Indian Education System

Two parallel developments in the world economy are worth noting, especially for their influence on provisioning of education: the growth of the Internet and consequently, e-education and second, the expanding role of World Trade Organization (WTO) in determining the trends in world economics. Fundamental to understanding the future role of WTO in education is the question: is education a marketable commodity like an FMCG product, a commercial service or a public good? The prevailing argument in the WTO is that education is akin to ‘private consumption’ directly benefiting the consumer by way of income.

India has seen a consistently high rate of economic growth in the recent years. It has now become a major player in the global knowledge economy. Skill-based activities have made significant contribution to this growth. Such activities depend on the large pool of qualified manpower that is fed by its large education system. India has been a major seat of learning for thousands of years. While some of the country's universities (BITS, IITs, NITs, IISc, TIFR, ISI, IIMs and AIIMS) are among the world's well-renowned, it is also dealing with challenges in its primary education and strives to reach 100% literacy. Universal Compulsory Primary Education, with its challenges of keeping poor children in school and maintaining quality of education in rural areas, has been difficult to achieve (Kerala is the only Indian state to reach this goal so far). All levels of education, from primary to higher education, are overseen by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Department of Higher Education (India) and Department of School Education and Literacy), and heavily subsidized by the Indian government, though there is a move to make higher education partially self-financing. Indian Government is considering allowing 100% foreign direct investment in Higher Education.

There are broadly four stages of school education in India, namely primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary (or high school).  The government is committed to ensuring universal elementary education (primary and upper primary) education for all children aged 6-14 years of age. Primary school includes children of ages six to eleven, organized into classes one through five. Upper Primary and Secondary school pupils aged eleven through fifteen are organized into classes six through ten, and higher secondary school students ages sixteen through seventeen are enrolled in classes eleven through twelve. In some places there is a concept called Middle/Upper Primary schools for students who belong to six to eight standard and classes nine to twelve are classified under high school category. Higher Education in India provides an opportunity to specialize in a field and includes technical schools (such as the Indian Institutes of Technology), colleges, and universities.

The days when higher education was a matter of national policy and government regulation are rapidly fading. Higher Education provisioning is now globalised and in many ways, a commercialized affair. India has to open the education sector as part of its international commitment on the General agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Indian government is now contemplating on the idea of allowing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in education sector of India. Indian government has been carrying out a lot of reform activities for the economy to attract more FDI in the country. So, why not have FDI in education too?

This carries with it, their own set of advantages and drawbacks. On one hand - 

• There are limited seats in Indian colleges and universities. So, allowing FDI would increase more opportunities to study for Indian students. 
• Many students are going abroad to pursue higher education. FDI in education sector will attract some of the best universities in the world to come to India, and as a result, some of these students will definitely stay back and study here. It will also ensure world class research facilities for Indian students. 
• Indian economy is incurring an expense of more than $4 billion every year because of the fact that thousands of Indian students are going to the US and Europe for higher education.
• If foreign schools and universities open their branches in India then many students from neighbouring countries will come to study in those universities in India and India will turn into a regional hub on education.

Meanwhile - 

• It will hurt the nation's culture and character
• The institutions that come, may come with the sole vision of a new market opportunity, and not to work in the interest of the Indian students.
• The syllabi would not reflect Indian culture and ideas, merely an alien one, which in more sense than none is already infiltrated in the ethos.

The five most important issues facing higher education in India;

ü  access and equity

ü  relevance

ü  quality and excellence

ü  governance and management

ü  funding

According to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development, 172nd Report on University and Higher Education submitted on May 22, 2006, entry of accredited U.S. educational institutions has the potential to partially respond to all of these needs.

There is a necessity of linking growth with human development, as mere economic growth is not sufficient for achieving sustained social development. The growth also has to address the larger question of establishing socio-economic equality in order to realise a meaningful political democracy, and should be prioritised in terms of policies and strategies. Though penetration of foreign universities in India has many constraints, the prospects stands up making constraints neutral. Hence in my view the penetration of foreign universities is must into India.