there must be Higher Education Councils (HECs) in the states
which will co-ordinate with the NCHER, to allow different institutions
created and funded by the Centre and States to grow on equal footing.
These HECs would also insulate the State universities from outside
interference. (p57).
36.There should be a fast-track statutory mechanism in place for the adjudication
of disputes between teachers, employees and management of institutions and
universities in respect of matters concerning service conditions, as well as in
matters of disputes relating to fee, admissions etc. A suitable law should be
 enacted to establish a National Education Tribunal along with State Education
Tribunals or appropriate number of Benches of the Apex Tribunal in place for
such adjudication. This would be in line with the observations of the Supreme
Court of India in the TMA Pai matter, where such Tribunals were
recommended. (p 60)
37.Any agency whose intention is to protect students from sub-par education is
better off by providing information on the programmes and univerisites to the
student rather than walk the slippery path of establishing minimum standards of
quality (for education is about academic over-reach rather than reaching the
minimum). (p63)
38.Curricular reform to be the topmost priority of the newly created NCHER
which would create a curricular framework based on the principles of mobility
within a full range of curricular areas and integration of skills with academic
depth. (p64)
39.The NCHER should galvanize research in the university system through the
creation of a National Research Foundation. (p64)
40.The NCHER should identify the best 1,500 colleges across India to upgrade
them as universities, and create clusters of other potentially good colleges to
evolve as universities. (p66)
41.The NCHER too should be subject to external review once in five years. (p66)
42.The NCHER should prepare and present a Report on the State of Higher
Education in India annually to Parliament. (p68)
43.
1. The NCHER shall establish transparent norms and process for entry and
exit of institutions. The need is to make the process easy for good and
serious proposals for setting up new institutions. (p68)
44.The NCHER would be an autonomous body created by making a suitable
amendment to the Constitution, accountable only to the Indian parliament and
drawing its budgetary resources from the Ministry of Finance. It would have a
 seven-member board with a full-time Chairperson. Of the seven members, one
would be an eminent professional from the world of industry and one with the
background of a long and consistent social engagement. All other five members
would be academic people of eminence, representing broad areas of
knowledge. The status of the Chairperson of the commission should be
analogous to that of the Chief Election Commissioner and that of the members
should be comparable to the Election Commissioners. The Commission will be
independent of all ministries of the Government of India. It will have the
autonomy to hire talent at various levels within and outside the government. It
will also have the autonomy to define the compensation of its employees.
45.The NCHER may initially consist of five divisions: (p70)
○ Future Directions: Developing global benchmarks on student
performance; university performance; salaries, potential programmers;
new research directions; and articulation of needs of the government in
terms of manpower etc.
○ Accreditation Management: Creating norms for accreditation and
certifyingmultiple accreditation agencies which would be independent of
the government .Institutions and universities may like to get
accreditation from one or more than one agencies depending on their
reputation. They would be also providing annual feedback to
universities, and organizing workshops etc.
○ Funding & Development: Developing funding needs of universities,
developing mechanisms for funding institutions, helping universities
with development of corpus and good endowment management,
managing the guaranteed student loan/scholarship programme, and
funding the requirements of universities etc.
○ New Institutions & Incubation: Including training workshops for first-
time VCs as well as on themes like accounting, investing the corpus,
communication within & outside the university, negotiations &
 managing vendors, good office practices, human resource management
etc.
○ Information & Governance: This division will focus on managing the
data needs of the commission, display of information on universities,
develop performance parameters on the governance of universities,
support other divisions with information as well as provide students with
information on each university. This division w ill also inform the
Accreditation and Funding & Development divisions of the performance
or lack thereof, for each university, each year.
There's a lot of interesting stuff in the report! Enough fodder for a separate post to
follow looking at the prognosis, suggestions and recommendations.
Posted by Satya at 12:53 AM in Educational Bodies, Higher Education, Policies &
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July 04, 2009

