Debate I Poor Students Lose Out When Profit & Higher Education Mix

Privatising higher educational institutions will lead to corruption and exploitation of the poor and middle class.

(Photo: Rhythum Seth/ The Quint)

The Quint debates whether privatisation of higher education institutes can improve the quality of education and increase employability quotient. This is the view. You can read the Counterview by Pramath Sinha and Shreyasi Singh here.

The University Grants Commission which oversees the regulation of higher education and its funding recently proposed to create a ‘level’-based categorisation of universities in India. The government is also reviewing existing autonomous institutions with the goal of either merging them or corporatising them. Such actions prove that education in India is moving towards the path of privatisation.

Such measures are beneficial only in the administrative sense and don’t include academic freedom such as independent admission policies, syllabi changes or course structures. Also, universities under such categories have to raise private funds to start new courses, initiate new projects or hire foreign faculty.

But some of the potential drawbacks of such measures are exponential fee hikes, loss of accountability and access to higher education by the general masses, and eventual degradation of education levels. The universities will begin ‘cutting corners’ to bring the cost down, which will vastly reduce the level of teaching.

Also Read: The Republic’s Rigged Education System and How to Set It Right

Lack of Regulation

Attempts to privatise higher education in India have been ongoing since the 1990s, motivated by the desire to reduce public expenditure. However, such visions are short-sighted and unsustainable in the long run.

Self-financing colleges are a classic example to study the educational system motivated by profit. Private institutions were developed after the realisation that state funds are not enough to promote higher education. Subsequent governments established guidelines for operating such institutions through several Supreme Court rulings which included seat sharing provisions, government oversight and fee structure.

However, lack of regulation and inadequate state capacity led to a proliferation of private institutions, which soon surpassed the number of public educational institutions. Private institutions blatantly exploited many provisions such as ‘management seats’ and ‘NRI quota’ to make as much profit as possible.

Corruption became rampant with the third party, charging exorbitant amounts from people by exploiting the supply-demand gap. Barring few universities, the quality of education at such institutions is substandard and a few have been established with the sole goal of laundering money.

Policy For Privatisation of Institutions

A large number of higher education institutes in India have been semi-privatised as is evident from the university status being given to deemed universities, rapid growth of self-financing institutions at college level, or large scale conversion of government aided private institutions into self-financed institutions.

However, any further plans of privatisation should be shelved until a coherent policy is announced after consultation with all the stakeholders (central and state government, UGC, private sector, AICTE and most importantly, the public). The Modi government, in its election manifesto, had promised a complete overhaul of India’s educational system but even after three years, no concrete policy is evident.

Need For Government Oversight

The prospect of the private sector bearing the burden of higher education looks very attractive. However, such a path is fraught with peril. Stringent government oversight is needed to ensure a successful private sector-based education model.

It’s actually the poor and middle class who are the victims of a profit-based educational model. The exorbitant fees of private institutions often results in students dropping out, with an increase in unemployment, poverty and crime. Students who do graduate will be under immense debt, which will take years to cover.

Unemployable Graduates

A recent study showed that the majority of engineers graduating each year are sub-standard and unemployable. Lack of adequate policies have created a glut of under-skilled engineers who are forced to take any job which comes their way irrespective of pay.

Paradoxically, talented graduates from the IITs and IIMs are locating to different countries due to lack of employment opportunities.

Also, the government’s notion that a private sector-based education system will be cheap is erroneous and naïve. The economic setback due to sub-quality and debt ridden graduates will soon surpass any economic gains.

Strengthening Institutions

Instead of adopting this ‘managerial’ approach, the government should work towards strengthening the existing government and semi-government institutions. This can be achieved by reviewing existing policies such as reservation.

Instead of not charging tuition fee from students studying in IITs, a proper cost-sharing system, depending on the economic status of the student, should be developed.

Syllabi with a special focus on technical and vocational training should be made compulsory. Educational loans should be made available so that even the poorest of students can afford private institutions.

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(The writer is a student, pursuing undergraduate studies at the Arizona State University. This is a personal blog and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses, nor is responsible for the same.)