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.
Posted by Ninad on March 2, 2010 under All Posts |
The Finance Minister, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, made his Budget speech in the Parliament today – 26th February, 2010.
Most of the corporate world had very low expectations from the Budget. However, the education sector was expected to receive a strong boost in this Budget. Unfortunately, that did not happen.
It was refreshing to see “Education” being mentioned in the Budget speech a couple of times. I have been following the Budget speeches for many years now and I have never heard Education being mentioned so often in the Budget speech.
Also, in the initial portion of the speech, the Finance Minister mentioned about government being an enabler. I thought that this was a precursor to a substantial announcement on a PPP model for the Education sector. Alas, that did not happen.
The only real substantial announcement for the Education sector was the increase in outlay for school education from Rs. 26,000 crores to Rs. 31,000 crores.
Is this increase of Rs. 5000 crores good? Yes. Is it good enough? Certainly not!
Other than this, there is nothing in the Budget for the Education sector.
There is a special mention in the Budget for the infrastructure sector, which has received a whooping Rs. 173,000 crores. Compare this to the spend on Education sector – it is really inadequate.
So, what could have been done? A lot – here are some thoughts:
- Education sector could have been declared as an Infrastructure sector. Ultimately, it is social infrastructure or soft infrastructure.
- A better framework is required for educational loans to needy students. We need to move from the collateral based education loan system to a government guaranteed loan system prevalent in the US, where more than 80 per cent of the loans are given on this basis.
- Implementation of the Right to Education Act requires massive funding, which should be addressed.
- Weaker sections of society need more inclusive support in terms of bridging the skill gaps required to seek admission in higher learning institutions.
- Higher education also needs a massive dose of funding.
- PPP model for education needs to be spelt out as a clear policy objective.
There is a lot more that can be done. Hopefully, we don’t need to wait till the next Budget to see some of these initiatives being implemented by the government.
