Posted by Ninad on August 20, 2010 under All Posts | 
Recently, I was interviewed by ‘The Hindu’. The piece appeared in the newspaper on 17th August, 2010, and is reproduced below:
Embrace technology to improve access to education
Public-private participation will boost the investment in education manifold in the years to come, says Ninad Karpe, CEO and MD of Aptech.
Ninad Karpe started his career as a consultant advising companies planning to invest in India. He is now the CEO and Managing Director of Aptech which he joined in 2009. A keen follower of the education scenario both in India and around the world, Mr. Karpe maintains a blog www.reformingeducation.in where he speaks about issues relating to education. Excerpts from an interview during his recent visit to Thiruvananthapuram:
On problems in the primary education sector
The primary education system is plagued by so many problems. These range from single- teacher schools to institutions where girls cannot attend just because there are no toilet facilities. Broadly the problems are those of access and quality. Seen on a nationwide basis, out of every 100 students who enroll for class one, 80 or so drop out by the time they reach class nine or ten.
The Right to Education Act is a welcome development as it has the potential to ensure access to education. Access, however, should be ensured without compromising on quality. That said, quality in Indian schools may take some time to improve.
Lack of quality teachers is a major stumbling block and this will continue for a while because teaching has not been a sought after profession for a long time. This cannot be changed overnight. Moreover, monetarily too teaching in schools is not that attractive. Then again, getting the odd good teacher is not enough. How do you get a set of good teachers across subjects? How do you retain them?
But, by providing access and reasonable infrastructure and with some help from technology the school system can be improved. It is true that technology cannot replace the teacher completely, but it can substitute a teacher’s work by up to 20 per cent or so. In India though the government has experimented with separate education channels and with e-learning schemes, technology has not really kept pace with the requirements, in creating a classroom-like experience for students.
On private investment in education
After Kapil Sibal took over as minister in charge of education a lot of visibility has been generated for the education sector. New schemes and new ideas are doing the rounds. As a result a lot of money, private money included, is going to come to education. That is good. In the days to come we can see huge amounts of money being pumped in by the private sector in tier-II and tier-III cities. These players are going to give much better access and far better infrastructure than the public sector.
The government has also announced a PPP scheme for the education sector. This is a fairly attractive scheme. I can say that when compared to the last five years, investment in education will grow four-fold in next five years. The private players will also start embracing technology in a big way. All this will happen over the next decade. But then schools aren’t just about the infrastructure. There is also the more intangible ‘learning experience’, the ambience.
On the possible entry of foreign universities/ educational institutions into India
The Foreign Universities Bill is a good initiative. The government has put in filters in the bill which will prevent India from getting inundated by those kinds of institutions which we do not want here. The education industry in India is fairly mature. But I do not honestly think that this would result in a dramatic change in the education sector. Will four institutes coming up in India change the education scene in a radical manner? Yes, it will help some students get quality education. This is radical more as a thought process. There aren’t many countries in the world that allow foreign universities to set up shop. As a piece of legislation this Bill is a fairly dramatic step. I had never thought I would see something like this in my lifetime.
But in terms of impact, the role of foreign universities will be limited. The kind of shortages we have in terms of the number of colleges and universities, it is too huge a gap to be filled by foreign institutions.
On fears that top quality institutions may not prefer to come to India.
Why fear? Why can’t the second or third rung institutions come to India? Now, are Indian students only going to top notch institutions abroad? I have been to Russia and there are 40,000 Indian students studying there. The question is do we just look at students going to Harvard or do we also look at students who aspire to get educated in a foreign university, even if that is a second-rung institution? If the top two or three colleges don’t come, it is okay. Let the second level guys come and become successful and then the top guys will come.
A major point to note about foreign universities is that even if such institutions come here they will not be a substitute to learning in our own country’s institutions. As in the case of schools, the university is not just about the campus but it is about a host of learning experiences. The atmosphere of, say, Harvard cannot be recreated here in a campus just like that. So even if a foreign university opens a campus here it will take 10 to 15 years to get its processes going.
