Education Act in India : Issues and Challenges

Central Legislation through State Governments
State Government ownership is
critical
They are gauging the implications
First Central Act in Education –
unchartered territory for every one

Infrastructure Provision
Every school be equipped with certain minimum
infrastructure
Despite recent investments, huge gaps exist
Government faces a huge challenge of ensuring quality of
infrastructure and its maintenance
Equally a problem for NGO initiatives
Small private schools would also face difficulty
Recognition of NGO and Private Schools depend on
upgrading the infrastructure to meet the RTE norms
Can we afford to push them out altogether? What would
happen to children attending these schools? Should the
government provide supplementary resources?

Provision of Qualified Teachers
Ensuring teacher supply at 1:30 is a huge task
Teacher Pupil ratio to be monitored in every school
More than a million teachers have to appointed
Inadequacy of Institutions for teacher training
Issue of Redeployment and transfer of teachers
 Some states have begun to appoint teachers to schools
 Some are appointing to a Block Cadre with limited scope
for transfer.

Education Act in India Contd..

Involvement of Private Schools

No school without recognition
 Conform to the minimum standards prescribed
All unaided schools to provide free education to at least
25% children from the weaker sections in the
neighbourhood
 Costs to be reimbursed - @ per child expenditure
incurred by the State

Protection of the Right

Independent Monitoring of the implementation of the Act is
assigned to the National council of Protection of Child
Rights (NCPCR) the main responsibility of
 Examine and review safeguards for rights under this Act,
recommend measures for effective implementation
 Inquire into complaints relating to child’s right to free and
compulsory education
 Conduct Periodic social Audit of the status of
implementation

RTE Implementation Road Map

RTE Implementation Road Map
Establishment of neighbourhood schools      :   3 years


Provision of school infrastructure                  :   3 years
–All weather school buildings
–One-classroom-one-teacher
–Head Teacher cum Office room, library
–Toilets, drinking water, kitchen sheds
–Barrier free access
–Playground, fencing, boundary walls

Provision of teachers as per prescribed PTR   :   3 years

Training of untrained teachers                          :   5 years

Quality interventions and other provisions      :   With immediate
effect

Education Act in India

Right of Children:
To free and compulsory admission, attendance and
completion of EE in a neighbourhood school
 Free: removal by the state of any financial barrier that
prevents a child from completing eight years of
schooling
 Compulsion: on the state; parental duty to send
children to school
Not enrolled/dropout children be admitted to age
appropriate class after a period of Special Training
No child shall be failed or expelled from school upto class 8
(– corresponds to the age group 6-14)
Schools:
Norms and standards specified – applicable to all schools
 Minimum Infrastructure
 Teacher-Pupil Ratio of 1:30
 School days (200 to 220 days) and total instructional
hours (800 to 1000 hours)
 Working days for teachers – weekly hours of work
To be applied in every school
Teachers:
Qualification for appointment of
teachers laid down at national level
Academic responsibility of the teachers
specified
No private tuition by fulltime school
teachers
Bringing Community and Schools closer:
Community participation ensured through School
Management Committee comprising parents, teachers and
elected representatives
 ¾ members from among parents of children in the school
 Proportionate representation to weaker and deprived
sections
Allocates major responsibility to the Local Authority –
Panchayati Raj system
 To proactively monitor the delivery of rights and
entitlements of children
To free and compulsory admission, attendance and
completion of EE in a neighbourhood school
 Free: removal by the state of any financial barrier that
prevents a child from completing eight years of
schooling
 Compulsion: on the state; parental duty to send
children to school
Not enrolled/dropout children be admitted to age
appropriate class after a period of Special Training
No child shall be failed or expelled from school upto class 8
(– corresponds to the age group 6-14)

NGO - Role of Indigenous People

There are still a large number of communities
in the region, inhabiting remote areas, in close
proximity to nature, practising traditional farming,
fishing, agricultural and forestry techniques.
Conserving the environment is a part of their way of
life. The age-old traditions and experiences of these
communities (usually termed “indigenous people”)
can help improve the efficiency of resource use and
it is for this reason that a number of NGOs build on
traditional or indigenous knowledge systems. These
knowledge systems are researched and disseminated
so that the wider public can learn from them.

Major groups in indigenous communities
themselves are also active in environmental
protection. An example which illustrates how local
indigenous groups are actively involved in
conservation work, is Soltrust, one of the major local
indigenous organizations in the Solomon Islands
dedicated to promoting sustainable forest
management, where logging operations are a major
concern for both the government and the indigenous
peoples. Despite many awareness campaigns on
sustainable development, both the number of logging
companies, and the unsustainable rate of harvesting
of timber resources have been increasing. Established
in 1986, the group’s more recent work has involved
the Rarade Community of the Isabel Province, and
island province that has been out of reach by loggers
until recently. A partnership between Soltrust and
the community was created as a model for future
eco-forestry activities, not only in Isabel and in the
Solomon Islands at large, but also for neighbouring
countries facing similar situations (United Nations
1998).

In many parts of the region, rapid
industrialization, the development of suburbs and
the conversion of land for agricultural purposes has
encroached upon the traditional homeland of
indigenous people. At the same time greater numbers
of indigenous people have either become displaced
because of development or have moved into urban
areas in pursuit of education and/or employment.
This has resulted in the reservations and sanctuaries
shrinking in size and often being hemmed in by
developmental projects, with negative consequences
for their once pristine environment. However,
indigenous groups are now beginning to organize
resistance movements. In Australia, for example,
aboriginal communities in states such as Queensland
have joined forces with environmental groups to
prevent the further depletion of their land and forest
reserves by logging and mining concerns. In New
Zealand, people of Maori descent have banded
together to assert claims to their land and also to
protect them from further environmental damage. A
number of tribes have petitioned the courts in order
to reclaim their tribal lands. In the northern part of
Thailand, the increasing mobility of traditional people
poses a serious threat to the “sustainability” of the
hilltribes distinct cultures. The threat comes from
the influx of consumerism, lack of land security and
large migrations to the cities. In order to counter
these threats the “Inter Mountain Peoples Education
and Culture in Thailand Association” (IMPECT) was
founded with the intention of supporting, promoting
and revitalising the traditional belief systems,
agricultural traditions and cultures of the hilltribes.
To make the children and youth proud of their
culture, the relationship between the traditional
lifestyle and the conservation of their natural
surrounding has been promoted through a locally
developed curriculum. In response there has been
an increased feeling of the value of traditional
knowledge among the children and youth in the
target villages.
The close links between some NGOs and
indigenous communities, especially vulnerable
groups, also provides for the representation of such
groups at the national and international levels. This
is important for resolving issues, especially those
related to globalization and its homogenizing
influences that endangers indigenous cultures and
cultural diversity.

