Ten years after private engineering colleges made their way in the state in 2002, the cash-strapped state is all set to throw open its doors to self-financing degree colleges and universities as in other parts of the country. The proposal will be placed in the Cabinet for the final nod.
Pitching for the private sector to play a bigger role in higher education, President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said the private sector needed to step up its efforts to convince the people that it offered the best quality of education compared to the highest international standards.
The private vs. government debate is not a new one in education, but is less applicable to the university landscape. But it has gained momentum in Karnataka now in the backdrop of as many as 13 new private universities getting the green signal from the government to establish themselves in the State. So far, there were only two in Karnataka.
Those planning to set up private universities in the state will now have to follow a new mandatory condition - they will have to provide 50% of seats to students from Karnataka. Otherwise the state government will not provide them private university status.
In an effort to broaden the spectrum of higher education, the state government is set to rope in private players and impart quality education at the university level. The effort of the Trinamool government is seen as a step ahead of the erstwhile government's decision to set up a private technical institute of higher learning, like the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication at Kalyani, which didn't materialize.
Education should be kept away from politics. Wherever you have more regulations, you will also have more corruption. That is why private universities were propagated in the first place; to build an environment away from the trifling matters faced in public colleges.
The Supreme Court, while deciding to examine the validity of the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET), has permitted private medical colleges to conduct their own entrance tests for admission to MBBS/postgraduate/dental courses but they should not declare the results until its further orders.
In a previous op-ed (India fails test of 'knowledge economy', Asia Times Online, November 30, 2012), I drew attention to what can be called a "research deficit" in India's higher education. In it, I mentioned a study by Thomson Reuters according to which India produced only 3.5% of the global research output in 2010 and its contribution in most disciplines - including mathematics and computer science - was lower than its overall average.
Manipal Global Education Services, the Rs 1,200 crore higher education major, is looking to spin off its overseas arm into a separate entity. The overseas arms with operations in Malaysia, Nepal, Antigua and Dubai contribute as much as 55 per cent to the revenues and this will be the precursor to raising $100 million through the private equity route in the overseas arm.
Under constant criticism allowing large-scale private universities in the state, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Thursday said the government has decided to allow only 20 private universities to function in the state. The government has so far, already sanctioned 13 such universities, of which 11 are functional.
Perturbed over key bills related to reforms in higher education being stuck in Parliament for over two years, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday accused private players running educational institutes of stalling passage of these legislations which seek to raise quality.
Private bodies such as registered societies, trusts or companies and foreign institutions (termed ‘promoters’) will also qualify to set up the non-profit innovation institutions – either through collaboration or independently – after signing an agreement with the government.
Shri Rajeshji Tope, Minister for Higher and Technical Education, Government of Maharashtra, has said that the state Government will support high-quality research by different private institutions and will also consider more flexibility in admission process in unaided private management institutions to increase Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in Higher Education.
Higher education reform in India, including proposed bills to allow in foreign universities, has hit another snag after the party leading central government performed below expectations in elections in three out of five states – reducing its room for manoeuvre in pushing key bills through parliament.
Specially on the role of private sector in higher education, ASHE 2012 report says that the private participation in the education sector should of quality and of great intent. Taking cue from the success of private involvement in education in the 11th Plan, the report says that private sector should be encouraged to establish larger and higher quality institutions in the 12th Plan
The bill seeking to set up six private universities in the State would pave the way for enhancing the quality of higher education, Higher Education Minister C T Ravi has said.
Private Universities in India have grown from 16 to 140 in five years (124%) and from 100 to 140 in less than a year. This is astonishing growth as only universities in India have degree awarding power. Colleges are "affiliated" to universities as teaching institutions.
With education sector requiring an investment of over $150 billion in the next 10 years, the government has proposed new private partnership models for expansion of higher education sector in the country. The government has proposed setting up of large education hubs in different parts of the country anchored by large public/private sector enterprises funded through their allocations for corporate social responsibility.
When the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulations of Entry and Operations) Bill was introduced in parliament in 2010, no less than 50 foreign universities showed interest in setting up operations in India. Two years down the line, their interest seems to have dwindled
The government will fix social responsibility and control private universities so that there will not be scope for monopoly, Ravi told mediapersons. He said seven institutions have applied for setting up private universities in the State.
Punjab assembly passed two controversial bills on Friday, paving the way for two private universities to come up in the state even as the treasury benches ridiculed private varsities terming them as teaching shops set up to mint money.
In a sudden development, the Maharashtra government has dropped the plan to introduce a special act to regulate private universities, which are expected to come up in large numbers. This sudden U-turn by the government came even though the cabinet had cleared the bill by the state higher and technical education department on December 13.
Lovely Professional U., in northern India, boasts of its modern infrastructure, especially compared with the bare-bones campuses of many public universities. LPU's campus features Wi-Fi, a shopping mall, and restaurants.
