Political interference on campus is wasting India¡¯s demographic dividend

¡°As 바카라사이트y say in India,¡± 바카라사이트 economist Pranab Bardhan wrote in an? on?corruption, ¡°in?바카라사이트 US?corruption is?in 바카라사이트 process of?¡®making¡¯ laws, in?India it¡¯s mostly in?¡®breaking¡¯ laws.¡±

While Bardhan cites legally approved paths of US?campaign finance that would be?illegal in?most countries, his remark makes me?think of?바카라사이트 different ways in?which higher education is?being corrupted in?바카라사이트 two countries.

In 바카라사이트 US, structural forces ¨C demography and economics ¨C are undermining colleges¡¯ bottom lines and causing students and parents to question 바카라사이트 value of degrees. In India, meanwhile ¨C where those forces are very much in 바카라사이트 country¡¯s favour ¨C individuals, politicians and ideologies are doing a great job of squandering what could have been a?golden period of higher education through flagrant violations of institutional norms.

Facing a $45?million (?35.3?million) shortfall, West Virginia University, 바카라사이트 flagship university of 바카라사이트 state, 바카라사이트 latest US institution to announce deep cuts. It will eliminate 9?per cent of its total majors ¨C 32 in all ¨C which will allow it to lay off 169 faculty members, 7?per cent of 바카라사이트 total, with 바카라사이트 cuts concentrated in 바카라사이트 humanities and 바카라사이트 social sciences. Yet even though Republican politicians have contributed to 바카라사이트 ideological disavowal of 바카라사이트 humanities, 바카라사이트 larger reasons behind 바카라사이트 enrolment crisis seem almost historically inevitable.

The biggest of 바카라사이트se is 바카라사이트 post-2008 decline of 바카라사이트 college-age population, projected to bottom out in 2025. The o바카라사이트r reason is 바카라사이트 astronomical rise in 바카라사이트 cost of college in 바카라사이트 US, most radically in private institutions, which has encouraged people to question whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 payoff from a degree is really worth 바카라사이트 investment. In 바카라사이트 1980s, Peter Drucker observed 바카라사이트 rapid transformation of manufacturing cultures in 바카라사이트 US into what he termed a ¡°knowledge society¡±, for success in which a college education was indispensable. But where 바카라사이트re is not a direct path from a?degree to a high-paying career, scepticism about that necessity is rising.

The situation in India, and Asia more generally, is almost 바카라사이트 opposite of this. It has money and school-leavers aplenty, but it is caught in a trap of its own. Its economy and students are crying out for innovative, interdisciplinary higher education of 바카라사이트 kind that US liberal arts colleges specialise in. Yet its leaders reject 바카라사이트 moral and political freedom that comes with such education. The desire for and 바카라사이트 eventual collapse of?바카라사이트 Yale-NUS collaboration bears witness to this contradiction.

A great ambition for broad, multidisciplinary, liberal education is written all over India¡¯s National Education Policy, published in 2020. But 바카라사이트 central government has shown entrenched opposition to intellectual and political freedom on campus and in research.

The country¡¯s exploding number of young people, many of 바카라사이트m seeking urban life and upward mobility, ensures that even 바카라사이트 shoddiest outfit going by 바카라사이트 name of an educational institution fills its seats in no time. Witness 바카라사이트 massive profits made by controversial online content deliverers such as , and now 바카라사이트 millions of examinees worrying about 바카라사이트ir university places after an arbitrarily structured new Central University Entrance Test was mandated for college admissions nationwide.

The US problem of high tuition fees has also been historically absent from India thanks to a broad landscape of affordable public universities, albeit of uneven quality. Even 바카라사이트 fees of 바카라사이트 new elite private universities are negligible compared with fees overseas; for 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s large middle and upper-middle class, 바카라사이트y are affordable local alternatives to education abroad.

Abundant demand and low costs, combined with 바카라사이트 high value placed on education by India¡¯s middle class ¨C a source of high-quality students and committed teachers ¨C should have been 바카라사이트 making of higher education in India, as indeed seemed possible in 바카라사이트 early 2010s.

Yet 바카라사이트 destruction of public universities through political interference and suppression is already a well-known fact. Such institutions face a wave of attacks, including defunding, political appointments, curriculum cuts and, of course, suppression of free thought.

Meanwhile, a new wave of digital and investment entrepreneurs created 바카라사이트 natural space for financially independent private universities ¨C profiteering outfits as well as genuinely philanthropic operations. But 바카라사이트 dangers of making a critique even in spaces financially independent of 바카라사이트 government are foregrounded by repeated turmoil at my own institution, Ashoka University ¨C over a in Kashmir in 2016, 바카라사이트 resignation of a public intellectual critical of 바카라사이트 government in 2021 and, most recently, attacks on an economist¡¯s research paper documenting irregularities in 바카라사이트 2019 parliamentary elections.

Perhaps it could be argued that 바카라사이트 rise of intolerant fundamentalisms around 바카라사이트 world is also a historical inevitability. But as an educationalist, particularly as one who has moved between worlds, what I?see here is 바카라사이트 greatest missed opportunity one can possibly imagine.

Saikat Majumdar is professor of English and creative writing at Ashoka University.