NGO Contribution Toward Making Cities Child-friendly

Sporadic urban growth in many cities in Asia and the Pacific poses significant risks to the well-being of children. Research
commissioned by UNICEF has noted that the health and often the lives of more than half of the world’s children are constantly
threatened by environmental hazards, in their home and surroundings and in the places where they play and socialize. The research
also indicates that 40 000 child deaths occur each year from malnutrition and disease, and that 150 million children a year survive
with ill health, with retarded physical and mental development. More and more young people are being admitted to hospital with
asthma due to car fumes, while other pollutants are linked with a whole range of other health problems in the young. Shanty town
dwellings with inadequate basic facilities exposes children to diseases and dangers, while traffic claims many young lives on a daily
basis. Because of such problems, one of the greatest challenge for urban administrations in the new millennium is in the area of child
development and protection.
In Malaysia a number of concerned NGOs have got together to try and address this challenge. In September 1996, The
Malaysian Council for Child Welfare (MCCW) and the National Council for Women’s Organizations (NCWO) organized a National
Conference on the Right of the Child in Kuala Lumpur. The Conference was supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF), Malaysia and received technical cooperation from Asia-Pacific 2000, which is a Project of the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP).
At this conference, serious concerns were raised about the quality of life of the urban child, who is often caught between his or
her own needs and aspirations and that of his parents. Subsequent to this meeting, on 5th July 1997, the MCCW, NCWO and the
Management Institute for Social Change (MINSOC), with technical support from Asia-Pacific 2000 and UNICEF, organized a followup
national workshop on ‘The Urban Vision 2020 Initiative: Making Urban Areas Child-Friendly’. Involving over 150 participants
from government departments, tertiary institutions, non-governmental organizations as well as interested individuals, the workshop
concluded with concrete proposals on improving the socio-economic environment of children, addressing issues that arise within the
home, school or community pace and the safety and health of urban children.
Out of these deliberations, there emerged the Malaysian Charter on Making Urban Areas Child-Friendly and its associated Ten
Strategic Actions aimed specifically at urban local authorities. The Initiative then commissioned the development of a child-friendly
survey instrument – ‘The Child’s Report Card’ as a tool for children to assess the friendliness of their own neighbourhood environments.
The Malaysian Child-Friendly Cities Initiative is a complement of the International Child-Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI)
which was launched during the International Workshop on Children’s Rights. The objective of the CFCI is to help translate the
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), into concrete actions that can be implemented at the local level, by just about everyone.

Empowering Women

Women’s NGO groups are working to empower women and improve their standing in the decision making process. One
example is the (Indian) Community Development Society (CDS), Alappuzha (Alleppey). This is a successful model of women in
development that has now been replicated in 57 towns and one entire district in Kerala State. The objective of the CDS is to improve
the situation of children under 5 and of women age 15 to 45 years. CDS work includes literacy programmes, income generating
schemes for women, provisions of safe drinking water, low cost household sanitary latrines, kitchen gardens, food-grain bank,
immunization, and child-care. The CDS has resulted in the empowerment of women and the building of community leadership. It
is a unique example of community based poverty eradication efforts by women. Since its small start in 1993, the CDS has grown to a
large-scale women’s movement with membership of 357 000 poor women (20 per cent of poor people in the State) from both rural
and urban areas.
Similar work in empowering women to play an active role in environmental improvement and development is done by the
Aurat Foundation in Pakistan and Seikastu Club in Japan. The Aurat Foundation works to help women acquire greater control over
knowledge and resources; to facilitate women’s greater participation in political processes and governance; and to transform social
attitudes and behaviour to address women’s concerns and development. The Foundation works directly at a grass roots level on
environmental issues. It has facilitated meetings between peasant women and policy makers, planners and political representatives,
as a result of which the women were able to express their concern about the impact of environmental degradation on their livelihood
and their lives. The Foundation has also lobbied with Government about the concerns of peasant women and has championed the
demands of rural women to the technology transfer and agriculture extension departments in Punjab. This has led to the development
of demonstration and training projects designed to improve the productivity of peasant women.
In Nepal, a local NGO, Women in Environment (WE), attempts to counter both environmental degradation and poverty by
getting women actively involved in environmental projects. Working with women social workers, environmentalists, women’s
rights advocates and other volunteers the organization has successfully mobilized women to work on such projects as National Park
buffer zone management, river bank stabilization, kitchen garden development and the creation of revolving loan fund for
environmental work. The Sindh Rural Women’s Uplift Group in Pakistan owns 108 acres (43 hectares) of fruit orchard in which they
use “organic and sustainable cultural practices” to fight against the use of synthetic pesticide and insecticide. The Group believes in
maintaining soil and plant health to reduce disease attacks – and to reduce environmental contamination.
Another example of an NGO group which works with women to develop sustainable solutions to environmental problems is
the Viet Nam Women’s Union (VWU). This is a large organization with over 11 million members, which promotes the role that
women play in Vietnamese society. In order to promote energy self-sufficiency for rural families with no access to the electrical grid
the VWU has joined in the Rural Solar Electrification Project, in conjunction with the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) – an American
non-profit NGO which promotes rural electrification. The project has provided electricity – from solar photovoltaic cells – for
240 households and to 5 community centres. This is an especially timely initiative, since Viet Nam is in the process of designing a
national rural electrification master plan with the World Bank in order to integrate renewable sources of energy into an overall rural
power delivery system.

NGO - Awareness-Raising, Campaigning and Advocacy

Across the region a large array of groups work
to raise awareness of environmental issues and push
for changes in policy and development programmes.
These groups carry out environmental awareness
raising and campaigning locally, nationally, and
internationally, with some campaigns operating
simultaneously at all levels. In India, for example,
the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) has earned
international recognition for its work in mobilising
public opinion among people’s organizations in
the State of Kerala (United Nations 1995). The KSSP
is regarded as one of the best-informed and
best-organized grassroots movement in India, with
over 20 000 members.
In Pakistan, the Society for the Conservation
and Protection of the Environment (SCOPE),
established in 1988, is particularly successful at
national environmental campaigns, whilst giving
priority to developing linkages with local NGOs,
research institutes, universities and government
departments. In addition SCOPE motivates
grassroots groups and undertakes public interest
litigation and advocacy work (Non Governmental
Liaison Service 1997).
Scientific and technical NGOs are assisting
in bridging the gap between science, policy makers
and the citizenry. Their research and education
work is proving a vital addition to the decision and
policy-making process. In India, for instance, the
Centre for Science and Environment publishes ‘Citizen’s Reports on the Environment’ which focus
on specific environmental issues, such as urban
pollution, and flood management. Written in nontechnical
languages, these reports enable the general
public to better understand the issues.
Many of the more established NGOs in the
region work on major national campaigns using a
range of promotion activities, from grassroots
awareness-raising, through to lobbying and media
campaigns (Box 14.2). Such campaigns are multifaceted,
involving research, awareness-raising,
education and lobbying. The Worldwide Fund for
Nature (WWF) in Malaysia, for example, has
launched the Species 2 000 Campaign to mobilize
effective national action to conserve Malaysia’s
wildlife. (WWF Malaysia, Website 6). In doing so,
WWF Malaysia has forged partnerships with many
groups involved in conservation, from Federal and
State government agencies to universities, other
NGOs and local community groups. Similar alliances
have been made by environmental groups in India,
Malaysia and Philippines to raise the awareness of
governments and the general public with regard to
the loss of fauna and flora species and consequences
for biodiversity.
One of the great challenges for NGOs
campaigning on environmental issues is to involve
as many people as possible and, particularly where
religion plays a major role in everyday life, getting
the environmental message across to key religious
groups. The Alliance of Religions and Conservation
(ARC) has been working internationally with many
faiths to forge new, practical models of religious
involvement with environmental issues. The group
espouses the Ohito Declaration of 1995, a declaration
on religions, land and conservation that states
“for people of faith maintaining and sustaining
environmental life systems is a religious
responsibility” (Xiamin and Halbertsma 1997). The
Ohito Declaration and the work of organizations such
as ARC has led to the re-discovery of ‘holy ground’
and the concept of the need for Man to preserve and
protect the environment by all the major religions of
the world.
The scope of ARC’s network activities is shown
in the involvement of the Taoists, who formally joined
ARC in 1995; the ninth faith to do so. Following
meetings with WWF/ARC staff, the Taoists asked
ARC to join them in launching a campaign to protect
their sacred holy mountains in China, which were
threatened by changes in forestry, agriculture, urban
development and, of late, tourism.
Beyond national frontiers, many environmental
NGOs have joined forces to campaign internationally.
WALHI, Indonesia, for instance, worked alongside
international NGOs such as WWF to bring the plight.