A report on status of higher education prepared by Planning Commission and industry body CII has favoured greater participation of private sector in higher education with the establishment of larger and higher quality institutions during the 12th Plan Period.
Indian universities in the private sector need to look for diverse sources of funding rather than depending solely on tuition fees if they want to improve education quality, a higher education panel has concluded.
The Indian higher education system, which witnessed a significant growth over the last decade with private educational institutions playing a catalytic role in that direction, lends its infrastructure to students sponsored by foreign universities. This will not only help Indian institutions to place their credibility on the world map of higher education but also earn foreign exchange for the country.
Several private universities have opposed some of the higher education bills, making it even more difficult for the government to gain support in parliament.
A national convention on Higher Education on Monday denounced the three bills introduced by the government for the control of private institutions and universities, as “draconian.”
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday gave a speech calling for better standards and an enhanced private-sector role in higher education, Outlook India reported.
Surprisingly India, which has a severe infrastructure deficit and is a comparatively poor nation, has found itself in a unique place that remains unparalleled in richer nations. Today, around 80% of India’s higher education and healthcare is provided by private agencies without any aid whatsoever from the government.
Will the 13 proposed private universities do what the professional colleges did for Karnataka? Both the government and the academics vouch for the need to have private sector participation in higher education and welcome the state legislature's nod to have 13 new private universities in the state. Presently, the state has two private varsities, the Alliance University and Azim Premji University.
As many as 138 private institutes across the country, including 65 management and 15 engineering colleges, have sought permission to close from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). This is more than three times the number of institutes that had come up with the request last year.
The State Cabinet has cleared the establishment of three more private universities. At least, three more established educational institutions have put their proposal before the government seeking permission to establish private varsities.
In order to attract private investment in higher education, the government should allocate land free of cost for 999 years to set up educational institutions, a plan panel committee headed by NR Narayana Murthy has suggested.
Perturbed over key higher education reform bills being stuck in parliament for more than two years, India’s Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal last week accused private education institutions of stalling the passage of legislation that seeks to raise quality, reports The Times of India.
Did private professional college managements play a role in the recent exit of the executive director of Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA)? Sources in the state higher education department suspect so since KEA’s former executive director V Rashmi was adamant on taking action against private professional colleges for collecting excess fee from students who got undergraduate seats through Common Entrance Test (CET) 2012.
La universidad La Gran Colombia de Bogotá oficializó hoy un acuerdo con la Universidad Simbiosis de Pune, en el oeste de India, para intercambios estudiantiles, misiones educativas e investigaciones conjuntas.
Resource constraints will make it difficult to meet the need of expanding higher education entirely through the public sector, hence private investments in higher education, including under PPP mode, would be encouraged," President Mukherjee said while addressing the fourth convocation of LNMU.
When resources are limited, philanthropy isn't the best practice. Advocating this mantra, the Planning Commission has retained a suggestion to allow higher education institutions to run for profit in the final draft of the 12th Five-Year Plan.
Karnataka, whose capital Bangalore is a major attraction for students across India for education, particularly engineering and medical courses, is to get 13 more private universities, taking their total to 15.
A hectic lobbying is on at the state and national level by the managements of the 27 private medical colleges in the state to stall the proposal for online counselling for management quota seats this year. College managements say that Rs 700-800 crore is riding on these seats even as state health officials are busy putting together possible solutions to deal with the medical admission chaos this year.
A private Indian university plans to open a campus for 15,000 foreign students in London, it was announced today as Boris Johnson continued his whirlwind tour of the country to promote links with the United Kingdom.
It seems imminent, a whole lot of private universities are coming up in the state and are bound to knock traditional universities down a notch (or two) with their breakthrough numbers.
It is a story being replayed across many Indian cities. Poorly regulated, unaccredited and often entirely fake colleges have sprung up as demand for higher education accelerates, driven by rising aspirations and a bulging youth population.
Fifteen bills including Private Universities Act and Foreign Education Providers’ Bill are pending in parliament. On the role of private players in the field, he felt that most of the courses offered were market-driven and not holistic. Private players are showing more interest in professional courses in engineering and medicine, he said.
Manipal University is in talks with Chinese officials to open the first campus of an Indian university in China, writes Ananth Krishnan for The Hindu. The Karnataka-based private university is exploring a tie-up with Tianjin University and Shanghai's Tongji University to provide training in information technology and sciences.
The Universities for Research and Innovation Bill 2012, introduced in the Indian national parliament in May, aims to create high-quality research and innovation universities, or world-class universities.
Aimed at encouraging the involvement of the private sector in the field of higher education, the new guidelines also make it essential for private universities to have infrastructure, including labs and libraries, and qualified teachers as per norms set by the University Grants Commission (UGC).