Procedures to start a new school in Tamil Nadu to be
streamlined
says, The Hindu.
A committee, headed by M.P. Vijayakumar, former State Project Director of the Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), is now holding public hearings and it will submit its report to
the Government/Department of School Education shortly. While the committee had
its sittings in Chennai and Coimbatore, it will hold its hearing in Madurai on July 4 to
receive suggestions from schools in southern districts.
When someone wants to start a school or get the mandatory renewal for a school,
he/she has to go through many procedures. So, the State government has constituted a
committee to address the issue," Mr. Vijayakumar, committee chairperson, told The
Hindu here on Sunday. The government was "seriously concerned" over the
difficulties faced by school managements in getting the necessary clearance and
certificates. "For instance, every school applies for renewal once in three years and
there are cases where it takes two years to get the clearance. By the time, the next
renewal becomes due. This was brought to our attention at the two hearings held so
far," Mr. Vijayakumar, who is also an honorary advisor to SSA, said.
According to him, the committee would hear directly from all stakeholders - State
Board/Matriculation Board and nursery schools - about difficulties they encounter.
Mr. Vijayakumar said the final report would be submitted in about a month.
It would be interesting to see what the report has to say. In an earlier post, I had
looked at Mayank Wadhwa's note on the licenses required to start a school in Delhi.
Update: The Hindu carried a report on the public hearing at Madurai on July 4th.
“The State government is seriously concerned over the delays in obtaining
recognition certificate for starting a school and also at the time of renewal. So,
this committee was formed to look into the means for simplified and streamlined
procedures,” Mr. Vijayakumar said in his opening remarks.
He said that the objective of forming the committee was to examine how to
reduce the time taken by various departments for issuing the mandatory
certificates to schools in both urban and rural areas.
The common suggestion that came from the school correspondents and
principals was that the officials of School Education Department in all districts
must have powers to deal with issuing of certificates if all parameters were
satisfied as per the Government norms.
Town planning approval, Fire Department certificate, building stability
certificate, local body approvals and license from the tahsildhar were among the
topics discussed. Some participants suggested that the norm of obtaining
renewal certificate by private schools once in three years can be revised to at
least five years.
“Every time we go for renewal, documents and photographs of buildings have to
be submitted. That practice may be done with to simplify the job for both the
schools and department officials,” a school Principal said.
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Kapil Sibal's 100 day Action Plan
The education minister, Kapil Sibal's 100 day Action Plan has been published on the
Education Ministry site. The hundredth day would be around October 10th - the clock
is ticking. The Action Plan lists the following goals:
Legislative Initiatives
1. An autonomous overarching authority for Higher Education and
Research based on the recommendations of Yashpal Committee and
National Knowledge Commission;
2. A law to prevent, prohibit and punish educational malpractices;
3. A law for mandatory assessment and accreditation in higher education
through an independent regulatory authority;
4. A law to regulate entry and operation of Foreign Educational Providers;
5. A law to establish a Tribunal to fast-track adjudication of disputes
concerning stake holders (teachers, students, employees and
management) in higher education;
6. A law to amend the National Commission for Minority Educational
Institutions Act, to strengthen the Commission;
7. A law to amend the Copyright Act, 1957 to address the concerns relating
to copyrights and related rights of the various stake holders
Policy Initiatives
1. Formulation of a 'Brain-Gain' policy to attract talent fiom across the
world to the existing and new institutions;
2. Launching of a new Scheme of interest subsidy on educational loans
taken for professional courses by the Economically Weaker Students;
3. Strengthening and expansion of the Scheme for Remedial Coaching for
students from SC/ST/minority communities, in higher education;
4. 'Equal Opportunity Offices' to be created in all universities for effective
implementation of schemes for disadvanaged sections of the society;
5. A new policy on Distance Learning would be formulated
While a draft of The Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of entry and operation,
maintenance of quality and prevention of commercialisation) Bill, 2007 already exists, the
other bills on the agenda will need to be drafted. The Law ministry had mooted special
educational tribunals to adjudicate on educational malpractice complaintsabout an year ago.
This 100 day Action Plan is quite ambitious, especially the legislative agenda. The
lawyer that he is, Kapil Sibal may well be able to put up drafts of each of the bills for
debate by October 10th. Apparently he has the support and backing of the Prime
Minister for his agenda.
Posted by Satya at 11:28 AM in Policies & Regulations | Permalink | Comments
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June 23, 2009

The Azim Premji University, a pioneering initiative in India
The Azim Premji Foundation (APF) is planning to set up the Azim Premji University
(APU) a private self-financing university in Karnataka that would undertake teaching,
training and R & D in fields like elementary and secondary education,education
management and education policy. The APF will provide the statutory endowment
fund of Rs. 25 crores. The University, while based in Karnataka will open branches
elesewhere in the country. The Azim Premji University Bill is to be introduced in the
Karnataka Assembly in the upcoming session, says the The Economic Times.