NGOs and Global Advocacy

During the 1970s social activists were urged to "think globally and act locally". Over the past 10-15
years a vibrant NGO community has emerged in the South with a profound impact on development
practice and thinking. Alternative NGO sponsored conferences took place alongside all the global UN
conferences of the 1990s. Activists from both South and North joined to lobby governments and an
international agency to give greater priority to the world's poor and marginalized.
In response to lobbying against some of its policies, the World Bank reached out to its NGO critics,
which now play a much bigger role in Bank-funded projects. Other changes include the appointment of
NGO liaison officers in most Bank country offices and a grater recognition of the importance and input
of NGOs to the Bank's work. NGOs have also held the Bank accountable to its own procedures and
policies. NGO submissions to the World Bank Inspection Panels on the Arun III Hydroelectric Project
in Nepal weighed heavily in the Bank's decision not to finance the project.
NGOs have put pressure on all the UN agencies as well as governments to follow up the goals
and commitments of the global conferences.
For the Kyoto protocol, NGOs have been pushing for an agreement that will have a significant
impact on global greenhouse, and gas emissions rather that one that settles for cosmetic
changes. At the Kyoto meeting NGOs pressured national governments and multilateral
agencies to release a 10-point call for action. The declaration forms the basis for ongoing
NGO advocacy and lobbying on climate change. Similar declarations have been submitted by
a group of NGOs from Eastern and Central Europe. Friends of the Earth and the World
Wildlife Fund for Nature have been active in raising awareness about how private sector
concerns appear to be dominating the discussions on how the protocol is to be implemented.
They have also raised concerns that the final outcome will have no meaningful impact on
greenhouse and gas emissions.

Ecommerce - Overcoming Infrastructure Bottlenecks

The three basic infrastructural requirements for rural ICT initiatives are, of course, (i) Electricity, (ii) Telephony (or its equivalent), and (iii) Network Connectivity. The problems associated with these inputs must be recognized as inherent features of the landscape, and tackled as an integral part of the implementation process.
(i) Electricity: In many rural areas, electrical supply may be restricted to only 6 or 8 hours a day. When electrical power is available, its voltage and frequency may vary far outside the acceptable limits of most hardware. Finally, there is often no earthing provided.
For most rural ICT projects, battery back-ups and Universal Power Supply-s (UPS-s) are mandatory. In some cases, multiple tractor batteries have been connected in parallel to create a mammoth UPS that can withstand day-long power cuts. In addition to these battery systems, circuit breakers and voltage stabilizers are also necessary. Several agencies have had to create their own earthing pits outside their village centers, by digging shallow trenches, filling them with salt, and making sure they are watered on dry sunny days. Constant maintenance of this privately constructed earthing pit is necessary to ensure that the equipment within is protected from power surges.
(ii) Telephony: Landline telephones are still not available in many villages in South Asia. Where they do exist they may be down for weeks at a time, and there may be other kinds of incompatibilities, which prevent data transfer.
Several different kinds of short-term solutions are possible to circumvent low teledensity in rural areas. A project in Pondicherry has implemented a wireless system for relatively slow data transfer using fax protocols. Short bursts of these wireless transmissions update the off-line content available at the village center. The various educational enterprises of Zee Interactive Learning Systems plan to rely on Very Small Aperture Terminals (V-SATs), which connect directly to their own communications satellites. The Gyandoot project in Dhar, on the other hand, initially chose its target villages on the basis of their telephone access, and their location relative to proposed Optical-Fiber Cable (OFC) routes.
Although it is possible to design rural ICT projects on the assumption that basic telephony will not be available, there is another, better, approach: Rural ICT projects may be used to test and design new kinds of telecommunications infrastructure, including, for example Wireless-in-Local-Loop (WLL or WiLL) technologies, which offer a cheaper, lighter, and more intelligent type of network. WLL systems allow simultaneous data and voice telephony across long distances (wireless), thanks to a local network of cables provided and maintained by a rural entrepreneur (local loop). Important applications of this technology have been developed at the TeNet Group at IIT-Madras.
(iii) Connectivity: Internet subscription is not always available in rural and underdeveloped sections of South Asia. Even when it should, in theory, be available, long distance calls to nearby towns may be required in order to achieve true connectivity. Poor telephony ensures that modem speeds are often restricted to 28.8 kbps or slower. The wireless-fax system in Pondicherry runs even slower, at under 14.4 kbps.
While WLL technologies will soon be able to provide simultaneous and continuous voice and data connectivity in local areas, computer kiosks in villages can also be designed so as to require only limited connectivity. Projects in Pondicherry and Warana, for example, allow users to access offline content, which is updated several times a day in brief bursts of data. In this way, a range of services may be continuously provided, notwithstanding narrow bandwidth, slow transfer rates, and intermittent connectivity.

How is Technology-driven Social Change feasible in South Asia?

