The gross enrolment ratio for higher education rose to 16 per cent in India last year, as compared to 11 per cent in 2008. The ratio is expected to increase to 21 per cent by the year 2021, according to a research by Frost & Sullivan.
The allocation of Rs 81,000 crore in 2009 helped create about two million higher education seats. However, there is a need for almost 10 million higher education seats, which can be appropriately filled by private public partnerships.
Financial accessibility, physical accessibility, and virtual accessibility (online education) will play a key role in the success of higher education, says the research.
Improved credit facilities for higher education have enabled students to go for higher education. High quality pedagogy coupled with better infrastructure facilities are also likely to give impetus to the higher education sector in India by making it more attractive for foreign students to gain admission.
RESEARCH
The study highlights, though, the research competence of prominent institutions like the IITs is comparable with their compatriots abroad, original path breaking research is rare in India. Most of the research involves minor changes to pre-existing papers. Also, funding for research in IITs is almost as low as five per cent of that received by universities in developed countries like the US.
One of the biggest concerns raised in the study was of the presence of a huge pool of graduates whose knowledge and skill sets are not at par with industry requirements.