According to Business Line,

• The University will be self-financed, with no financial grant or assistance from
the State Government
• Implying that reservations could apply to this university, a note issued during
the meeting said that while it would be "open to all classes, castes and gender,
the Government of Karnataka can make special provisions".
• The Board of Governors will have two Secretaries holding the charge of the
education departments, while the rest will be from outside the Government.
The board will appoint auditors, lay down policies, review decisions of the
 university, approve the budget and decide, if necessary, on the winding up of
the university. The Government reserves the right to intervene in the event of
mismanagement, mal-administration and indiscipline, the note, explaining
some of the clauses in the proposed Bill, said.
• The Governor of the State will be a visitor of the university. He can seek any
information and clarifications and confer degrees and the minister for higher
education will be pro-visitor (pro-chancellor).
Business Standard interviewed Dileep Ranjekar, the CEO of the APF, who throws more
light on their plans for the APU.
Where do you plan to have the varsity?
If Karnataka finally passes the Bill, and empowers us to start the private university,
then the location will be Bangalore.

What was the inspiration behind this concept?

The biggest issue that has actually promoted us to think about the varsity is 'why is
that there is no university that is focussed on elementary education in the country'. We
observed that we don't have people with professional backgrounds in this country to
address issues pertaining to the education sector. Hence, this university will be very
similar to the national law school which was launched primarily to create professional
lawyers in the country. The university will engage itself in educating professionals
who, in turn, will be required for building the capabilities of teachers and managers as
educators. Besides, we intend to train people who will make policy decisions based on
their knowledge about education.

What courses you plan to offer?

Other than creating trained educational professionals, we plan to offer a post-graduate
(MA) programme in education initially. We will also launch several short-term
courses which will actually be targeted at in-service development needs of education
managers, teacher educators and teachers. The second important activity is research,
because research is lacking in education in India. The university will focus sharply on
research on several issues to understand how things works; what causes better
learning; how do we develop better people and what makes an effective teacher. There
are hundreds of such issues. It will also have some experimental labs as part of the
university. We also intend to collaborate with a number of states across the country to
help them through education resource centres.

Since it will be a self-financing university, will students bear the cost?

Essentially it will be borne by the students. But where the students can't afford, we
will have a scholarship programme.

How much funding have you received from Azim Premji for the Foundation so
far?
We have earmarked close to Rs 650 crore so far, and this has been entirely funded by
Azim Premji. We work with the government and we leverage the funds which we
spend. The leverage is very important because the state has really the strength.
Because anybody else spending money on the education is going to be very
minuscule. The Foundation works with the government which is responsible for
schooling. We work with close to about 20,000 schools across the country.

Will the UGC recognise the courses being offered by the university?
The university that comes into existence through a state legislation, will automatically
be a recognised university. We don't have to approach the UGC for this.
The APF website lists K.S. Viswanathan as the person in charge of the APU project.
Viswanathan had outlined APF's thoughts on improving education in India and its
current activities in an interview last January.

VP: What exactly is the Azim Premji foundation doing now in the school scene in
Karnataka?
K.S.V: The Azim Premji foundation is focused on Rural Government Schools in the
states. We work along with the State Governments in executing some of their
priorities. Karnataka has over 45,000 Elementary Schools and 8,000 Education
functionaries. However, the learning levels in these schools are very low.

The key objective of the Azim Premji Foundation is to significantly contribute to the
Universalisation of Elementary Education in India that facilitates a just, equitable and
humane society. After 7 years of operations driving this goal, the foundation has now
identified Teacher, Education functionaries as well as Examination reforms as the
three pillars as the major programs to pursue.

