INDIA: Regulation lags private sector growth

Rising demand for post-secondary education, lack of government investment in the sector and the deteriorating quality of many public universities has led to an increase in private players in Indian higher education. But the regulation of private institutions has failed to keep up with their rapid growth, leading to concerns about quality and social equity.

Private players are investing huge amounts in higher education.

Symbiosis International University in Pune has 11,000 full-time students from 75 countries in campuses across four cities. Others, such as Vellore Institute of Technology, have improved infrastructure and the quality of courses over the years.

And some, such as Amity University in Noida, northern India, have focused on increasing student intake through multiple campuses nationally and abroad to satisfy growing demand. Today Amity has 80,000 students up to PhD level, 3,500 academics, four universities in India and six international campuses in Dubai, Mauritius, Singapore, the US and the UK.

According to a 2011 report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry: "The demand for higher education in India has been fuelled by an increasingly young population, unusually strong economic growth and a rising middle-class, which is willing to pay for educating its children."

It projected that the demand for graduates would increase from around 41 million in 2007 to nearly 58.5 million by 2012. Yet only one in 10 students in the 18- to 24-year age group manages to get into any institution, leaving more than 85% of the country's youth unable to access higher education, according to government figures.

Rising share of private players

The participation of private players in higher education has grown dramatically, beginning in the 1980s with a big spurt after India's 1990s economic liberalisation. Growth has been particularly notable in professional programmes like management, engineering and medicine.

According to government data, the enrolment share of private providers increased from a third of all enrolments in 2001 to just over half in 2006. Of the 113 'deemed' universities - autonomous institutions recognised by the government for their quality - 80 were privately managed in 2008.

Most of them were set up under state policies, as the central government has been slow to formulate clear policies on how private institutions can operate.

But with an ambitious target of taking India's gross enrolment ratio (GER) from the existing 14% to 30% by 2020, the government has finally woken up to the shortage of higher education institutions.

"In order to achieve a GER of 30% we will need 45,000 colleges and 1,000 universities. While government is increasing investment by opening new higher education institutions, we will need the private sector to step in actively," said a senior education ministry official.

Education Minister Kapil Sibal has emphasised that private participation is essential to increase access to higher education.

Quality and equity

While the expansion of private universities and institutions has been rapid, only some have maintained high quality education.

"In economics we believe that more competition will lead to better quality, but the Indian [higher education] experience has been different," said Saumen Chattopadhyay, an associate professor at Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

"We have a handful of private institutions at the top of the quality ladder but the majority are functioning like degree-granting institutions - they serve only to hand out the degree at the end of the course without focusing on the quality of the curriculum or the competencies achieved by students. On paper they are not making a profit but the way they are running their business is commercial."

Chattopadhyay said most private universities in India charge high tuition fees and do not have to reserve seats for socially and economically disadvantaged students. The distribution of private institutions across country has also been uneven, with most of the growth concentrated in urban areas.

"Private funding will definitely answer the expansion issue in higher education. But expansion for whom? Access for the poor is a serious issue in India. We have achieved 8% to 9% economic growth but that growth has not been inclusive," Chattopadhyay pointed out.

Bhushan Patwardhan, vice-chancellor of Symbiosis International University, said the government should create a support system for quality private institutes to ensure equity of access.

"At Symbiosis we have voluntarily reserved a certain percentage of seats for economically disadvantaged students. The government should support this effort further by giving vouchers or reimbursing the university. This will encourage private universities to put equity measures in place," Patwardhan said.

The skewed growth of private providers towards professional courses is another issue of concern.

The National Knowledge Commission has pointed out that private investment in university education has been negligible. It recently recommended more balanced participation by private providers to expand opportunities in all areas of higher education, including undergraduate education and research, rather than being confined to a narrow focus on professional courses.

According to leading scientist and educator Yash Pal: "The pursuit of engineering, medicine, and management education, which exist like islands, has come at an incalculable social and cultural cost.

"Seventeen-year olds who move from school straight into an engineering or medical college, and have no means to gain exposure to any in-depth knowledge of society, its economy, politics and culture have as much potential to become an impediment to holistic social development."

Regulatory vacuum

Private providers in higher education have grown in a policy vacuum. A bill to regulate the establishment of private universities, introduced in the Indian parliament in 2005, was shelved after opposition from various political parties and private players.

The lack of regulation of private institutions, both at national and state level, has raised questions about their quality. Problems include poor infrastructure, insufficient and unqualified faculty and exorbitant fees, especially in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

There has been a major controversy over the approval of colleges that have no proper infrastructure or faculty by the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), which is responsible for sanctioning new technical colleges and regulating the quality of education provided.

AICTE officials have been investigated and a former chairman, Ram Avtar Yadav, was suspended in 2009 for demanding and accepting bribes to approve new technical private colleges.

Belatedly, the central government has introduced a bill to parliament to ban unfair practices in higher education and make institutions more accountable to students.

The Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill of 2010 states that charging money to confirm admission or failure of institutions to keep promises of quality education could result in imprisonment of up to three years for guilty administrators or a substantial fine for the institution.

This may stop some excesses, but the general quality of governance may still remain low unless more is done to improve it, academics said.

Deepak Pental, former vice chancellor of the University of Delhi said: "The government can encourage private investment in improving the quality of state universities, starting skills development courses and capacity development of faculty.

"Meanwhile, regulation should be strong to ensure that private universities are sound, governed well and are providing quality education."

Related links
INDIA: Expanding private and vocational education
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Comment:

The public-private partnership model is not working in India because the majority of our private partner is looking for higher profit without any ethical or social obligation.

That is why they are not interested to participate in state universities or courses other than professional courses.

Reaching a gross enrolment ratio of 20-30% from the existing 14 % is going to be impossible if the public-private partnership model is allowed under regulatory or conditional mode by Government.

Dr Suman Verma, joint dean, University of Delhi