Oct
9
Make higher education expensive
Filed Under Think About It, Public Interest
Need to start charging a high fee to pay for quality education, while ensuring those in need are guaranteed financial aid from the Government.
The title of this column is no doubt going to ruffle a few feathers amongst the student community, and not without reason. After all, how many in our country can afford to pay high fees for education?
No doubt our system of higher education, with virtually no fees being charged from students, has given us a large number of degree holders. At least in our country meritorious students are not denied education for lack of money.
But barring a few, our institutions are statistically churning out a huge quantity of degree holders, and most of it, simply of poor quality. How many of them are really capable of doing jobs that generate intellectual wealth for the country?
While the best minds anywhere in the world, including India, make it to the best institutions and embark on rewarding careers subsequently, it is those just a few notches below who get stuck in no-man’s land. For one, I will never accept that a student getting 90 per cent in his boards is necessarily better than one who gets 80 per cent.
Many of those in the 75-85 per cent category often go to the USA to study and usually do very well for themselves. However those going to Indian universities often end up as the laggards.Why? There is no difference between the two. What is different are the places they study in.
Indian colleges are a mess. For starters, there is no atmosphere to do well academically. They are dirty, badly constructed, with rude and disinterested staff. Except a few, teachers seem to be in the classroom just to do a ‘job’ with little interest in students. Libraries are shameful, and access to technology is non-existent. Syllabi are outdated and not market friendly. There is little that fosters innovation and creativity.
The reasons for the above are both poor management and lack of monetary resources. What we need to set up are colleges that charge fee to address all the lacunae mentioned above and allow students to get quality education. For students who are willing to pay, give them a choice at least.
The greatest positive of higher fee would be higher remuneration for the teaching staff. Only once we start attracting quality people back to this profession (who are now pursuing more lucrative options) can quality of education go up. It is no point appointing someone as an English professor who can barely speak two straight sentences of proper English (I know of such cases for real!!)
These institutions should also be allowed greater academic autonomy to design curricula and grade students on performance other than through just conventional examinations. Greater collaboration with industry and other institutions will also ensure what students learn in the classroom can be out to good use when they start working. This is not only for the technical and management students but even for those pursuing arts courses like history, geography, sociology, political science and the like.
Ensuring those who cannot pay are given loans and waivers: Before you start protesting about high fee, one also proposes some riders. No meritorious student should be denied admission if he or she cannot pay the fee. The Government should ensure unconditional loans are offered without any collaterals to be repaid once the student starts working. These loans can be withdrawn if the students fails to meet academic benchmarks. All this will lead to academic policies and a culture that gets students jobs after graduation.
Colleges churning out graduates for the sake of awarding degrees need to re-invent themselves and focus on industry-friendly vocational courses. It will be an option for those not academically inclined to pick up skills and embark on rewarding careers too.
Of course, those still stuck in the mindsets of yesteryears can always go to Deshbandhu or Dayal Singh College and ruin their lives. Not that ‘elitist’ colleges like SRCC and Hindu are really generating useful graduates.
Do you want a degree or a quality degree? Think about it.
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2 Responses to “Make higher education expensive”
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Well said, Ajay. According to statistics, only 20% of people who come out of educational institutions are industry ready.
Business coaching the way it happens in the United states has only recently begun in India.Maybe that could be one of the solutions like your industry friendsly vocational courses.
True indeed..well written. In one of the most popular universities in India, one can find students spending as much an amount a day in Niruals as is their monthly college fees.