Agriculture

Strengths/
Opportunities of Indian
Higher Education

  21st century regulation and governance reforms pushed by National Education Policy (NEP), 2020.
 
Out of a total no. of 39M students, private higher education sector enrolls~22M students and accounts for 58% share of total HE enrolments in 2020 (compared to 27% in the US).
 
India among top 15 countries in Employability Rankings 2020.
 

Increasing demand for digital skills and non-conventional courses.

  The online education market in India is expected to grow by US$ 2.28 billion till 2025, a CAGR of almost 20%.
 
Indian ed-tech market size is expected to reach US$ 30 billion by 2031, from US$ 700-800 million in 2021.





Low Public Spending

NEP 2020 called for a spend of 6% of GDP on education, which is double the current allocation of 3%. Current HE spend to be raised from 1% to 2% of GDP

Low Public Spending

NEP 2020 called for a spend of 6% of GDP on education, which is double the current allocation of 3%. Current HE spend to be raised from 1% to 2% of GDP

Inadequate Student Financing

High nominal education interest rates of 10-14% deter students to purse education. Need to bring the nominal rates down to ~4-5%. Also, need to build robust mechanisms to provide grants and scholarships directly to students

Suboptimal Student & Faculty Skills

Many research scholars and postgrad students are not skilled enough to get equipped in the industry or corporate world. Various HEI faculties have inadequate skills and training to implement and deliver the programs effectively

Absence of Private Investment Framework

Complex regulations and procedures surround setting up of a higher education institute. Need to permit all types of organizations to set up and operate schools and HEI’s .University endowment funds are not allowed to invest in alternate investment funds and other asset classes

Inadequate Student Financing

High nominal education interest rates of 10-14% deter students to purse education. Need to bring the nominal rates down to ~4-5%. Also, need to build robust mechanisms to provide grants and scholarships directly to students

Inadequate Infrastructure & Student Research Opportunities

Insufficient technological infrastructure to meet increasing digitalization of higher education and shortfall in proper physical facilities such as labs and adequate classrooms in rural areas. Also, as per QS, India’s scholarly and research output is less than a third of what is produced by countries like UK in cross border research


Challenges for
India to
address





Vision: India has the potential to become a leading player in global higher education ecosystem

From 3% to
6%
GDP spend on Education
From 27% to
50%
Gross Enrollment Ratio by 2035
From 39 million to
73 million
Increase in the number of students by 2035
From 03 institutes to
30-40
Indian HEIs in global top 200 rankings by 2047
From 10-14% to
4-5%
Student Financing - Education interest rates
From 28:11 to
20:1
Student Teacher Ratio


Priority Unlocks

What Institutions and Industry could do now

   
 

Student Centricity

    • Develop multidisciplinary courses to make students ‘industry ready’.
    • Industry must move beyond premier HEI’s and look at engaging with other institutions.
    • Inculcate concepts of vocational education within the curriculum of academic degrees.
    • Develop a socially conscious alumni network and ensure socio economically disadvantaged group students move up the ladder.
    • Establishment of satellite centers and technology development centers within universities.
    • Tie up with education finance NBFCs to provide financial assistance to students.
    • HEIs can use CSR and government funds to build capacity.

Research and Innovation

    • Collaborate with industries and research organizations to impart knowledge on technological advancements and research.
    • Bridge the gap between academic curriculum and industry need.
    • Develop research intensive academic programs.
    • Liaise with Indian research HEIs for business problems, helping industries and incubators gain specialist knowledge.
    • Have a dedicated “outreach resource” which engages with industries to understand their R&D needs & explore possible ways to collaborate.
    • Top 100 HEIs, collaborating with industry needs for research support and collaboration with incubators on campus.

Faculty development

    • SOP for recruitment of faculties; faculty evaluation framework & dedicated annual budget for faculty professional development.
    • Develop low-cost training modules that are flexible and available in different modalities.
    • Promote autonomy to teachers to choose the pedagogy that is most effective for their students.
    • Provide low-cost tech enabled solutions that reduce the administrative burden of faculties.
    • Launch a faculty rotation program within and outside the country to help teachers explore and develop new teaching styles and pedagogies.
    • Faculty training workshops by industry experts to enable faculties to understand and teach job ready skills to students.
 
 

International Mobility

    • Increase access of exchange programs beyond select HEIs.
    • Initiate investment in areas with scope for setting up of IBCs (e.g. GIFT City) on an international scale.
    • Facilitate university partnerships with research collaboration, studen.t exchange programs with the Top 200 HEIs of the world.
    • Develop and provide affordable student housing solutions to facilitate the envisioned student intake ramp up.
    • Set up 30 40 IBCs of leading Indian institutes abroad.
    • Set up supporting social infrastructure i.e. hostels, eateries, etc. in the upcoming education cities.

Digital Learning

    • Develop institute wide SOPs for deploying digital tools; ensure HEI leadership, faculty and students buy in on the use of digital interventions.
    • Ed tech players should build low cost and mass implementable tech tools that can be deployed within the academic & non activities of HEIs
    • Inculcate basic modules on coding, AI/ML, design thinking etc. within curricula across all disciplines.
    • Collaborate with private ed tech companies to integrate and develop new technological capabilities and learning methods.
    • Set up high end in campus tech-based facilities such as AR/VR labs, 3D printing labs, research facilities with high end computing facilities etc.
    • Ed tech players can aim to develop a “one stop shop” student financing portal where easy financing and scholarships are readily available.
   

How policymakers could help

 

Student Centricity

    • Build an ecosystem of flexible credit-based curriculum across the HEI landscape.
    • Allow students the flexibility to undertake MOOCs on ed-tech platforms, credits for which should be recognized by HEIs.
    • Aim to create at least 5-10 safe and thriving student cities for students.

Research and Innovation

    • Promote & fund research-focused HEI’s to increase spend on R&D (a proportion of GDP) to reach 1.5-2%; invest in faculty development program.
    • Develop state-of-the-art physical & digital infrastructure for research facilities.
    • Ensure that policies for improving research output in the country not only focuses on quantity, but quality as well.

Faculty Development

    • Allocate adequate funds and resources to ensure acquisition and retention of talented and qualified personnel in the teaching profession.
    • Develop clear policies of permissible student teacher ratios for HEIs with an aim to bring it to ~20:1.
    • Develop short and focused teaching education programs.
    • Develop and extend the chain of NITTTR (National institute of technical teachers’ training and research).

International Mobility

    • Focus on developing research capabilities and improving perception of Indian HEI’s to place 30-40 Indian HEIs in global top 200 rankings.
    • Attract universities from the “Top 200 category” that offer relevant programs for advancing the needs of the country.
    • Set liberal frameworks and investor friendly regulations to attract IBCs in India.
    • Rebrand the Indian higher education as a “Modern Higher Education Destination with Strong Heritage”.

Digital Learning

    • Allocate US$ 1.5 billion funding to develop digital infrastructure within central and state government run HEIs.
    • Partner with various ed-tech players to develop a national level content library that will include high quality e-courses for all discipline.
    • Democratize quality private higher education.
    • Develop a fully digital university with high quality faculty to provide academia as well as vocational degree programs.


Initiative by
Contact us
FICCI
Federation House
Tansen Marg, New Delhi 110001
Ph: 91-11-23738760-70
Email: ficci@ficci.com
Stay connected