Challenges in India’s higher education

Source: The post challenges in India’s higher education has been created, based on the article “Rising STEM research demands revitalised education” published in “The Hindu” on 6th November 2024

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper2-governance-Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Education.

Context: The article discusses challenges in India’s higher education. Many graduates lack essential skills due to poor training quality. It suggests focusing on teaching over research, establishing joint degree programs between teaching and research institutions, and improving faculty development to enhance education quality and student outcomes.

For detailed information on Issues and trends in India’s higher education system read this article here

What Are the Main Challenges in India’s Higher Education?

1. Skill Gaps in Graduates: Many students graduating from private colleges and newer IITs lack basic industry-required skills, impacting industry and research quality.
2. Quality of Training: Faculty often chase papers for rankings, compromising teaching quality. This leads to poor-quality graduates, affecting industry standards and research output.
3. Faculty Shortages: Institutions face faculty shortages, worsening as fewer students pursue higher education.
4. Overemphasis on Research: Teaching institutions prioritize research output, often participating in predatory publications, diverting resources from teaching.
5. Limited Access to Research Institutes: 95% of students study in non-premier institutions, like KIIT University, admitting over 2,000 computer science students annually, unlike IIT Bhubaneswar’s 60.
6. Lack of Collaboration: Minimal partnerships exist between research and teaching institutions, with few models, like NIT Surat-IIT Bombay, showing success.

How Can India’s Education System Improve?

1. Separate Rankings: Rank teaching institutions based on teaching quality, not research output, to reduce the reliance on low-quality publications.
2. Establish Joint Degree Programs: Research and teaching institutions should establish partnerships for pedagogy improvements through “hyphenated degrees.” For instance, in India, NIT Surat and IIT Bombay collaborate, allowing select students to spend their final year at IIT Bombay and continue into its M.Tech. program. In the U.S., community colleges partner with research universities, offering similar pathways.
3. Encourage Faculty Collaboration: Promote partnerships like the Partnerships for Accelerated Innovation and Research (PAIR) program, launched by the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), incentivizing research-teaching institution collaborations.
4. Develop Centers of Excellence: Fund government-backed centers focused on pedagogy, similar to research centers, to boost teaching quality across institutions.

What Role Can Collaboration Between Institutions Play?

1. Strengthening Education: Partnerships between research institutions (which admit about 5% of undergraduates) and teaching institutions (where 95% study) enhance the overall quality of education and research.
2. Joint Degree Programs: Establishing agreements allows top-performing students from teaching institutions to spend their final years in research institutions, earning degrees from both and improving their skills.
3. Curriculum Alignment: Collaborations help align curricula between teaching and research institutions, ensuring consistency in content and pedagogy for better learning outcomes.
4. Faculty Development: Faculty from research institutions can mentor those in teaching institutions through workshops and training, enhancing pedagogical skills.

How Will These Changes Benefit India?

1. Improving pedagogy will raise the quality of undergraduate education, helping produce more skilled graduates.
2. This focus on teaching can also improve research quality by relieving faculty of publication pressures.
3. These proposals are applicable to all fields, not just science and engineering. Revitalizing India’s teaching institutions will create a stronger talent pool capable of driving research and innovation.

Question for practice:

Examine how collaborations between teaching and research institutions can address the challenges in India’s higher education system.