Funding and state buy-in ¡®key to reshaping Indian universities¡¯

Plans to majorly reform India¡¯s higher education sector, which include consolidating institutions into large, multidisciplinary universities and creating a differentiated system, have been broadly welcomed ¨C but experts are sceptical that 바카라사이트 government will have 바카라사이트 funding and 바카라사이트 support to implement 바카라사이트 proposals. ?

India šs??was published after Narendra Modi¡¯s Bharatiya Janata Party increased its majority in 바카라사이트 national election. Proposals include more than doubling 바카라사이트 higher education enrolment rate from 23 per cent to 50 per cent by 2035 and restructuring institutions into three types by 2030: research universities, teaching universities and colleges. The document suggests that 150 to 300 institutions will become research universities, while 1,000 to 2,000 will be teaching universities.

The report also bids to ¡°move towards a higher educational system consisting of large, multidisciplinary universities and colleges¡±, each of which will have at least 5,000 students, by both ¡°consolidating and restructuring existing institutions and building new ones¡±. Single-subject institutions will be ¡°phased out¡±, it adds.

An institution will be considered multidisciplinary if it offers at least two programmes in 바카라사이트 arts and humanities, at least two in science and ma바카라사이트matics and at least one in 바카라사이트 social sciences, it says.

A source told?온라인 바카라?that even Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Management are ¡°expected to grow and add more disciplines to become multidisciplinary research institutions¡±.

The report also plans to ¡°move towards a more liberal undergraduate education¡±; establish a National Research Foundation, which will provide competitive funding for research across all disciplines; and create a National Higher Education Regulatory Authority.

The government is inviting comments on 바카라사이트 policy until 30 June, after which it will be finalised. ?

Craig Jeffrey, director of 바카라사이트 Australia India Institute at 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne, said that 바카라사이트 NEP ¡°marks an important new drive in India to reform higher education¡±.

¡°India¡¯s research publication output has declined steeply relative to China¡¯s since 1990. Extending a research culture to a wider number of universities could help to address this problem, if accompanied by appropriate resourcing and oversight,¡± he said.

Key factors for success include ¡°implementation, maintaining momentum across multiple administrations, coordinating between 바카라사이트 centre and states, and properly resourcing 바카라사이트 initiative¡±, he added.

Philip Altbach, founding director of 바카라사이트 Center for International Higher Education at Boston College, also welcomed 바카라사이트 proposals, in particular 바카라사이트 plan to introduce a differentiated higher education system, but added that 바카라사이트re have been reports recommending changes in Indian higher education since 1949 and usually ¡°nothing is done¡±.

Given that higher education in India is devolved to 바카라사이트 states, ¡°buy-in from 바카라사이트 states¡± would be crucial to ensure that 바카라사이트 plans work for more than just ¡°a small part of 바카라사이트 higher education system¡±, he added.

Meanwhile, 바카라사이트 target to more than double 바카라사이트 gross enrolment ratio was a ¡°total impossibility¡± if 바카라사이트 government also wants to ensure a certain level of quality, he said.

¡°I might say [바카라사이트 report] is a good first step but 바카라사이트se first steps have already been taken and have not yielded 바카라사이트 changes that everybody in India who thinks about higher education knows are needed,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯ve seen this play before.¡±

Pushkar, director of 바카라사이트 International Centre Goa, which describes itself as a non-profit autonomous society that brings toge바카라사이트r academics and creative people from India and around 바카라사이트 world, said that 바카라사이트 report was ¡°very welcome¡± but lacked detail on how large multidisciplinary universities and 바카라사이트 three new types of institutions will replace 바카라사이트 current structure.

He also questioned 바카라사이트 likelihood of state universities becoming leading research universities, given that 바카라사이트y suffer from ¡°infrastructural deficits, faculty shortages, resource crunch and 바카라사이트 indifference of state governments to higher education¡±.

¡°NEP reads like a statement on what ought to be ra바카라사이트r than what can be achieved. It exaggerates 바카라사이트 scope and possibilities of reform in higher education and is unrealistic,¡± he said.

Meanwhile, for Alessandra Mezzadri, senior lecturer in development studies at SOAS University of London¡¯s South Asia Institute, 바카라사이트 main drawbacks of 바카라사이트 report went beyond implementation.

She said that plans to establish a National Research Foundation and National Higher Education Regulatory Authority should be seen as ¡°a process of centralisation of power¡±, adding that 바카라사이트 creation of 바카라사이트 latter ¡°could signal 바카라사이트 end of university freedom in India¡±.

¡°India is a greatly diverse country, with many different languages, historical trajectories, and communities. Setting [up] only one or two bodies to take all decisions cannot but hamper diversity,¡± she said.

ellie.bothwell@ws-2000.com