Higher Education – RUSA, NIRF, HEFA, etc.

Higher Education – RUSA, NIRF, HEFA, etc.

With Open Book Exams, India goes back to its traditional roots — and closer to being a vishwaguru

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: National Education Policy (NEP)

Mains level: benefits and challenges of open-book exams

 

As CBSE Proposes Open Book Exams For Classes 9-12, Parents Express Concern

Central Idea:

The article discusses the recent reforms in India’s education system, particularly the introduction of open-book exams by the CBSE and the shift towards a more holistic approach to learning as outlined in the National Education Policy (NEP) of 2022. It reflects on the historical origins of education in India, the impact of the pandemic on traditional learning methods, and the need for a more dynamic and flexible educational framework.

 

Key Highlights:

  • Historical perspective on education in India, tracing back to ancient gurukuls and traditional learning methodologies.
  • The influence of colonial education policies and the subsequent need for modernization.
  • Challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the limitations of traditional classroom-based learning and the disparities in access to education.
  • The National Education Policy of 2022 and its emphasis on holistic development and a more flexible curriculum.
  • Introduction of open-book exams and biannual examinations by the CBSE as part of efforts to reform the examination-oriented approach and promote continuous assessment.

 

Key Challenges:

  • Mindset shift required among educators, students, and parents to adapt to new learning methodologies and assessment formats.
  • Ensuring equitable access to education and technology, especially for students from marginalized communities.
  • Overcoming resistance to change and traditional beliefs about the value of memorization-based exams.
  • Implementation challenges, including training of teachers, development of appropriate study materials, and assessment methods for open-book exams.
  • Balancing the need for continuous assessment with the demands of a standardized examination system.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana (PMUY) - Apply Online Now

 

Main Terms:

  • Open-book exams
  • Holistic development
  • National Education Policy (NEP)
  • Gurukuls
  • Continuous assessment
  • Colonial education
  • Biannual examinations

 

Important Phrases:

  • “Paradigm shift in education”
  • “Dynamic and flexible educational framework”
  • “Holistic learning approach”
  • “Continuous assessment over memorization”
  • “Equitable access to education”
  • “Adapting to new learning methodologies”
  • “Overcoming resistance to change”

 

Quotes:

  • “The journey of education is an ever-evolving one.”
  • “Change while staying true to the essence of holistic learning.”
  • “Reclaiming the honour of being a ‘vishwaguru.'”

 

Anecdotes:

  • The contrast between traditional gurukuls and modern-day classrooms.
  • Personal experiences of students navigating the challenges of the pandemic and adapting to online learning.

 

Useful Statements:

  • “The pandemic revealed the limitations of traditional classroom-based learning.”
  • “The NEP emphasizes a shift towards holistic development and flexible learning methodologies.”
  • “Open-book exams offer students a chance for continuous assessment and learning from mistakes.”

 

Examples and References:

  • Examples of successful implementation of open-book exams in other educational systems.
  • Reference to the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) report on learning outcomes during the pandemic.

 

Facts and Data:

  • Introduction of open-book exams and biannual examinations by the CBSE.
  • Statistics on learning outcomes and access to education during the pandemic from the UDISE report.

 

Critical Analysis:

  • Evaluation of the benefits and challenges of open-book exams in promoting critical thinking and reducing exam-related stress.
  • Discussion on the need for ongoing teacher training and infrastructure development to support the implementation of new educational policies.

 

Way Forward:

  • Emphasize the importance of adapting to changing educational paradigms while preserving the essence of traditional learning.
  • Invest in teacher training, technology infrastructure, and curriculum development to support holistic education.
  • Foster collaboration between educators, policymakers, and communities to ensure equitable access to quality education for all students.

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A ruling that gives primary school teaching a new slate

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Teacher Eligibility Test (TET)

Mains level: discrepancy between qualifications and the requirements of primary education

Bratya Basu | Teachers' Eligibility Test exam: Education minister trashes report of question paper leak - Telegraph India

Central Idea:

The central idea of the article revolves around the recent Supreme Court ruling in India, which upheld the necessity of specialized qualifications for primary school teaching, emphasizing the significance of Diploma in Education (DEd), Diploma in Elementary Education (DElEd), or Bachelor of Elementary Education (BElEd) degrees over Bachelor of Education (B.Ed). The article highlights the implications of this decision on recruitment policies and the quality of primary education in the country.