The problems and potential of ICT-driven projects in South Asia are truly enormous. This region hosts an extraordinary concentration of new technology driven companies, tech-savvy administrators and managers, a political class newly sophisticated to the possibilities of IT, social entrepreneurs and NGO institutional structures that could all come together to bring the benefits of networked technologies to rural and disprivileged groups. And yet, we must face the frustrations of intermittent, inconsistent electrical power, archaic, scarce and unreliable telephony and net-connectivity, neo-feudal politico-business consortia that hinder or hijack developmental efforts, deeply ingrained ideologies of caste-hierarchy, gender inequality, and religious-communal difference, as well as significant deprivations of basic human needs. These limitations cast grave doubt over the optimism of those attempting to use emerging technologies for developmental purposes.
A common objection to IT initiatives suggests that they are premature, or that they ‘put the cart before the horse,’ in as much as electricity, telephony, and connectivity are highly erratic and variable in many parts of South Asia. Moreover, more basic kinds of infrastructure including schools, healthcare centers, balanced nutrition, gender equity, employment, and transportation are lacking. Why should we consider this expensive and elitist form of infrastructure, when more fundamental developmental needs remain unmet?
This criticism assumes that there is a standard sequence and hierarchy for development: first a society must adequately manage its nutrition and healthcare, then it must address education and achieve total literacy, then it must provide electricity to all its villages, then it must install telephones, and so forth. In fact, post-colonial societies in Asia, Africa and the Americas have repeatedly shown that they can be successful in one or another dimension of human, social, and economic achievement, without necessarily replicating a normative European trajectory of industrial development. Diverse social and infrastructural needs must be addressed more or less simultaneously to ensure a nation’s future growth and prosperity.
It is naive to imagine that electricity, telephony and connectivity in rural areas will improve if the demand for these resources does not grow. In addition, information networks can become conduits that allow money to flow into the village through new kinds of non-discriminatory, clean and relatively unoppressive industries. Information and communications technologies can also compensate for other kinds of infrastructure limitations. For example, if online work, trade, or payment were to become available for members of a village community, the poor quality of roads to and from that village becomes less of an obstacle to earnings and employment. Finally, and most importantly, if capital were to become more readily available within a village community through such networked systems, it would then be in a better position to finance the basic infrastructure that it needs, including roads, dispensaries, water and sanitation systems.
It may be correct to say that PCs remain expensive, fragile, quickly obsolete, English-centric, complex and difficult to master, and therefore almost entirely elite in their scope and operation. Nevertheless, networks of human-mediated computer kiosks, shared among multiple users of a rural community, could in fact prove to be the most inexpensive and inclusive form of rural infrastructure possible today.
Although this kind of a public information center would require a hardware-cum-software-cum-connectivity investment of about Rs. 40,000 (appx. US$ 850), this resource could then serve between 500 and 5,000 citizen-consumers. The technology’s cost per capita is therefore miniscule. The M. S. Swaminathan experiment in Pondicherry, and NIIT experiment in New Delhi’s slums have demonstrated that even those with limited education, literacy, or English competency can quickly master windows-based point-and-click graphical user interfaces. Moreover, the Gyandoot Project in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, has demonstrated that rural citizen-consumers are quite willing to pay for the services of such centers, so long as these transactions make a direct and real impact on their life and livelihood. Here we may empirically disprove Bill Gates’ theory that the most poor citizen-consumers will not encounter Microsoft or Wintel products: persons making less than $1 per day have regularly come into existing information centers to seek information on regional hospitals and medical centers, to send and receive emergency messages, and to transact with the state machinery in ways that enhance their quality of life and livelihood.

Rural information networks can allow knowledge, services, money, and certain kinds of products to more easily flow from node to node across long distances. Each village node can also serve as a range of virtual institutions, such as a community center, a bank, a medical center, a government information center, a matrimonial office, a public telephone booth, a public library and educational resource center, all at a fraction of the cost of corresponding ‘real’ institutions. By making these resources available in villages, information centers can alleviate the asymmetry between urban and rural environments. In order to accelerate rural growth, it is essential that we learn new ways of integrating social and human infrastructure development into the installation of basic information and communications infrastructure.

Emergence of the Information and Communications Sectors in India

As is well known by now, India’s IT sector took off in the early 1980s with the establishment of off-shore development centers. Relatively cheap English-speaking engineering and technical talent were employed at centers in Bangalore and Chennai, then Hyderabad, and now in the suburbs of New Delhi (NOIDA). Since the liberalization of the Indian economy in the early 1990s, the Indian government has relentlessly promoted the IT sector as the harbinger of the nation’s economic aspirations. Even though the country possesses only 3.7 million Personal Computers (PCs; Pentium I or superior), it houses the largest number of software professionals outside California, whose efforts might result in the export of software worth 8 billion dollars next year, much of it to the United States.
As of 2001, the initial euphoria surrounding India’s successful software export industry has given way to a new introspection into the reasons why these intellectual and human resources have not driven improvements in India’s public and private institutions, education systems, and infrastructure. These reasons are not hard to find: (i) the Indian software industry solves small components of larger problems for international clients; (ii) this work is usually protected by confidentiality agreements; (iii) many Indian software professionals and companies compete for the same international contracts; (iv) the opportunity costs of working for Indian versus international clients is very high; and finally (v) low teledensity, computer usage, literacy, the inadequacies of regional language software interfaces, and other obstacles of India’s developing infrastructure, coupled with regulatory hurdles have inhibited such ventures.
None of this prevented Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu from crafting an aggressive state policy to attract IT-oriented investments, simultaneously claiming that this sector served the larger public interest. The constraints of electoral politics in India’s largely rural society have meant that economically liberal and technologically sophisticated leaders could not afford to leave themselves open to the charge of promoting IT at the expense of rural development, and this is a fine line to walk: Even as he invited Microsoft to set up a software center in the Hyderabad’s technology park, Naidu also installed a highly sophisticated network of communications systems in his home constituency of Kuppam, as a model for other regions of the state. Beginning in 1996, he was the first Indian politician to advocate Egovernance for making the state machinery more responsive and sensitive to citizen needs at the district and panchayat level. As of 2000-01, these policies are being emulated at the national level through an ‘IT for the Masses’ policy statement, as well as a forthcoming policy statement on Egovernance. Neighboring Karnataka is one among many other states of India to have issued an IT policy statement directed towards the ‘common man.’ Naidu’s solution to the political dilemma of promoting high-tech alongside rural empowerment, therefore, long anticipated current international debates on ‘digital divide.’
Despite the on-going deregulation of India’s telecommunications sector, its national teledensity (telephones per hundred persons) has improved very slowly, from .06 in 1990, to almost 3 today (compare with China at around 10). Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and Wireless-in-Local-Loop (WiLL or WLL) technologies, however, now appear set to offer a cheaper and lighter form of telecom infrastructure, that should improve rural access exponentially. New software and dotcom start-ups have begun targeting non-English speaking users, and the idea of non-elites using and benefiting from ICTs has begun to gain currency. Nevertheless, the export-oriented software industry has yet to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by the newly networking home market. A new synergy between the Infotech and Telecom sectors in India could create a profound social and economic revolution in rural communities across South Asia.

Problems and Possibilities of Digital Development in Rural India - Introduction

The idea that the internet and related technologies might have an important role in aiding developmental efforts has captured a central place in international policy debates. Over the course of the last year, statements affirming the need to close the so-called ‘digital divide’ between social groups with and without access to the internet have been made through several UN agencies, at the G-8 summit, and at meetings of developmental organizations around the world. Many new websites now address this topic, and listserv hosts have moderated endless rounds of debate between digital enthusiasts and digital skeptics.
The idea of digitally-oriented development is as powerful and seductive as the technology upon which it is based. No single technological revolution has changed the lives of current generations in the way that the internet has. No cultural-technological innovation since Television has had this kind of impact on the world’s economy, its politics and its globalizing popular cultures, or even on our cultural conceptions of distance and time. The promise of digital development is that it might have the same reach as the original internet boom of the mid 1990s – only this time, the most disprivileged communities, those who had missed out on earlier waves of technology, might be able to ‘leapfrog’ over their more developed competitors. The greatest obstacles to rural development – large distances and inadequate infrastructure – might be obviated by instant access to virtual institutions that provide banking, education, health care, neonatal information, agricultural advice, and so forth. But skeptics also have good reason. Bill Gates’ now infamous dictum, that a computer cannot benefit someone earning less than a dollar a day, remains a serious challenge to any attempt to ameliorate social and economic disparities through Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs).6 In South Asia, where most rural populations lack running water and sanitation systems, where electricity is still a scarce and intermittent resource, where roads are poor and education a luxury, these technologies truly appear to be far removed from the everyday concerns of the poorest sections of the countryside. This article critically examines the problems and possibilities of digital development in order to reveal the larger impact that ICTs could have on rural economies and societies.

