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29th November 2006
Dear Mr.
Prime Minister,
Higher education has made a significant contribution to economic development, social
progress and political democracy in independent India. But there is serious cause for
concern at this juncture. The proportion of our population, in the relevant age group, that
enters the world of higher education is about 7 per cent. The opportunities for higher
education in terms of the number of places in universities are simply not adequate in
relation to our needs. Large segments of our population just do not have access to higher
education. What is more, the quality of higher education in most of our universities
leaves much to be desired.
At the outset, we would also like to stress that foundations are critical. We believe that an
emphasis on expansion and reform of our school system is necessary to ensure that every
child has an equal opportunity to enter the world of higher education. We are engaged in
consultations on school education. We will send our recommendations in this crucial area
in due course. In this letter, we focus on higher education.
The NKC has engaged in formal and informal consultations on this subject with a wide
range of people in the world of higher education. In addition, we consulted concerned
people in parliament, government, civil society and industry. The concerns about the
higher education system are widely shared. There was a clear, almost unanimous, view
that higher education needs a systematic overhaul, so that we can educate much larger
numbers without diluting academic standards. Indeed, this is essential because the
transformation of economy and society in the twenty-first century would depend, in
significant part, on the spread and the quality of education among our people, particularly
in the sphere of higher education. And it is only an inclusive society that can provide the
foundations for a knowledge society.
The objectives of reform and change in our higher education system, as you have often
stressed, must be expansion, excellence and inclusion. We recognize that meaningful
reform of the higher education system, with a long-term perspective, is both complex and
difficult. Yet, it is imperative. Our analysis, diagnosis and prescriptions are set out in a
detailed note on higher education which is attached. In this letter, we simply highlight our
prescriptions.
A. EXPANSION
1. Create many more universities. The higher education system needs a massive
expansion of opportunities, to around 1500 universities nationwide, that would enable
India to attain a gross enrolment ratio of at least 15 per cent by 2015. The focus would
have to be on new universities, but some clusters of affiliated colleges could also become
universities. Such expansion would require major changes in the structure of regulation.
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