We should encourage foreign universities to come and at the same time facilitate partnerships. It should never be one against the other.
On the move to set up Universities of Innovation.
If things are done in the way that the Bill suggests, it would be nothing short of a revolution. Here, there is a lot of scope for private capital to come in. In fact only Indian private capital will come in initially to fund a university of innovation. The foreign players will wait to see how things progress then may come in.
On the role of Aptech in higher education
Education is not a homogenous industry and over the last 25 years we have traversed quite a bit of ground. Our mission now is to become a global career education company. We are into animation, multimedia and gaming, hardware networking, travel, tourism, hospitality and airport management, an English language academy… We have a presence in more than 20 countries. And everywhere the aspiration of a student is the same; to get a better standard of living. We aim to give students skill sets, career tools which are globally valid.
Posted by Ninad on August 16, 2010 under All Posts |
The latest figures are staggering – 220 million children start schooling in Grade 1 across India. Roughly 80 per cent drop out by the time they reach class 10 and finally, only around 14 million reach college — that is an embarrassing 6 per cent!
So, how can we increase this to at least 30 per cent?
At a recent event in Mumbai, Union HRD Minister urged educational institutions in India and abroad to enter into collaborations in order to ensure that Indian students get access to quality education.
He spoke of the need for India to grow along the lines of the 3 Ss — science, solutions and sustainability. He emphasised that sustainability, which is critical for the development of the entire country can be achieved only through collaborations.
In India, there are a few Institutes which have already collaborated with foreign universities. However, given the sheer gap between the demand for good quality education and supply, there is a greater potential for partnerships across various streams.
Such partnerships can bring the expertise of foreign universities — in terms of courseware, academic inputs, training to Indian teachers etc. Foreign universities will be keen to enter the Indian education market. However, they will definitely evaluate all options before they engage into a partnership.
Eventually, if such partnerships fructify, it can only benefit the Indian student and hopefully, the present number of 14 million will start creeping upwards!
The latest figures are staggering – 220 million children start schooling in Grade 1 across India. Roughly 80 per cent drop out by the time they reach class 10 and finally, only around 14 million reach college — that is an embarrassing 6 per cent!
So, how can we increase this to at least 30 per cent?
At a recent event in Mumbai, Union HRD Minister urged educational institutions in India and abroad to enter into collaborations in order to ensure that Indian students get access to quality education.
He spoke of the need for India to grow along the lines of the 3 Ss — science, solutions and sustainability. He emphasised that sustainability, which is critical for the development of the entire country can be achieved only through collaborations.
In India, there are a few Institutes which have already collaborated with foreign universities. However, given the sheer gap between the demand for good quality education and supply, there is a greater potential for partnerships across various streams.
Such partnerships can bring the expertise of foreign universities — in terms of courseware, academic inputs, training to Indian teachers etc. Foreign universities will be keen to enter the Indian education market. However, they will definitely evaluate all options before they engage into a partnership.
Eventually, if such partnerships fructify, it can only benefit the Indian student and hopefully, the present number of 14 million will start creeping upwards!
Posted by Ninad on May 10, 2010 under All Posts |
Here are some statistics from IDFC-SSKI research report on Indian Education (2009).
- Government spends $ 30 billion on education every year
- Citizens spend additionally $ 50 billion on private education
- K-12 segment is worth $ 20 billion
So, do you want to start a school in India?
A school is a capital intensive business. In a city like Delhi or Mumbai, setting up a school for 1000 children on a 2 acre plot could cost anywhere between Rs. 15-20 crores.
In India, schools can be owned only by a not-for-profit trust or society or government.
Government has over 1 million schools and effectively runs the largest number of schools in the country.
There are a total of 75,000 private schools in India. Only a handful like the Delhi Public School (DPS) has more than 100 locations.
Given these intricacies, how are education entrepreneurs setting up schools?
They simply set up two legal structures. A company owns all the assets of the school and leases it to the trust for a fee. The trust runs the school and books all the expenses.
There are a plethora of new schools which have come up especially in the B and C class cities, where the cost dynamics are more favourable.
