From Higher to Hire Education : Daily Current Affairs

Relevance: GS-2: Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Education.

Key Phrases: traditional face-to-face education, digital mode of learning, digital varsity, Kothari Commission, ABC, SDG 4.3;

Context

  • The Covid pandemic had caused disruption in the traditional face-to-face education system. The higher education system had to shift to Technology-enabled and mediated digital learning.
  • This opportunity was utilised by the government to propose Digital University in Budget 2022-23.
    • Kerala had taken the initial steps by launching the country’s first Digital University in February 2021.
  • In this article we will look into various aspects of the Digital Higher Education Ecosystem.

Key Highlights

Higher Education in India

  • It includes universities (both private and government-aided) and Colleges.
  • It is administered by the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education.
  • UGC (Universities Grant Commission), established in 1946 and given statutory status by UGC Act 1956 is responsible for
    • providing funds and
    • coordinating, determining and maintaining standards in institutions of higher education.
  • In 2013, there were only 722 universities against the recommendation of 1500 of the National Knowledge Commission.
    • Number of Degrees awarding Universities/ institutions has increased to 895 (UGC 2016 data).
  • In 2013-14, the central government had estimated to spend 4.44% of GDP on education and 1.35% of GDP on Higher Education (Budget Estimate).
    • Kothari Commission(1964-66) had recommended the educational expenditure of the Central Government to be 6% of GDP.

Provisions of National Education Policy 2020 for Higher Education

Targets

  • To achieve a GER (Gross Enrolment Ratio) of 50% by 2035.
    • Current GER is 26.3% (2020 data).
  • To add 3.5 Crore more seats for Higher Education.

New initiatives

  • Flexible, Holistic, multi-disciplinary UG (undergraduate) degrees of 3-4 years’ duration.
  • Academic Bank Of Credits will be established to ease the transfer of credits for multidisciplinary and flexible education.
  • The National Research Foundation will be established to spearhead the research ecosystem in the country.
  • HECI (Higher Education Commission of India) will be established by transforming UGC into 4 verticals.
    • for regulation - National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC)
    • for standard-setting - General Education Council (GEC)
    • for funding - Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC)
    • for accreditation - National Accreditation Council (NAC)

Challenges in Higher Education System in India

  • Quality
    • Indian universities have failed to enter top 100 ranks consistently over the years
    • In QS Ranking 2022, only 3 featured in top 200
      • IIT Bombay - 177th
      • IIT Delhi - 185th
      • IISC Bengaluru - 186th
  • Gross Enrolment Ratio
    • Approx. only 1 in 4 students are enrolled in Higher education.
  • Inequity
    • Social inequity
      • Difference in GER across different sections of the society
        • males (26.3%)
        • females (25.4%),
        • SC (21.8%) and
        • ST (15.9%)
    • Regional inequity - College density (number of colleges per lakh eligible population) has a regional variation (All India average of 28)
      • 7 in Bihar
      • 59 in Telangana
    • Urban-rural divide - most of the premier institutions have been centred in a metropolitan and urban city.
  • Employability and Skill development
    • As per India Skills Report, less than half of Indian Graduates are employable.
  • Infrastructural Challenge
  • Faculty
    • India has a poor pupil-to-teacher ratio of 30:1 vs China (19.5:1) and Brazil (19:1).
  • Research
    • India’s GERD (Gross Expenditure on Research and Development) is about 0.7% of GDP whereas in the top 10 economies it is 2% of GDP.
    • Most of it is funded by the Government (56%) whereas for the top 10 economies it is <20%.

What is Digital University?

  • Digital University will provide education to the students in virtual mode along with provisions of hybrid mode or phygital mode (Physical + Digital).
  • The main goal is to ensure world-class quality universal education with a personalised learning experience at doorsteps.
  • The content will be within the student’s reach in different languages and in ICT format.
  • It will involve Hub and Spoke Model
    • Hub being premier public institutes and
    • Spoke being other smaller public and private universities.

Advantage of Digital University

  • A step toward universal education through Open Courses.
    • This will fulfil SDG 4.3 - By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university
  • Customised Learning Experience
    • This will enhance Ease of Learning through AI and Machine Learning.
  • Flexible, Holistic and Multidisciplinary education
    • As one can choose a different combination of courses and get the desired specialisation.
    • Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) will be helpful in this regard.
  • Economies of Scale
    • With the concentration of resources and reduction in expenditure on hard infrastructure, quality enhancement of the university is possible.
    • Hard infrastructure will include the creation of an offline physical university.

Challenges of Digital Mode of Learning

  • Digital Divide
    • Both in terms of comfort to using tech for learning and Affordability of tech due to lack of sufficient income.
    • This is more prominent for women as most often smartphone users in a family are men.
      • As per the 2020 report, by GSM Association, women in India are 28% less likely than men to own a mobile phone and 56% less likely than men to use mobile Internet.
  • Acceptance of Online Degree
    • Most recruiters prefer to hire those who have graduated in face-to-face mode.
  • Lack of equivalent rigour
    • As Online courses aren’t subjected to similar rigour to that of Offline courses like hours dedicated to tutorials, experiments performed etc, the level of learning and understanding may differ in students.
    • Higher education is a lot more than borrowing content and delivering them online or outsourcing content.
  • Privatisation of Higher education
    • As UGC has decreased the requirement of open universities from 40 acres to just 5 acres.
    • It will lead to increased For-profit organisations' venture into education.
  • Higher recurring expenses
    • Initially, it requires massive capital investment in infrastructure.
    • But also demands significantly higher recurring expenses on content development and their continuous updating and upgradation.

Conclusion

  • A hybrid model of higher education must be encouraged. But, the online education initiatives must be subjected to similar quality control and assessment. India shouldn’t become a consumer of knowledge, but, we must exploit our full potential to emerge as a producer of knowledge and providers of the global workforce.

Source: The Hindu

Mains Question:

Q. “Technology-enabled and mediated digital learning is projected as the future of higher education. Such learning is supposed to end face-to-face formal education.” Analyse the statement in light of the proposal of a Digital University in the budget 2022-23.