Teachers tend to teach what gets tested. Teachers are the key transformational agents
in the class rooms. Education Functionaries play an important role on how a teacher is
actually engaged in a class room. What is needed is a common shared Vision amongst
the various stake holders in the Education System in the country. With these goals, the
Azim Premji Foundation has been working with the State Government on various
initiatives that will supplement their efforts in improving the quality of education in
the state.

Our programs in the Karnataka Government is built around Examination reforms,

Class room teaching learning process, Teacher training and preparation and
Academic support for schools.

We started with Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) in North East Karnataka (the
most backward economically and academically) in 2001. This was followed with the
Learning Guarantee Program ( LGP) where we ran programs to assess the learning's
in the class measured in terms of Competencies acquired in Maths, Language and
Science in Class 2 and Class 4. Based on our findings, the Karnataka Government set
up a special Organization, Karnataka State Quality Assessment Organization
( KSQAO). KSQAO is now running the LGP program across the state to assess the
competency acquired in the Elementary Schools in the state. Currently, we are
implementing Child Friendly School initiatives in 330 schools in Surpur block of
Yadgir district in NE Karnataka to assess the impact of Community participation in
School management, Teacher support system as well as LGP.

We are also running a Management Development Program for 8000 Education

functionaries in the state.

VP: What does the Foundation do in other states?

K.S.V: We have extended the concept of Learning Guarantee Program in the few
districts in the states of MP, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttaranchal. We are also
developing Child centric, self paced, interactive learning system using educational
software in 18 languages including 4 tribal languages, to facilitate the unleashing of
creativity in children.

In addition, in the states of Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Pondicherry, we are working with
the Governments to assess the impact of Technology led initiatives in Class room
learning along with, as well as providing Academic and Pedagogic support to Schools
. Our programs cover 13 States, 16000 schools and 2.5 Mn children.

VP: India currently has about 35 Million children "out of school" and about 157
Million children in the school. How are you trying to bring a balance between
quantity and quality?

K.S.V: We have a unique challenge here. We need more schools to cover larger
number of children in the country and at the same time, the quality of education in
terms of school infrastructure, class room process as well as Teacher support system.
Post the launch of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Universalisation of Elementary
Education) program, there has been an improvement in the access to the school for the
children in the rural areas. Today, close to 90 % of the children have an access to an
elementary school within a distance of 3 Kms from their homes. However, in the
process the quality of education has taken a beating. Other programs like Mid day
meals, free text books etc have further enhanced the gross enrolment ratio in the
schools to around 90%. This is good and welcome news with respect to quantity.

However, quality of education has emerged as the biggest concern in the elementary
school system in the country. We have around 200 mn children in the age group of 6-
14; out of who only 52% of them reach Class 8 and only 31% reach class 10.Even
amongst these children, only 1/3rd of the children are able to read and write their
names in their native language.

One of the main reasons for the higher drop out rate as well as low learning in the
elementary schools, is the quality of class room process,Curriculum
design and Teacher support system in addition to other socio economic factors. The
good news is there is an increased awareness on these issues and there is a good focus
from all concerned including NGO's like Azim Premji Foundation, Ministry of
Education in the Central and in the state government to address these issues . It is a
slow but a definite process towards improving the quality of education in the
elementary schools.

VP: So what, according to you, are the key needs of elementary education today?

K.S.V: Elementary Education today requires a good Academic Support System, more
accountability to all stake holders including the Community for learning outcomes as
well as a common shared strategic perspective amongst all stake holders in the
system. Making the Teacher's job more exciting, more important as well bringing
more recognition to the teachers and the Education functionaries can change the way
we look at the Elementary education system in the country.

We need more Action research in the challenges of the Elementary Education. There
is also a need to revamp the teacher Education system in the country focused on
Elementary schools.
The APF's strategy of addressing the challenge of universalisation of elemenatary
education by improving the quality of teachers and the quality of the classroom
learning process is an excellent one. Their idea of walking the talk and investing to set
up an university focussed on teaching and education management is a welcome step.
What is more, the APF's strategy of working closely with the Government, indeed
partnering with them, to leverage their strengths and complement them with the APF's
own strengths is very well conceived. As Dileep Ranjekar points out, the challenge of
educating all our children is a challenge of scale. No private player can match the
scale of the Government's efforts. The Government has a crucial role to play.
Ranjekar's choice of the word "leverage" is apt in this context. The APF's efforts
(backed by its Rs. 650 crore investment - no mean sum in itself, albeit just a drop
compared to the Government spending on education) can provide a multiplier effect to
the Government's own investments and lead to huge improvements in teaching and
learning in Government schools. By working closely with the Government (the Policy
Planning Unit in the Dept. of Education in Karnataka is staffed by Government
officials as well as staff from the Azim Premji Foundation) and offering the
Government substantial control over the running of the proposed APU, the APF is
also pre-empting the possibility of any standoffs with future Governments, run by
other administrations.