Given the big demand for good quality school education, new schools with spiffy facilities are bound to come up with this dual legal structure. Ultimately, this will mean a better choice to parents and their kids.
Posted by Ninad on May 3, 2010 under All Posts |
Currently, around 14 million students attend college. However, given the robust annual growth of GDP of more than 9 per cent, it is estimated that India will need to send 22 million students to college in the year 2014.
Mr. Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for HRD has mentioned that he wants to send 30 per cent of India’s college-going-age kids to college. This would mean 30 million more students going to colleges.
India presently has around 350 universities and the National Knowledge Commission has stated that India needs around 1,500 universities.
In 2008, it is estimated that India had around 340 million people in the age group of 25-50 year olds who did not have a college degree. This is expected to rise to 380 million by the year 2014.
Setting up a good quality university is highly capital intensive and time consuming. Although foreign universities are likely to be allowed to come to India; at best, they will meet a fraction of this demand.
So, what is the future of those students who seek a good quality college degree and are unable to get it?
The yawning gap between demand and supply will ensure that aspirants for prestigious institutions like IIT and IIM will be on the rise for many years to come.
If this huge gap is to be met, shouldn’t the government look at changing its model and allowing for-profit institutions in the education sector?
Posted by Ninad on April 26, 2010 under All Posts |
With the Right to Education becoming a fundamental right, a question asked by many educationist is — How much will it cost the government to implement? And, where will it get all the money?
It has been estimated that the government will require around Rs. 171,000 crores over the next five years.
The Thirteenth Finance Commission has provided for Rs. 25,000 crores to the States over five years for implementation of Right to Education. This is over and above allocations for centrally sponsored schemes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, teacher education and the mid-day meal scheme, which is the largest of its kind in the world.
For the current year, the allocation is Rs. 15,000 crores and the centre will bear upto 55 per cent of this.
Already, many State governments have raised a hue and cry over this stating that they do not have money to implement and comply with the Right to Education. They have asked the Central government to provide more funds.
The Prime Minister and the Minister for HRD have clearly stated that money constraints will not derail Right to Education. This clearly shows intent on the part of the government.
However, there is still a yawning gap. Who will fill it?
Posted by Ninad on April 19, 2010 under All Posts |
With the Right to Education Act, demand for teachers in primary schools will increase dramatically.
It is estimated that around 510,000 additional teachers are required within the next couple of years.
In addition to this, there are around 120,000 primary schools in the country with only one teacher. If we need to merely add one more teacher in each of these schools to improve the learning experience, there will an additional demand for 120,000 teachers.
Where will these schools get so many teachers?
Also, the shortfall for teachers is higher in the rural sector. So, how will schools in the rural sector get so many teachers?
Over the past so many years, the teaching profession has not managed to attract the best of talent partly due to poor pay and also due to poor working conditions.
Due to the huge demand for teachers, it is possible that the compensation levels of teachers may go up, especially in private schools. Schools in cities are witnessing this phenomenon where the salaries for teachers are rising every year and schools are faced with attrition.
Many school managements complain that the teacher training imparted to teachers is woefully inadequate and the schools need to re-train the qualified teachers.
Hence, along with setting up large number of schools, government needs to push the agenda on setting up a large number of teacher training colleges. Indeed, the government should push for a PPP model in teacher training – lest we face a scenario of schools sans teachers!
Posted by Ninad on April 12, 2010 under All Posts |
Mark Twain has popularized this term “Lies, damned lies and statistics”.
With the right to education at primary level becoming a fundamental right, it is interesting to see some statistics connected to primary education in India (source: HRD Ministry). So, read on…
- Total number of children in 6-14 age group in India eligible for primary education: 19 million
- Number of children in the 6-14 age group who do not go to school: 8 million
- Drop out ratios:
- 25% by class V
- 50% by class VIII
- Number of primary schools in India with only one teacher: 120,000
These are staggering numbers. Around 40 per cent of eligible children (8 m) do not go to school.
Here are some more statistics (source: 2008-09 District Information System for Education) of the survey of 1.29 million government and private schools.