Higher Education - 10th Plan Achievements:

During the X Five Year Plan, UGC has embarked upon promotion of ICT in a
moderate level by providing UGC INFONET, e-Journal Consortia, e-Content
Development and moving towards e-education among the Universities by
spending over Rs 180 crores. The presence of IT culture and use of e-resources,
creation of e-content/digitization has started appearing in the university
campuses by way of having access to about 4400 e-journals to 100 plus
universities covered under UGC INFONET.
There is a vast amount of untapped wealth of contents with the academics in the
Universities and Colleges across the country, which needs to be preserved in the
digital form for enhancing the wealth of knowledge base, which can be shared
through computer based communication networks. So far, under the aegis of
UGC, INFLIBNET and CEC in collaboration with ERNET, India have made
remarkable contributions in 149 Universities during the X Five Year Plan,
covering all the states, using Broadband LL/SCPC/DAMA/FTDMA/RF Open
Network Architecture. Besides , 100 plus Universities were covered with high
quality e-journals in discipline covering 4443 full text titles.

USE OF ICT IN HIGHER EDUCATION & INTER UNIVERSITY CENTRES

Introduction
Evolution of higher education system in India is being guided through the
realities of knowledge driven force of 21st century. The challenges are of
complex and diverse nature, leading to multi-disciplinary approach with focus on
upliftment of all sections of society, irrespective of their background and location.
In the modern world, it is true that highly specialized education has got its own
importance. The scope and demand for higher education is constantly
increasing. The new pattern involves the creation of intellects of world standard (which means promotion of global standards in institutions of higher education)
and also training of skilled manpower on a mass basis without compromising on
quality (and that means making quality an integral part of the working of
institutions of higher education). The world will be looking for trained persons in
all basic fields with a sound knowledge base in their core discipline and with the
ability to adapt to new demands. All domains of knowledge cannot do without
ICT. Hence resource-sharing and innovative quality information based programs
are the need of the hour under the threat of escalating costs due to globalized
economic trend.

10th Plan Achievements:
During the X Five Year Plan, UGC has embarked upon promotion of ICT in a
moderate level by providing UGC INFONET, e-Journal Consortia, e-Content
Development and moving towards e-education among the Universities by
spending over Rs 180 crores. The presence of IT culture and use of e-resources,
creation of e-content/digitization has started appearing in the university
campuses by way of having access to about 4400 e-journals to 100 plus
universities covered under UGC INFONET.
There is a vast amount of untapped wealth of contents with the academics in the
Universities and Colleges across the country, which needs to be preserved in the
digital form for enhancing the wealth of knowledge base, which can be shared
through computer based communication networks. So far, under the aegis of
UGC, INFLIBNET and CEC in collaboration with ERNET, India have made
remarkable contributions in 149 Universities during the X Five Year Plan,
covering all the states, using Broadband LL/SCPC/DAMA/FTDMA/RF Open
Network Architecture. Besides , 100 plus Universities were covered with high
quality e-journals in discipline covering 4443 full text titles.

UGC-INFONET Connectivity
UGC-Infonet is one of the prestigious program of University Grants Commission
for building high speed Nationwide Communication Network for Indian
Universities. ERNET/INFLIBET is regularly monitoring and organising series of
Network management training program for Computer Professionals, System
Analysts from universities to manage/maintain the UGC-Infonet at their
respective universities. The main features of the scheme are as follows:
Features
􀂾 UGC-Infonet is a vehicle for distance learning to facilitate spread of quality
education all over the country.
􀂾 UGC-Infonet is a tool to distribute education material and journals to the
remotest areas of the nation.
􀂾 UGC-Infonet acts as a resource for researchers and scholars for tapping
the most up-to-date information.
􀂾 UGC-Infonet forms a medium for collaboration among teachers and
students, not only within the country but also all over the world.
􀂾 UGC-Infonet acts as an Intranet for University Network.
􀂾 UGC-Infonet encompasses entire University Systems for most efficient
utilization of precious network resources.
􀂾 UGC-Infonet establishes a channel for globalisation of education and
facilitate the universities in marketing their services and developments.
As on date, 149 Universities across the country are connected under UGCINFONET
Project with SCPC/DAMA/FTDMA/RF /Leased line in the bandwidth
range of 256 Kbps/512 Kbps/1Mbps/2Mbps.

MAKING HIGHER EDUCATION RELEVANT

The fact that education should be meaningful for life cannot be contested.
However, the term ‘meaningful for life’ can be interpreted in economic, social,
and intellectual terms. The economic meaningfulness of education means that
education should enable an individual to acquire certain skills that help him to get
a decent income through self-employment or through working on some
remunerative job. It might thus mean that education should improve one’s own
economic status, and in the process, the economic status of the country. Hence,
education should equip an individual for some career that has significant
economic advantages either in the short run, medium run or in the long run. This
is what is meant by ‘relevant education’. Vocationalization assumes a special
significance under the career oriented program at the graduate and post
graduate stages, as it is at these stages that the students need to enter into the
world of work and into the income earning activities to support the family.
It should also be emphasized that constant innovations are necessary to make
education at all the levels meaningful and relevant, as there are continuous
changes in the economy and the skills acquired through such specific
programmes of vocationalization are likely to become obsolete within a short
period.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee in its 172nd Report has
recommended that relevance of Higher education should be seen with
reference to marketability of the Graduate and Post-Graduate students it
produces; with reference to its reach to marginalized sections and its
relevance for the socio-economic development of a society.
10.2 Parameters evolved
There is need to examine the relevance of higher education in a conceptual
framework for the long term, medium term and short term goals, in terms of jobs
and career, specific challenges in life consisting of event management or crisis
management, etc. and with regard to societal values, individual values, cultural
aspects and situations of non neutrality of individual values, societal values and
national values.
Relevance shall be considered as a dynamic concept and a multi faceted
concept. In this sense, the issue of relevance of higher education needs to be
considered in a rolling plan framework and under a multidisciplinary perspective.
Care should be taken to ensure that the contents of Higher Education have
continuity with the contents of previous levels of education so that students are not confronted with the jerks in their pursuit of education. Efforts shall be made to
establish mechanisms for considering the issues of inter- stage continuity,
through regular interactions with apex organizations dealing with secondary and
higher secondary stages of education. Care should also be taken to ensure inter
stream continuity so that there is no ad-hocism in taking particular courses and
subjects in the conventional stream, which may lead to wastage and stagnation
in higher education, as job compulsions for students might lead to ad-hocism in
adoption of streams and courses by them. Care also needs to be taken to ensure
that this would not affect flexibility of students to opt any type of combination of
conventional stream with the add on career oriented courses. A mechanism for
testing a student’s aptitudes should be evolved so that the chosen higher
education streams are not irrelevant to students’ own inherent capabilities. Such
an approach would help reducing the extent of wastage and stagnation in higher
education. Special initiatives are required to link higher education and its
contents with the challenges of globalization.