The APF's initiatives in area of Education Management are described on their web site.
One aspect of Education Management that doesn't find a mention in their list, but
deserves attention is the economics of running schools. The challenge will be to keep
fees as low as possible and affordable to the masses, yet find the ways and means to
delivery a high quality education in a self-sustaining manner year on year. I hope the
APF is working on this too.

The APU is likely to be the first of many more such universities likely to be set up in
the coming years. Just as Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata provided the seed investment to
set up the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore (still knowns as Tata Institute to
Bangloreans) a 100 years ago, I can see a time not before long when we will have
more such universities spawned by India's successful and farsighted business leaders.
Imagine an Infosys University, a Mittal University, a Mahindra University, a Tata
University, a Birla University ,a Reliance University, a HCL University, a TVS
University, a Bharti University, a Bajaj University, an ITC University, an ICICI
University, a HDFC University, and many more dotting the country over the next
decade. Just the thought of the impact they could have, with each of them specialising
in different areas, sends a frisson of excitement down the spine. It took almost 13
years, from 1896 when Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata wrote to Lord Reay about the
creation of a national university, to 1909 when the Government of India issued the
vesting order for the institute, for the Indian Institute of Science to see the light of day.
Azim Premji has shown that it will take much less time today from idea to reality.

Posted by Satya at 09:40 AM in Educational Administration, Higher Education, Private

Initiatives, Private Universities in India, Research, Teaching | Permalink | Comments
(2) | TrackBack (0)

June 18, 2009

Are students drawn to universities because of their teaching
or their research programs?
In the U.S., the tilt seems to be in favour of research. Why is that so? Is that how it
should be?
Okonomos reviews some recent research on this debate
The paradox is that, though the higher education market is quite competitive, students,
who should be most interested in teaching quality, are also drawn towards universities
with better research reputation.

The paper reviews many theories in higher education, looking at the relationship
between research and teaching. One theory is that researchers more effectively teach
higher order skills and, therefore, increase student human capital more than non-
researchers. In contrast, according to the signalling theory, education is not
intrinsically productive but only a signal that separates high and low-ability workers.
Under this theory then, researchers would make worse teachers and better screeners.
That is, as researchers find it easier to teach better students who can move ahead with
them rather than spoon feed students with lower abilities, a faculty with higher
research reputation would automatically drive out low-ability students.

There are various issues involved here. Do universities prefer to reward research since
it is easier to measure than teaching quality? Student evaluations, after all, are known
to be beset with problems. Or is research valued because it brings prestige with it? Or,
is unfunded research a public good? In which case, wouldn’t direct subsidies be a
better way of financing such research than allowing for subsidies from teaching?

Indian students's choice of universities in India, on the other hand, are driven by a
complex combination of factors of which proximity has probably been the dominant
one. But that is beginning to change. The availability of state of the art infrastructure
and facilities at the university has become a major differentiator today - the Vellore
Institute of Technology is a good example. The quality of teachers and teaching as
well as reseach is mostly an unknown.
Posted by Satya at 09:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