- Over 60 per cent did not have electricity
- 46.4 per cent did not have toilets for girls
- 50 per cent did not have boundary walls to ensure safety for students.
So, will the Right to Education change all this?
The gap is so huge that no amount of legislation can change this scenario in a short span of time. It will require consistent commitment from the government and citizens to increase the access and quality of primary education.
Because of the Right to Education law, more funds will certainly get allocated to schools and it will help in raising the capacity.
Posted by Ninad on April 5, 2010 under All Posts |
It’s been a long wait. Nine years!
The Constitution was amended nine years back to make education a fundamental right. On 1st April, 2010, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act became a law. India has now joined a few countries like Chile and Bangladesh which ensure compulsory education.
“I am what I am today because of education” – this is what Dr, Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India stated in his address to the nation – an unprecedented gesture.
Undoubtedly, it is a historic moment.
However, there are a lot of doubts on how it will be implemented.
Where are the teachers? Despite the bravado, how will the government fund a total spend of Rs. 171,000 crores (approx. USD) 38 bn? Why cover private unaided schools with an obligation of 25 per cent reservation for the underprivileged?
There are many such questions.
However, there is no doubt that education is now in the forefront of the national agenda. There is a law to back it and the Prime Minister himself had addressed the nation on this issue.
If not anything else, this visibility will ensure that Education now takes its rightful centre-stage in all policy decision-making.
Posted by Ninad on March 22, 2010 under All Posts |
15th March, 2010 is a historic day for the Education industry in India.
India’s cabinet approved a proposal to allow foreign universities to set up campuses in India and offer degrees. The Parliament has to still approve the Bill before it becomes a law, and given the fact that many politicians run Higher Educational Institutions in India, the Bill may face some opposition.
This Bill has been in cold storage for many years now and Kapil Sabil deserves kudos for pushing forward this Bill.
So, what does the Bill really contain?
- Foreign Universities can now set up a campus in India and provide degrees to students in India
- Foreign University will need to deposit Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) as corpus fund and cannot take back the surplus generated from education activities in the country.
- Each institute will have to be registered with the university Grants Commission or any regulatory body in place at the time of registration.
- The bill has a provision under which the government can reject an application of a university if it feels that venture will have an adverse impact on national security.
- The proposed law sets out rules and regulations that foreign educational institutions would have to follow before opening in India. The process would take at least eight months.
More than 160,000 students travel abroad for higher education ever year and the Minister hopes that this number will reduce as foreign universities start operations in India. More than 30 per cent of India’s 1.1 billion people are estimated to be under 14 and it is a large market for graduate courses.
Presently, several foreign universities are already offering courses in India through partnerships with Indian institutions, but they are not allowed to grant foreign degrees.
Kapil Sibal has been quoted as saying — “A revolution larger than the one in the telecom sector awaits the education sector.”
Will this revolution really happen?
I believe it can – IF there is transparency in the entire regulation process.
Posted by Ninad on March 10, 2010 under All Posts |
Kapil Sibal has pulled out another “rabbit” from his hat!
State Boards across the country have agreed to a core curriculum in science and mathematics at the higher secondary. Core curriculum has been prepared for physics, chemistry, mathematics and biology. This will be implemented from 2011-12.
This idea of a core curriculum had been mooted by Kapil Sibal at the last meeting of COBSE (Council of School Board of Education) in August. At the recent meeting of COBSE held on 16th February, 2010, a decision was taken by the 41 Boards from across the country to have a common core curriculum.
Once this is implemented, it will lead to a common entrance examination for professional courses in 2013.
Today, a student who completes class XII needs to appear for multiple exams if he wants to get into any professional course. The scenario is quite different in many countries around the world. In the US, there is a common exam – SAT – which is taken as the benchmark for entrance into any professional course or college, irrespective of the stream.
Can we also have an Indian version of “SAT”?
Common core curriculum is really the first step. owever, the moot question is – will the IITs embrace the common test and not conduct their own prestigious IIT-JEE? That looks difficult. However, the silver lining could be that students can expect to avoid other entrance tests.
