ABSTRACT
The role of the private sector in university education in India is a matter of debate. At one extreme of the ideological frontier are votaries for ‘for-profi t’ educational institutions. On the other is opposition to any role for the private sector in higher education. Between the binaries of public-private, market-State, regulation or no-regulation lie complex shades whose visions, principles and goals need more meaningful exploration and articulation. The numbers seem to indicate that the higher education sector is poised for expansion to meet new demand. This demand will inevitably arise from increasing thrust on universalisation of primary education (as constitutionally mandated by the Right to Education) and later, on secondary education. Only 0.7 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is being spent on higher and technical education (as against a target of 1.5 per cent of GDP) (MHRD 2011).1 Even a spending of 1 per cent is only 19 per cent of the total expenditure on education. Much of the remaining spending will deservedly go to elementary, primary and secondary education. Student enrolment in higher education has already increased from 8.4 million in 2000-01 to 14.6 million in 2009-10 (Planning Commission 2012). The demand is expected to increase at a compounded rate of 11-12 per cent till 2022 and will require another 26 million seats (ibid.). This requires more investment — public and private. While the Working Group on Higher and Technical Education has pointed to a need for `4,133.68 billion for the 12th Plan, it is unlikely that the current fi scal environment will allow such
allocations. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) target of 21 per cent by end of the 12th Plan and 30 per cent by year 2020 cannot be achieved by the public sector alone (ibid.). The GER estimates are currently around 17 per cent though there is a debate on exact fi gures (UGC 2011). This means more private investment will be needed. The critical issues pertain to the vision behind such investment, the enabling regulatory framework and critically, the perspectives regarding the nature of learning expected in institutions funded through such investment. Mere expansion is of little use without eff orts to improve quality or reach standards of excellence. The demographic impact of higher education will only be visible when it is also inclusive — one that provides opportunities for the historically marginalised. According to the 11th Plan, the GER lagged behind for rural areas (7.5 per cent), women (10.5 per cent), SCs (6.5 per cent), STs (6.52 per cent), OBCs (8.7 per cent), and Muslims (9 per cent) along with regional variations (Planning Commission 2008: 22). While attention has also been drawn to the role of private investment in higher education to create a globally competitive workforce in India, the sheer magnitude of national challenges will also require it to engage with critical development goals, including affi rming basic liberal constitutional and democratic values, furthering environmental sustainability and ensuring social inclusion. To imagine more possibilities for private-funded university education, which reaches out to larger constituencies and also impacts areas not otherwise immediately remunerative but nevertheless essential to the life of a nation, is also at its heart, a question of vision. Jawaharlal Nehru, in his famous convocation address to the University of Allahabad in 1947, extolled the role of a university thus: ‘A university stands for humanism, for
tolerance, for reason, for the adventure of ideas and the search for truth … If the universities discharge their duties adequately, then all is well with the nation and the people’ (NCERT 1970: 553; see also MHRD 2009). The Kothari Commission, dwelling on this role for universities, had stated that the principal object of a university is ‘to deepen man’s understanding of the universe and of himself-in body, mind and spirit, to disseminate this understanding throughout society and apply it for the service of mankind’ (ibid.). It is in keeping with this larger vision of learning that the role of private investment in higher education and in particular, university education, also needs to be explored. Since universities have historically been the sites of learning, between the State, the community and the individual, the role of the private sector in contributing to, or even detracting from, such a vision needs better understanding. Of around 611 universities in India, there are around 94 private universities under state legislation and about 90 private deemed universities (out of around 130 deemed universities) (UGC 2011: 9). In other words, private universities account for about 30 per cent of the universities in India, which will see an increase over the next few years. This dynamic renders such appreciation all the more necessary. This paper focuses on the private sector specifi cally in university education (as diff erent from those without the university umbrella, whether as ‘technical institutions’ or in other forms of professional education). This is a particular segment that seems likely to grow, and requires a transparent and enabling policy framework within which to locate its ambitions. Within the larger political economy, given the heterogeneous needs of this country, allowing more private involvement in higher education within an appropriate regulatory framework would signal the State’s willingness to accommodate newer and more diverse entities in a manner that can enable excellence and at the same time curb fraudulent practice (Salmi 2010). It is also critical, in the same breath, to ensure a regulatory framework that does not stymie excellence and innovation in the name of curbing fraudulent practice. On the other hand, some of the disquiet regarding private participation in university education also stems from a perception that the private sector needs more comprehensive envisioning of its goals and much better application.