August 12, 2008

Special educational tribunals mooted to curb malpractices
by educational institutions
According to a report in The Hindu Business Line, Monday, August 11, 2008, p3 print
edition ( I couldn't find this report online),
The Law Ministry is taking a close look at a suggestion to set up special tribunals with
jurisdication on various educational malpractices, including overcharging of fees and
non-payment of students' dues by institutions. Ministry officials said they are in touch
with the Human Resources Ministry, as it is concerned with policies related to
educational institutions. The government's stand on the issue would largely depend
"on the HRD ministry's views", said an official. The Law Minister, Mr. H.R.
Bhardwaj, is believed to be keen on using the tribunals for handling litigation related
to specific kind of cases in already overburdened courts. The proposed tribunals on
educational malpractices would save students and their parents the trouble of
approaching over-burdened courts for justice.
Presumably "overcharging of fees" refers to the so called donations that are forcibly
demanded and collected?
While the idea of regulating educational institutions is certainly welcome and long
overdue, we need to look into the pros and cons of establishing a new tribunal just to
look into malpractices by educational institutions. If the existing regulatory bodies for
schools, colleges and other types of educational institutions are given more teeth and
enforcing powers, they may well be able to handle this themselves, rather than
creating a new tribunal.
If the Law Ministry is considering such a proposal, I wish they think about putting it
out in the public domain and calling for comments and suggestions from the public.
An important regulatory issue like this needs to be debated.
Posted by Satya at 07:16 AM in Policies & Regulations | Permalink | Comments
(18) | TrackBack (0)
July 28, 2008
GEMS to invest US$408 million in UAE schools, expanding
capacity by over 20,000
After expanding into the U.K. (11 schools now) and India (6 schools now), they are now
on planning to provide more than 20,000 new school places in the UAE, their home base,
and foraying into South Africa.
According to a report in The National,
Plans to provide more than 20,000 new school places in the UAE have been
announced by the Dubai-based Global Education Management Systems (Gems). The Dh1.5
billion (US$408 million) expansion will focus on Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and other
emirates.
Gems, which runs more than 75 schools worldwide, is also looking to significantly
increase its international reach. The company’s mission is to become the “leading
provider of education and learning management services” globally, said Dino Varkey,
senior director for business development at Gems. It is currently developing plans to
open schools in South Africa, where the company already has a strong presence, and
in other nations.
Gems has 25 schools in the UAE with about 70,000 pupils, which it says equates to a
14 per cent share of the total UAE education market. It is the single largest employer
of British and Indian teachers outside the UK and India. “The UAE is still our home
business and there is a tremendous amount of growth,” said Mr Varkey.
As it grows, Mr Varkey said Gems plans to move away from owning the school
buildings in order to concentrate instead on running the schools. “Because we’re an
education company, we’ll try to separate ourselves from the bricks and mortar. We’d
like to leave that to others,” he said. “If we can find investors to build the school for
us, we can take the land and building on a long-term lease. We have a lot of landlords
comfortable with 25- to 50-year leases. It’s a quicker way for us to grow.”
Gems owns and operates 60 per cent of its schools, with 40 per cent owned by others
but managed by Gems, a proportion that has more than doubled in two years. Last
autumn, Gems branched into the public school sector in the UAE with a subsidiary
company, School Improvement Partnership, which runs public-private partnership
(PPP) schools in Abu Dhabi. “We do expect to grow our managed school business for
high-net-worth individuals who want to go into education. We manage schools for
them,” Mr Varkey said.
“We’re very cost-focused,” Mr Varkey said. “A parent paying $15,000 to $20,000 is
very specific in what they want, whereas the parent sending [their child] to a mid-
market school is not concerned about their child speaking five languages or learning
the cello. They want a good education and for their kid to go to a good university. It’s
very aspirational.
“Many of the mid-market schools, which include several Indian schools, offer tuition
for less than Dh5,000. “Our Own English High School in Dubai charges just Dh7,500
annually. At the other end of the spectrum, the Gems World Academy in Dubai,
which will open its doors in September, will charge as much as Dh92,000 a year.”

The GEMS website provides details on its plans in South Africa.

