| Education is the prime mover of the society. It determines the role and approach for the modernisation of society and the nation at large. Since ‘development’ is the buzz word for the advancement of our nation, the quality of our education is of paramount importance along with access and equity to tap rich dividends from our demographic capital. Higher education has to be assessed from a broader perspective in the context of various types of changes in the micro and macro environment. With globalisation and liberalisation, we are players in the global arena. We need to relook at the contents of our educational system and the quality of curriculum transaction, research and development to enhance the quality of education through an effective quality management system.
Quality Scenario
There is tremendous quantitative expansion of higher education institutions since independence. However the quality is deteriorating. It is commonly observed that on an average, Indian colleges and universities do not perform a commendable job and are definitely not world class. An analysis of institutions reveals that only a fraction of them are accredited during a span of 20 years. There is no program accreditation except for the technical institutions. The mind set of most of the higher education institutions is to adopt a laissez-faire approach with no aspiration or motivation to assume additional responsibilities for quality improvement.
There are many quality gaps with respect to curriculum design and development, teaching, learning and evaluation, research consultancy and extension, infrastructure and learning resources, student support and progression, governance, management and leadership. Research and Development is the weakest link in the higher education system. Innovations in higher education system is very insignificant. No wonder, in spite of the large number of higher education institutions in the country, we do not figure in the first 200 world class institutions by the expert ranking agencies. |