Key Highlights:

  • Different Requirements for Primary Teaching: Teaching young children in primary grades requires specialized skills in foundational literacy and numeracy, which cannot be adequately addressed by the B.Ed degree, designed for teaching older students. The Right to Education Act underscores the importance of appropriate qualifications for primary school teachers.
  • Discrepancies in Qualifications: Despite regulations, there are discrepancies in the qualifications of primary school teachers, with a significant portion holding B.Ed degrees instead of the required DEd, DElEd, or BElEd qualifications.
  • Challenges in Quality: The quality of teacher education programs varies, with government-funded institutions generally performing better than self-financed ones. Concerns exist regarding low mean scores, especially in mathematics, indicating a need for improvement in pedagogical content knowledge.
  • Government Support and Innovation: There is a call for government support and innovation in primary teacher education, including the expansion of successful programs like BElEd and the Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP).

Key Challenges:

  • Discrepancies in Qualifications: The prevalence of B.Ed holders in primary teaching roles highlights the challenge of aligning qualifications with the specific requirements of primary education.
  • Quality Disparities: Disparities in the quality of teacher education programs, particularly between government-funded and self-financed institutions, pose a challenge to ensuring consistently high standards of teacher preparation.
  • Limited Government Focus: The article criticizes the government’s focus on higher education faculty development rather than primary teacher preparation, potentially neglecting the crucial foundation of education.

Main Terms:

  • Bachelor of Education (B.Ed)
  • Diploma in Education (DEd)
  • Diploma in Elementary Education (DElEd)
  • Bachelor of Elementary Education (BElEd)
  • Right to Education Act
  • Teacher Eligibility Test (TET)
  • District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs)
  • Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP)

Important Phrases:

  • Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN)
  • Teacher Eligibility Test (TET)
  • District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs)
  • Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP)
  • Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers & Teaching

Quotes:

  • “Teaching these competencies has to be learnt by prospective primary schoolteachers, through specialized teacher education for this stage.”
  • “Almost all of us have forgotten how we learned to read or manipulate the number system.”
  • “Better students seem to prefer government-funded institutions.”
  • “The decision to become a teacher can also occur at different stages.”

Examples and References:

  • The State of Teachers, Teaching and Teacher Education Report.
  • Analysis of Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) data from a particular state.
  • The success of programs like BElEd offered by Delhi University.
  • The announcement of the Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) and the Scheme of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers & Teaching.

Facts and Data:

  • 90% of teachers have some form of professional qualification.
  • Only 46% of teachers teaching primary grades have the DElEd (or equivalent) qualification.
  • 22% of primary school teachers in private schools have B.Ed degrees.
  • 4% of students enrolled in DElEd already have a B.Ed.
  • Only 14% of qualifying candidates in TET had a mean score of 60% or above.

Critical Analysis:

The article effectively critiques the discrepancy between qualifications and the requirements of primary education, highlighting the need for specialized training in foundational literacy and numeracy. It addresses disparities in teacher education quality and government focus, advocating for greater attention to primary teacher preparation. However, it could delve further into the socio-economic factors influencing qualification choices and explore potential solutions in more detail.

Way Forward:

  • Strengthening government support for primary teacher education programs.
  • Expanding successful models like BElEd and ITEP.
  • Addressing quality disparities between institutions.
  • Implementing section-wise qualifying cut-off marks in TET.
  • Providing pathways for professional development for B.Ed holders aiming for primary teaching roles.

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Too many IITs, unrealistic expectations

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: IITs and other premier institutions

Mains level: Read the attached story

Introduction  

  • New Campus: IIT Madras Zanzibar, inaugurated recently, gained widespread attention following a mention by Amitabh Bachchan on the game show Kaun Banega Crorepati.
  • Significance: The establishment of an IIT campus outside India raises questions about the implications and challenges of operating an IIT beyond national borders.

Historical Context of IITs

  • Founding Principles: The IITs were established with a focus on contributing to the nation’s human resource development, emphasizing their Indian identity and commitment to national service.
  • Technological Geography: Envisioned as institutions of “Indianness,” the IITs symbolize a united India driven by technological advancements, as outlined in the Nalini Ranjan Sarkar Committee’s Report.