EQUITY AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION – ENROLMENT AT DISAGGREGATE LEVEL

8.1 Enrolment at disaggregate level
After having assessed the progress at aggregate level in the last chapter, attempt
has been made to look at the progress with respect to certain special groups and
also at the inter-group disparities of multiple natures. The present chapter
devotes on a study of the disparities between (a)rural and urban (b) States (c)
Inter-caste (d) Inter-religion (e) Male-female (f) different occupation groups; and
(g) Poor and non–poor. NSS data for 2000, which provide detailed information
at disaggregate level, has been used..
8.2 Rural and Urban
There are significant disparities in enrolment ratio between rural and urban area.
In 2000 the GER for rural and urban area was 5.58% and 21.74% respectively-
GER in urban area being four times higher compared with rural area (Table
4.10).
The population census came up with the GER of 8.99% for rural area and
24.52% for urban area in 2001 - the GER in rural area being all most three time
lower compared with urban area.
The EER worked out to 51.1% for rural and 66% for urban area-later being
higher by about 15% points. This means only half of the rural boys and girls who
complete higher secondary go to higher education which is less by 15% points
compared with urban area.
8.3 Inter-State Variation
There are considerable inter-state variations in the level of higher education.
While the GER at aggregate level is about 10.08%, it is more than national
average in State/UTs like Chandigarh (26.24%), Delhi (21.16%), Kerala
(18.08%), Goa (17.54%), Pondicherry.(15.37%), Himachal Pradesh (15.22%)
and Maharashtra (14.14%) (Table 4.1(b).
By national comparison, the GER is lower than the national average in
States/UTs like Lakshadweep (0.34%), D&N Haveli (2.23%), Arunachal Pradesh
(2.42%), Sikkim (5.01%), Tripura (5.97%), Bihar (6.16%), West Bengal (6.30%),
Meghalaya (07.13%), Mizoram (7.87), Karnataka (7.96%).
8.4 Gender Disparities. The access to higher education is also low for girls as compared with boys. The
GER being 12.12% for male and 8% for female.

Higher Education - STATUS OF QUALITY AND EXCELLENCE

Quality in Higher education has assumed great significance in recent times,
particularly in the context of massification and increase in competition due to role
of the market forces in higher education. Increasing cross-border education
opportunities, technological development resulting in new modes of educational
provisions and emergence of ‘Knowledge society’ are other challenging
demands. In view of the rapid advancement of knowledge and rapid growth of
complexity of technological endeavor, the future will need greater competencies
and as a consequence, higher education must provide improved and speedy
methods to meet today’s needs and face tomorrow’s challenges. While the
expansion of the system of higher education has been impressive, the problem of
access with equity, quality, and that of resource continue to burden the system
as a whole, without finding suitable strategies to address them adequately. The
principal postulate is that the quality assurance in higher education during the
XIth plan period will be enabled primarily when human capital is creatively and
imaginatively harnessed, developed and released compared to the ‘linear’
development strategies. Therefore it would be necessary to approach the matter
in two dimensions.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on HRD in its 172nd Report has
recommended that India despite severe limitations has created a large
scientific/technical manpower, which has earned a pride of place in the
world community. India has not only to sustain its position but also to be a
front-runner in the global competition. This can be done, according to the
Committee, only when the standard and quality of our educational
institutions and its graduates are greatly improved. They will have to be
instilled with a high level of creativity, innovation, dedication, patriotism,
etc. Greater and regular sharing of experiences through networking and
otherwise between different institutions at the national and global plane is
highly recommended. Multi-disciplinary curriculum with stress on
developing problem-solving abilities, augmenting knowledge skill and
group activities are essential to provide relevance and usefulness to real
life situations. Quality of higher education can be greatly enhanced
through the use of audio-visual techniques and the modern information &
communication technologies.

Higher Education - Autonomous Colleges

India consists of a large network of more than 17,000 colleges. Out of
them, there are 204 autonomous colleges spread over in 44 universities of
10 States and 1 Union Territory. These colleges form the bedrock of
higher education. They are also the unit of higher education to promote
access, equity, quality, relevance and research. The recommended
measures are:-
- Teachers of autonomous colleges should be treated on par with
those in the Universities.
- Special recognition should be accorded to meritorious autonomous
colleges.
- Autonomous college be granted degree awarding status.
- Cluster colleges should be created. Clear and well-defined
guidelines should be formulated for these to function.
- The academic council of autonomous colleges must be empowered
to start the undergraduate or postgraduate courses just like the
‘deemed to be universities’.
- Networking of autonomous colleges be done in such way that the
students benefit by credit transfer from one autonomous college to
another autonomous college, for the purpose of conferment of the
degree , so as to enable students’ mobility.
- University Grants Commission should support creation of
specialized schools in the campus.
 - A permanent status of autonomy and degree awarding status is
conferred to colleges, which have gone through the experience 15-
20 years of autonomy.
- Special grant for CPE and Autonomous colleges to initiate the
Deemed University status with the aid of and in consultation with
the State Governments.
- Additional grant as second phase of CPE for existing CPE

Higher Education - Use Of Technologies

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on HRD in its 172nd Report
has recommended that we must exploit our ICT potential for its
penetration to the Country remotest corner to expand the access to
higher education.
• ICT has tremendous potential to extend and augment quality in higher
education. Its full potential has not been tapped.
• Under the Eleventh Plan, Central Universities can lead this process by
providing campus based wireless Internet facilities, 24X7 computer labs.
• In collaboration with corporate houses, a laptop initiative can be put in
place for post-graduate and research scholars. This will greatly enhance
equitable access to knowledge base
• Satellite uploading equipment for each Central University should be
established.
• The State universities have fallen behind in modernizing their
administrative machinery and introducing e-governance.
• Funds should be provided to State universities for ICT faculty.

Curriculum DevelopmentThere is a need for starting of interdisciplinary and integrated courses at under graduate and post- graduate levels with flexibility in choice of Courses and a system of credits that enable horizontal and vertical mobility/transfers for teachers. These courses need to be started in both science and social science streams and must be offered by the Departments of the Central Universities. Colleges should also be involved in curriculum development. • The curricula should be revamped to reflect the need for national development with international benchmark. • Creativity of teachers, research fellows, students and external experts should be harnessed in order to develop multimedia teaching material.There is a need for starting of interdisciplinary and integrated courses at under graduate and post- graduate levels with flexibility in choice of Courses and a system of credits that enable horizontal and vertical mobility/transfers for teachers. These courses need to be started in both science and social science streams and must be offered by the Departments of the Central Universities. Colleges should also be involved in curriculum development. • The curricula should be revamped to reflect the need for national development with international benchmark. • Creativity of teachers, research fellows, students and external experts should be harnessed in order to develop multimedia teaching material.

