Reforming Higher Education in India: In Pursuit of Excellence

Chetan Singai,T R Kumaraswamy,Ajay Chandra

doi:10.4995/head20.2020.11237

Abstract

Higher education has emerged as one of the most critical factors for the Nation’s economic, political, social and cultural growth and development. Reforming the higher education sector has become an emergent norm across the globe, especially in the developing world. India is one such emerging nation, witnessing a major shift in its ideological, pragmatic and policy directions in the last few years. The higher education sector in India has witnessed unprecedented expansion. However, given the distinctive social-political-economic context and its complexity in India, expansion in higher education is often linked with ensuring equity and access. Whereas in the developed world, expansion is often associated with quality or excellence in higher education i.e. creating world-class universities. Further, excellence in higher education is arguably the most critical component for the survival, sustenance and growth of the sector. To this end, the paper examines the convergence and divergence in policies and practices related to the pursuit of excellence in higher education and its institutions in India vis-à-vis the dominant global reforms in higher education. Erstwhile policies related to quality in higher education and the current draft National Education Policy-2019, provide a reference to the local-distinctive strategies for seeking excellence at the systemic and the institutional level, with an aspiration for global reputation. For instance, National Institutional Ranking Framework, University Grants Commission’s graded autonomy, Institutional restructuring, National Accreditation and Assessment Council and Quacquarelli Symonds- India rating and so on. The paper also sets direction on how Local strategies for global aspirations could unpack a series of issues regarding the reforms in education and delineate in what ways that these emerging global reforms, strategies are effective and appropriate to the local higher education system and its institutions.

Highlights

Globalization and internationalization have been one of the key factors in changing the landscape of higher education in India
Quality evaluations often emphasize on meeting the objectives, documentation and using institutional quality mechanisms to determine and maintain standards, all of which are reflections of quality and accountability, which could foster excellence
Despite its reputation over the past decade, global university rankings and ratings have been critiqued on data, methodological and local relevance flaws from many academicians (Bekhradnia 2016; Soh, 2017). Their measure of excellence lays emphasis on high impact research and internationalization, which may not be appropriate to the countries in the developing world

Summary

Introduction

Higher education in the country has witnessed unprecedented expansion and demand amongst stakeholders and has led the institutions to compete and sustain. In the last half-a-decade, quality and excellence have been the core parameters for institutions to compete and sustain. Internationalization and globalization of higher education both at the regional and national levels is one such instance. Such approaches often include measures to harness competence, cooperation, collaboration and creativity in research, teaching and service amongst the HEIs. Further, the global and national ranking, rating and national accreditation systems have a substantial impact on the decision-making ability of institutions and the stakeholders in higher education. OECD studies (2014) have found that 63 percent of responding institutions have taken strategic organizational, managerial, or academic actions in response to accreditations, rankings and ratings

Defining a world-class university

Higher Education in India – In Pursuit of Excellence

Excellence with Relevance

Findings

Conclusion