Understanding the Changing Perspectives of Higher Education in India

The higher education in India is at the crossroads since the release of the National Education Policy 2020 by the Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development in July 2020 amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic. The book “The Future of Higher Education in India” was published a few months after releasing of the draft National Education Policy (NEP) by the Committee for Draft National Education Policy in May 2019, chaired by eminent space scientist and technocrat Dr. K. Kasturirangan. The book thus relates to some of the recommendations of the draft NEP on the governance and transformation of higher education institutions in the country. The country has about 900 universities. They fall into the categories of central, state, private and deemed universities. These include many of the centrally funded technical institutions (CFTIs), recognized as the technical and research universities and placed in the global ranking of world universities. The book is organized into three parts, namely (i) Structure, (ii) Finances and (iii) Capabilities and Others. The book began with an introductory chapter titled “Contesting the Present in the Evolution of Public Higher Education”, written by Sudhanshu Bhushan. Here the author recounts the socioeconomic perspectives and public nature of higher education in a country. He then finds out the contradictions in approaches of draft NEP. He observes, “The government has been relying more on promoting privatization and market-friendly principles such as competition and ranking, funding through self-financing and market loans and governance being guided through measures of accountability. The draft national policy contradicts it by recommending the most ideal ecosystem of higher education to be financed by the government” (p. 3). Read more…