GEMS South Africa was registered in November 2006 as a company in South Africa
to promote the interests and activities of GEMS Education.
GEMS South Africa will purchase and build schools in its own name and to manage
schools on behalf of clients thereby promoting and incorporating cutting-edge
internationally recognised curriculum developments; implanting knowledge and
intellectual property into environments most conducive to the enrichment of learning,
creativity and personal development; utilising highly experienced educationalists,
teachers and school management experts, working collaboratively with international
educational organisations while preserving the beliefs, values, traditions and cultures
of the schools it owns and manages.
GEMS South Africa is currently undertaking feasibility studies for the development of
two new private schools in Namibia and developing the first high volume/low cost
school in South Africa.
The latter model is based upon a very successful model operational by GEMS
Education in other parts of the world. GEMS South Africa believes that there is a
gaping void in key strategic locations in South Africa for such private, not-for-profit
schools, which it hopes to develop as a network of highly successful and prestigious
schools throughout South Africa to assist in spearheading access to quality, affordable
education.
GEMS' plans in India, announced in 2004 of 100 schools in India seem to have taken a bit
of a back seat with only 6 schools run by them as of now in India. In an earlier post, I had
discussed their strategy in India of not owning the schools, but taking on management
contracts - a replication of their UAE strategy.
GEMS is looking to hire Principals for their schools and has advertised for the 2009
school year.
Description: For 49 years GEMS has provided education that enriches the lives of
children and their communities. In 2009 GEMS plans to expand the network of
GEMS Schools within the UAE, UK, India and Kuwait.
Each school project will differ depending on the country in which it is located and the
curriculum offered. Each of these new schools will feature an international
curriculum, National Curriculum for England, an American curriculum or the
International Baccalaureate Programme.
We are looking for successful, experienced school leaders and ambitious senior
leaders to join GEMS in our planned expansion. Roles will focus on the development
and opening of schools and on providing the solid foundations from which they will
grow over the coming years.
Salary / Pay: Remuneration packages will be aligned with the best leaders of
prestigious schools from around the world.
Experience Required: no
This Program is open to American, Australian, Canadian, European, Kiwi and South
African Participants.
Application Process Involves:
* In-Person Interview Required
* In-Person Interview when Feasible
* Letters of Reference
* Other
* Phone Interview
* Resume
* Transcript
* Written Application
Posted by Satya at 12:19 AM in Business of Education, Private
Initiatives | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBack (0)

July 27, 2008

Section 25 companies to be allowed to invest in higher
education in India
According to a Business Standard report,
Private and foreign corporate investment may soon get to flow into Indian higher
education with the government considering a move to reform policy that hinders such
financing.
Currently, it is not possible for non-profit companies under Article 25 of the
Companies Registration Act — like industry associations — to set up an institution
and get university status and recognition from the University Grants Commission.
Educational institutions in India can be set up only by trusts, societies and charitable
companies, but the profits cannot be taken out of the institution and have to be
reinvested. Not only does this restriction hamper expansion, it also encourages
promoters to resort to creative accounting to take out profits from the institutions.
Now, under encouragement from an influential political ally from Maharashtra, the
United Progressive Alliance government is expected to clarify this clause, sources told
Business Standard.
But this report doesn't indicate that for-profit higher education will be allowed - it
only seems to indicate that in addition to non-profit trusts or societies, non-profit
Section 25 companies will also be allowed to set up higher education institutions,
which is not as big a step as what is being considered in the primary education space.
A recent report had suggested that for-profit investment in primary education is under
consideration.
So, what is a Section 25 company? The Indian Companies Act (1956), provides a
definition of a section 25 company.
Section 25 POWER TO DISPENSE WITH "LIMITED" IN NAME OF
CHARITABLE OR OTHER COMPANY.
(1) Where it is proved to the satisfaction of the Central Government that an
association
(a) is about to be formed as a limited company for promoting commerce, art, science,
religion, charity or any other useful object, and
(b) intends to apply its profits, if any, or other income in promoting its objects, and to
prohibit the payment of any dividend to its members, the Central Government may, by
licence direct, that the association may be registered as a company with limited
liability, without the addition to its name of the word "Limited" or the words "Private
Limited".
(2) The association may thereupon be registered accordingly; and on registration shall
enjoy all the privileges, and (subject to the provisions of this section) be subject to all
the obligations, of limited companies.
(3) Where it is proved to the satisfaction of the Central Government - (a) that the
objects of a company registered under this Act as a limited company are restricted to
those specified in clause (a) of sub-section (1), and (b) that by its constitution the
company is required to apply its profits, if any, or other income in promoting its
objects and is prohibited from paying any dividend to its members, the Central
Government may, by licence, authorise the company by a special resolution to change
its name, including or consisting of the omission of the word "Limited" or the words
"Private Limited"; and section 23 shall apply to a change of name under this sub-
section as it applies to a change of name under section 21.
(4) A firm may be a member of any association or company licensed under this
section, but on the dissolution of the firm, its membership of the association or
company shall cease.
(5) A licence may be granted by the Central Government under this section on such
conditions and subject to such regulations as it thinks fit, and those conditions and
regulations shall be binding on the body to which the licence is granted, and where the
grant is under sub-section (1), shall, if the Central Government so directs, be inserted
in the memorandum, or in the articles, or partly in the one and partly in the other.
(6) It shall not be necessary for a body to which a licence is so granted to use the word
"Limited" or the words "Private Limited" as any part of its name and, unless its
articles otherwise provide, such body shall, if the Central Government by general or
special order so directs and to the extent specified in the directions, be exempt from
such of the provisions of this Act as may be specified therein.
(7) The licence may at any time be revoked by the Central Government, and upon
revocation,
Not that big a difference from the way non-profit trusts or societies operate in India.
The Business Standard report also goes on to suggest that with the shackles of the Left
Parties removed after the recent confidence vote, there will now be movement on the
pending Foreign Education Providers (Regulation) Bill to allow foreign universities to
operate in India.
There is also renewed hope for a Bill allowing foreign universities and institutions
into India to be tabled in Parliament, judging by Human Resources Development
Minister Arjun Singh’s remarks at a conference of state education ministers two days
ago.
The Left parties were the principal opponents of the Foreign Education Providers
(Regulation) Bill, which was cleared by the Cabinet in 2007 but never introduced in
the Lok Sabha although it was listed in the agenda papers.
“We have tried to accommodate some of the concerns. We will try to introduce the
Bill in the Lok Sabha session beginning August,” Singh said. The Bill seeks to
regulate foreign institutions setting up campuses in India. A contentious issue is
whether caste-based reservations would apply to these institutions.
Both Oxford and Stanford Universities have evinced interest in setting up campuses in
India but have been hesitant about moving forward until they are clear about the
degree of regulation, funding and other issues.
Experts say the moves would provide clarity on funding of higher education
institutions by overseas entities. "This will probably provide funding clarity for
foreign institutions like charitable organisations or NRIs wanting to set up facilities in
India.
Posted by Satya at 12:57 PM in Business of Education, Foreign Universities in India, Higher
Education, Private Initiatives | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)

