Indian Higher Education

Demand for quality higher education, is continuing to outpace the supply due to growing population of young people, gains in school education, growing middle class and their rising aspirations. At the same time, the country has a unique opportunity to convert this demographic surplus to its economic strength by providing its young people the right kind of skills. Thus, higher education now occupies a central position in the country's strategy for global competitiveness and inclusive growth. Steps have been initiated to augment supply, improve quality and fix problems. The National Knowledge Commission (NKC) has made several useful and important recommendations and the government has significantly increased funding during the Eleventh Five Year Plan. In the backdrop of these developments, Indian Higher Education: Envisioning the Future, describes the Indian higher education landscape. The author spells out the needs, identifies the gaps, and based on the lessons learnt from the experiences of other countries provides perspectives to shape its future.

This volume provides an in-depth analysis of the critical dimensions of higher education in India. It focuses on the growth and expansion of private higher education and public policy. The volume discusses issues related to the growth of for-profit and not-for-profit private higher education institutions and their implications at the policy level. It outlines the role of such institutions towards the internationalization and global ranking of the Indian higher education system. The book discusses the trends in internationalisation adopted by private higher education institutions and explains the resulting impact on aspects such as the diversity of programs, skill formation, employability, pedagogic practices, standards, curriculum development, and research and development, as well as the wider externalities in terms of promoting India’s soft power and international relations with other countries. While outlining the challenges of Open Distance Learning (ODL) and online education in India, the book also discusses the use of ICT, OER, and MOOCS among others to address the challenges of the ODL system. This volume will be of interest to teachers, students, and researchers of education, public policy, political science, international relations, law, sociology, economics, and political economy. It will also be useful for academicians, policymakers, and anyone interested in the internationalization of Indian Higher Education.

In India, two critical aspects of public policy — social justice and higher education — have witnessed unprecedented expansion in recent years. While several programmes have been designed by the State to equalise access to higher education and implement formal inclusion, discrimination based on caste, tribe, gender, and rural location continues to exist. Focusing on the concrete experiences of these programmes, this book explores the difficulties and dilemmas that follow formal inclusion, and seeks to redress the disproportionate emphasis on principles rather than practice in the quest for equal access to higher education in India. Offering new perspectives on the debates on social mobility and merit, this volume examines a broad spectrum of educational courses, ranging from engineering, medicine and sciences to social work, humanities and the social sciences that cover all levels of higher education from undergraduate degrees to post-doctoral research. It points to various sources of social exclusion by studying a cross-section of national, elite, subaltern, and sub-regional institutions across the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. Closely involved with the implementation and evaluation of affirmative action programmes, the contributors to the volume highlight the paradoxical ‘sectionalisation’ of reserved candidates, the daunting challenge of combating discrimination. Understanding the need to look beyond formal inclusion to enable substantive change, this important volume will be essential reading for scholars and teachers of sociology, education, social work, economics, public administration, and political science, besides being of great interest to policymakers and organisations concerned with education and discrimination.

This book examines the status of English Studies in India, aspirations pinned on the subject by students, teachers, policy-makers and society in general, and how these are addressed at the higher education level. It presents analytical background discussions of the history and policy environment, and offers open-ended, multi-faceted and multi-vocal accounts of particular aspects of contemporary Indian English Studies, including curriculum, pedagogy, research, employment, relation to Indian vernaculars and translation studies. Reconsidering English Studies in Indian Higher Education is an invaluable source for anyone interested in: The relevant histories and higher education policies Professional concerns, including employment, management, teaching and scholarly practices, and negotiations in terms of socio-cultural life Student attitudes, experiences and aspirations Management ethos and academic work in a comparative perspective, informed by the situation and debates in the United Kingdom and United States of America The context of global English Studies and globalization The book will be of primary interest to academic readers such as students, teachers and researchers in English Studies in India, Britain and wherever the discipline is pursued at higher education level Suman Gupta is Professor and Chair in Literature and Cultural History at The Open University. Richard Allen is Professor Emeritus at the Department of English at The Open University. Subarno Chattarji is Associate Professor at the Department of English, University of Delhi. Supriya Chaudhuri is Professor Emeritus at the Department of English, Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

The book analyses various challenges emanating from privatization, globalization and public financial crunch to understand the future directions of higher education in India. The book presents a careful understanding of structure, finance and governance of higher education and advocates a new way to look at increasing the capability of students to secure their future. Attention has also been drawn to the inequalities prevailing in the system of higher education and pursuing inclusive approach so as to have sufficient employment opportunities for students in the labour market. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 deals with the future in terms of university structure and functions, Part 2 deals with the future of financing higher education and Part 3 deals with capabilities required by teachers for the future of universities. It is an interesting collection of various themes in different chapters which are authored by serious researchers. All policy makers, university administrators and teachers and researchers of higher education interested in governance, financing, teaching as well as research in the area of higher education will find the contents of the book relevant. The book will benefit in understanding the challenges of higher education and help remodel the future of higher education in India.

The unprecedented expansion of higher education in India and the proliferation of providers in turn have posed enormous challenges to equity, quality and financing of the sector. The India Higher Education Report 2015 traces the evolution of higher education and discusses the key role of committees and commissions whose reports and recommendations form the backdrop of contemporary developments. Authoritative and comprehensive, the volume examines a range of themes including equity, financing, employment, quality, and governance. It also engages with new and recent data as well as current issues and debates. The volume will be an important resource for academics, policy makers, civil society organisations, media and those concerned with higher education. It will also be useful to scholars and researchers of public policy, sociology and economics.

With special reference to Kerala.