There is a need for starting of interdisciplinary and integrated courses at
under graduate and post- graduate levels with flexibility in choice of
Courses and a system of credits that enable horizontal and vertical
mobility/transfers for teachers. These courses need to be started in both
science and social science streams and must be offered by the
Departments of the Central Universities. Colleges should also be
involved in curriculum development.
• The curricula should be revamped to reflect the need for national
development with international benchmark.
• Creativity of teachers, research fellows, students and external experts
should be harnessed in order to develop multimedia teaching material.

PUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON HIGHER EDUCATION: AN OVERVIEW

Process and Nature of Planning for Higher Education
• The plan size is determined by the Planning Commission in consultation
with the Ministry of Human Resource Development, UGC and other
experts through the constitution of an expert group on higher education.
The development grant is essentially in the nature of ad hoc grant
provided once in five years by UGC to the Central Universities on the
basis of negotiations. In allocating the plan grants to the universities, UGC
has scheme-based approach to fund higher education. Plans prepared by
the universities are scrutinized by the UGC and allocations to the
universities are made under the different schemes.
In the light of above observations, it would be profitable to explore the
possibilities of alternative method of planning, considering one or more of
the following issues and aspects: -
- Scheme based approach of the plan support to universities and
colleges should be restricted to the few major schemes only.
- Universities and colleges should be allocated a block grant. The
block grant can be disbursed against a 5 year perspective plan
prepared by the universities and colleges under the guidelines
issued by the UGC.
- Perspective plan of the universities and colleges should clearly
mention the vision, mission and objectives of the institution. The
detailed plan should review the status of teaching and research and
contribution of the institution in terms of access, equity and quality.
- Guidelines of the UGC may provide for the norms and the financial
support for the separate programme.
- UGC should develop an effective online monitoring mechanism
along with the review missions for supervision of implementation of
the programmes.

Growth Pattern of Public Funding for Higher Education



The trend of the public expenditure on higher education indicates that
during 1993-94 and 2004-05, the public expenditure in elementary
education has gone up by four times. However, the public expenditure on
secondary and higher education has increased roughly by three times.
The size of the total public expenditure in India in 2004-05 (B) is Rs.
80286 crores (Rs. 802.8 billion). The Sectoral allocation of public
expenditure on education for all these years on elementary, secondary,
higher (general) and technical education remained

Summary on last ten five year plans

GENERAL : To achieve a profound transformation of higher education in order
that it becomes an effective promoter of sustainable human development and at
the same time, improves its relevance with closer links with the world of work and
achieve quality in its teaching, research, business and community extension
functions including life long learning.
SPECIFIC: To contribute to the transformation through improvement of the
conceptions, methodology and practices related to:
􀂙 The relevance of higher education.
􀂙 Quality, evaluation and accreditation.
􀂙 Research and development.
􀂙 Outreach activities in business and community and life long
learning.
􀂙 The knowledge and use of the new information and communication
technology.
􀂙 Management and financing.
􀂙 Export of higher education, and reorientation of international
cooperation.
􀂙 Strengthening of open and distance education system.
􀂙 Strengthening of research institutions.
􀂙 Mobilization of resources.

THRUST AREAS OF HIGHER EDUCATION DURING 5TH TO 10TH FIVE YEAR PLANS

Analysis of the past Five Year Plans indicates that, there have been
continuous efforts to strengthen the base by developing infrastructure, improving
the quality through several programs and schemes, introducing reforms in
content and evaluation and encouraging generation of knowledge through
research. The focus of fifth five-year plan was on infrastructure development, the
sixth plan onwards the focus shifted to consolidation and quality improvement.
The Seventh Plan laid emphasis on research and academic developments. It
was from this plan onward that the development centers of excellence and area
study programs got special attention. From the Eighth Plan onward, the need for
differential funding was recognized. Under this plan, it was envisaged that the
developing departments would be provided necessary funds to bring up their
facilities and activities to an optimum level for their teaching and general
research pregrammes. The Ninth Plan aimed at gearing the system of higher
education to meet the challenges arising out of the major social, economic and
technological changes. The focus of Tenth Plan was aimed at quality and
relevance of higher education, research and development, management in
financing and the use of the new information and communication technologies.
The Tenth Plan provided the basis for higher education in the 21st century.

Indian Higher Education Sector : Conclusion

There is much work to be done – on all aspects of higher education. We believe that these Bills will lay the
foundation for creating a modern framework to improve quality and check malpractices in the Higher Education
space in India. They will create an enabling environment wherein multiple providers of education – domestic
and foreign, public and private, not-for-profit and, if the government deems fit, for-profit, can operate and
compete to provide access to quality education. Higher education is the basis for the knowledge economy. India
has a lower GER of only 11% of the 19-24 years age-group compared to 21% in China, 30% in Malaysia and
83% in the USA. Gender differences in attendance in higher education have declined for recent age-cohorts; but
social group, income and rural location still influence access. Of the 12mn students enrolled, one third study in
private sector institutions, the rest of the sector is of variable and on the average poor quality largely focused on
undergraduate education in the arts, social science and humanities on the other hand post-graduate, professional
degree and science and technology enrolments accounts for a smaller share. The scenario is even truer in private
sector. The unemployment rate among tertiary graduates is 12% compared to 5% overall, reflecting perhaps a
combination of initiatives to be taken. The present framework of GATS needs to be exploited by India to enable
it to remain competitive in the global scenario. These are exciting times for higher education. The Government
has made massive increases in budgetary allocations. It has also acknowledged the importance of private
participation. There is a wide and growing spectrum of services being offered in this sector. These are almost
entirely on a legitimate for-profit basis. We have the potential of becoming a global hub for education. The
Government should work with all stake holders and seek to harness the creativity, energy and capability of the
private sector and create synergies by working with, rather than in competition with it. The opportunity is real –
all stakeholders need to work together to capture it.

Indian Higher Education Sector : The Way Forward Contd..