July 24, 2008

Primary education for profit likely to be allowed in India
says The Economic Times. This is a very interesting move by the Government,
heralding a huge change in their thinking on funding primary education. If they
implement it, there could be a surge of much-needed private investment into primary
education to provide a big boost to both supply and quality. The idea of cautious
experimentation by asking private players to work in partnership with a government
agency is a wise one.
Source: The Economic Times, Chennai Edition, Tuesday, July 22, p1 (couldn't find
the link online)
Profit-making in primary education may get okay
Gireesh Chandra Prasad
New Delhi
Come December and corporates may get to venture into preimary education as a
profit-making business by partnering with government bodies. According to a
proposal on public-private partnership that the government is working on,
shareholders of such companies will be eligible for dividends. This is a major break
 from the present legal restrictions that force companies providing education to plough
back profits and utilise the funds for their stated objective of providing education.
Trusts, societies and charitable companies are the most-preferred legal structure for
educational institutions and promoters are barred from taking profits out of such
institutions. The proposed rules will change this equation with promoters earning
reasonable dividends under watchful eyes of the public sector partners they will work
with.
THe new norms would allow entrepreneurs to incorporate their ventures as companies
and get into education as a profit-making service. However, they will not be eligible
for any tax exemption that now extends to societies, trusts and charitable companies.
The finance ministry is expected to begin the process by issuing a request for
qualification - a document detailing the parameters for eligible companies. This would
give details about how the proposed business model would be structured without
violating the existing restriction on repatriation of profits. The ministry would also
evolve a model for inviting private investments in primary health centres through
public-private partnerships.
The proposed relaxation would be available only for companies getting into
partnerships with government entities and not to all. The nature of these projects
would be different from the few public-private partnerhsips that have already
happened under the rurual health mission and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, which are
largely in the form of management contracts or for providing specific services.
Posted by Satya at 01:42 PM in Business of Education, Policies & Regulations, Primary
Education, Private Initiatives | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

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