National Commission for Higher Education and Research 2010
This Bill is currently in the process of being finalized and is open to feedback from public stakeholders. It has
created a significant interest because it envisages the creation of the National Commission for Higher Education
and Research (NCHER) which will replace both the UGC, AICTE. This is based on the recommendations of
both the Knowledge Commission and the Yash Pal Committee that have reposed their trust in an all powerful
commission to ‘rejuvenate’ the education system and remove multiple regulators.
The Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010 (FEI Bill)
Overview of the Bill
The Bill seeks to include within its ambit all foreign education institutions (FEIs), whether existing and
proposed, set up independently or in collaboration with an Indian partner/ education provider, an institution that
provides education resulting in degree, diploma or certificate in India. Distance Education has been excluded
from the ambit of the Bill.
FEIs proposing to award degrees and diplomas are required to mandatorily seek notification from the Central
Government as a ‘Foreign Education Provider (FEP)’, subject to meeting specified eligibility criteria. These
requirements are clearly aimed at ensuring that only established and financially sound FEIs qualify. Those
providing certificate courses have lighter reporting requirements.
Any FEI proposing to make an application for registration needs to have the application endorsed by the
Embassy/ High Commission of the home country where the FEI is registered and situated. Every application
must inter-alia contains:
 documentation to establish that the applicant has a 20 years track record in the home country
 undertaking to maintain a minimum corpus of ` 500 million
 status of accreditation in home country and
 information on the financial soundness of the applicant.
The steps that are followed in the review of an application for notification of an FEI as an FEP are as detailed
in Exhibit 13. The Bill prescribes norms for utilizing the income received from the corpus fund. It states that
only 75% of the income received from the corpus shall be used by the FEP for development purposes and the
remaining 25% must be deposited. There are not only caps on the amount that can be utilized, but also
restriction on repatriation of surplus outside India, another measure aimed at protecting Indian students from flyby-
night operators. Quality is ensured by mandating that the quality of programs offered in India is comparable
with those offered by the FEP in its home country. It additionally ensures transparency by requiring FEPs to
publish a prospectus 60 days prior to the commencement of admission for purpose of providing information,
inter-alia, regarding fees, faculty and infrastructure to prospective students and to also provide specified details
on its website. The Bill empowers the Government to exempt an applicant FEI with a reputation or international
standing from all provisions of the Bill, except those relating to non-repatriation of surplus generated in India
and penalties prescribed for violating provisions of the Act.
Penalties have been prescribed for any FEI and any person/ Indian education provider for contravening the
provisions of the law and can range from ` 1 to 5 million.
This is a long awaited legislation which should open another avenue for capacity creation in the system as well
as expose our domestic institutions to foreign competition. The existing policy regime is ambivalent and there
are no regulations governing or enabling entry of a foreign education institution into India. It is, therefore,
encouraging that the Government has finally acknowledged the need for a legislation that provides this clarity.
The provisions of the Bill amply reflect a Government focus on quality, reliability and accountability of FEIs
intending to establish in India, thus addressing major concerns which the opening up of an otherwise tightly
regulated sector may bring up.
It has already raised extensive debate. The primary criticism of the Bill is that it would create elitist
institutions with exorbitant fee structures that will be unaffordable for the Indian masses. There are also
apprehensions of domestic institutions being unable to compete. While it is true that these institutions are likely
to have higher fees, it is equally true that they shall create new quality benchmarks and introduce a culture of
high academic professionalism - thereby raising the bar for delivery of education in India. Access to needy but
the deserving students can be enhanced by making them eligible for scholarships and the Government’s
subsidised student loans.
On the flip side, prima facie, the Bill seems to be biased towards research oriented universities (fast track
mechanism for reputed institutions). It is important to understand that given the huge demand-supply gap, the
bulk of the institutions that are likely to have an interest in India are those whose focus is on teaching and vocational/skill building. In this scenario it would be unrealistic to expect the top-notch universities like Harvard
or Oxford to set up standalone campuses in India and have their autonomy and quality potentially compromised
with all our regulatory constraints. Media reports have indicated that Oxford has no plans for setting up in India,
Yale has merely accepted to act as mentor to the 14 innovation universities proposed by the Government and
Harvard is content with providing executive programs to Indian corporate executives. In this scenario, it is only
the next level of universities that might be interested in India. Many of these have very high standards and
quality of education and accommodate the majority of the Indian students studying abroad. But they have no
fast track mechanism under the Bill and are potentially subject to all the regulatory rigours and restrictions on
autonomy.

Indian Higher Education Sector : The Way Forward

Achieving India’s demographic dividend will depend on our ability to provide a simple regulatory framework in
education that eliminates opportunities for rent seeking and low quality. Hence the recent initiative of the
Government to reform the regulatory regime is a welcome step. The four Bills presented to Parliament will
potentially overhaul the education set up in the country. Their cumulative impact would be the most significant
reform of the Indian Higher Education framework in the past 60 years.
While the Bill for permitting foreign universities to establish campuses in India, has garnered significant
attention and has been the subject of significant debate (politically and otherwise), the other Bills also have the
potential of altering, albeit more significantly the Indian regulatory framework dealing with education because
we believe they will lay the foundations for a more transparent, governance focused framework. While these
Bills are yet to become law, we will briefly review them.
The Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical Educational Institutions, Medical Educational
Institutions and Universities Bill, 2010
This is a truly welcome initiative that will not only improve governance but also go a long way in protecting the
interests of children and parents. It seeks to prohibit unfair practices in technical educational institutions,
medical educational institutions and universities. Its aim is to introduce greater transparency and governance
through mandatory disclosures regarding faculty, fees and infrastructure. It prohibits an institution from a)
demanding or accepting capitation fees or other charges in excess of those declared in its prospectus; and b)
admitting students without conducting admission tests specified by the appropriate authority. The Bill also
prohibits publishing or issuing advertisement based on false or misleading facts for inducing students to take
admission. The Bill prescribes penalties for indulging in practices prescribed as unfair in the Act. It is the first
time that such legislation has been proposed in the Education sector. It will be an essential component in an
education eco-system that is plagued with rent seeking and malpractices. The question for consideration though
is the ability and the willingness to implement the provisions of this Bill when it becomes a law.
The National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Bill, 2010
This seeks to make accreditation by independent accreditation agencies mandatory for higher educational
institutions (HEIs), educational programs, and educational infrastructure. The Bill also provides for establishing
an independent statutory authority for the purpose, the National Accreditation Regulatory Authority (“NARA”),
which will inter-alia include registration of accreditation agencies and determining the procedure for
accreditation, which is an essential ingredient for ensuring quality in the education sector. The Bill requires that
every HEI seek accreditation for every program conducted by it before it starts the admission process for such
programs. Existing HEIs will have to apply for accreditation of their institution and programs within three years
of the commencement of this Act (five years in case of HEIs engaged in medical education).
The Education Tribunals Bill, 2010
It seeks to provide for a two-tier system of adjudication of disputes relating to education that involve teachers
and employees of higher educational institutions, students, universities, institutions, and statutory regulatory
authorities. It provides for the establishment of a National Education Tribunal and State Educational Tribunals,
prescribes the composition of the Tribunals, and delineates the powers and functions to be exercised by the Tribunals. If implemented as envisaged, this Bill will expedite the process of resolving intra- and interinstitution
disputes.

Indian Higher Education Sector - The Regulatory Regime

Historically, AICTE, MCI, DCI, ICAR, VCI were formed to focus attention on specialized areas. These
institutions issue licenses, control curriculum and standards and, regulate operations through inspections and
reporting requirements. Each has its own set of regulations. The Yashpal Committee Report has recommended
that the multiple agencies, bodies should all merge into one National Commission for Higher Education and
Research (NCHER), which can be the umbrella organization or a one-stop shop for all regulatory work in higher
education. To better understand the dynamics and the differences of these two sectors, Exhibit 12 compares the
extent and intensity of restrictions that existing regulations place. It explains why there is so much interest in the
unregulated sectors.