Expansion of the IIT System

  • Origins and Growth: Initially comprising five institutions, the IIT system expanded over the years to include 23 IITs across the country, with varying degrees of foreign collaboration.
  • Evolution: While initially focused on technology and engineering, the IITs have evolved to include humanities and social sciences, aligning with the objectives outlined in the National Education Policy of 2020.

Challenges and Realities

  • Institutional Characteristics: The IITs differ from traditional universities in terms of discipline range and size, primarily focusing on undergraduate education and gradually incorporating post-graduate offerings.
  • Academic Rigor and Selectivity: Renowned for their academic excellence, the IITs attract top-tier students and faculty, maintaining rigorous standards despite challenges in faculty recruitment and retention.
  • Regional Presence: The proliferation of IITs across the country, including in smaller towns, raises concerns about maintaining quality standards and infrastructure outside major urban centers.

Adapting to Changing Realities

  • Quality Assurance: Ensuring the quality and relevance of IIT education requires strategic planning and resource allocation, particularly in the face of faculty shortages and infrastructure constraints.
  • Internationalization Efforts: Collaborative initiatives with global universities and enhanced recruitment of foreign faculty can bolster the international reputation and competitiveness of the IITs.
  • Funding and Sustainability: Sustainable funding models, both from government sources and alumni philanthropy, are crucial to preserving the integrity and excellence of the IITs amidst expansion and globalization.

Recommendations for the Future

  • Strategic Focus: Prioritizing excellence over expansion, consolidating resources, and strategically locating IIT campuses can ensure sustained quality and relevance.
  • Global Engagement: Strengthening international collaborations and student exchange programs while maintaining the essence of Indian identity can enhance the global standing of the IITs.
  • Sustainable Growth: Balancing growth with quality assurance measures and fostering regional connections can address challenges associated with overexpansion and ensure long-term sustainability.

Conclusion

  • Preserving Excellence: Upholding the legacy of academic excellence and national service while adapting to changing educational landscapes is essential for the continued success of the IITs.
  • Strategic Vision: A strategic and sustainable approach to growth, internationalization, and quality assurance is imperative to maintain the IITs’ position as India’s premier institutions of higher learning.
  • Collective Responsibility: Collaboration among stakeholders, including government, academia, industry, and alumni, is crucial to safeguarding the integrity and reputation of the IITs for generations to come.

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Should coaching be restricted to those above 16 years?

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Na

Mains level: India's growing private coaching industry has faced numerous challenges, including student suicides

Ministry of Education issues guidelines for coaching centres; prohibits  intake of students below 16 years - The Hindu

 

Central Idea:
The discussion between Vimala Ramachandran and Arjun Mohan, moderated by Priscilla Jebaraj, revolves around the Ministry of Education’s new guidelines for private coaching centres in India, particularly focusing on the restriction of enrolment to those above 16 years of age. The conversation highlights the impact of the rule, challenges within the education system, the role of coaching centers, and the importance of mental health interventions.

 

Key Highlights:

  • The Ministry’s guidelines aim to alleviate the pressure on young children caused by the private coaching industry and restore their childhood by restricting enrolment to those above 16 years old.
  • The discussion underscores the high academic pressure faced by students and the necessity for foundational teaching, which is often lacking in the school system.
  • Both speakers acknowledge the failures within the education system, including rote-oriented teaching and lack of conceptual understanding.
  • Coaching centers are seen as filling the gaps left by the education system, catering to students’ needs from various backgrounds and academic levels.
  • The conversation also delves into the challenges of implementing the guidelines effectively, especially considering the involvement of state governments and the need for clear regulations.
  • Mental health interventions are recognized as crucial in reducing pressure on students, but systemic changes and public awareness campaigns are deemed essential for long-term impact.
  • The role of parents in understanding and alleviating the pressure on their children is emphasized, alongside the responsibility of coaching centers in managing expectations and providing quality education.
  • The issue of false advertising by some coaching institutes is acknowledged, along with the necessity for transparency and accountability in the industry.

 

Key Challenges:

  • Lack of foundational teaching and conceptual understanding in the school system.
  • Difficulty in implementing and enforcing the Ministry’s guidelines effectively, particularly at the state level.
  • The pervasive academic pressure on students driven by competition and societal expectations.
  • Insufficient mental health support for students facing stress and anxiety.
  • Challenges in regulating the coaching industry to ensure transparency and accountability.

 

Main Terms:

  • Ministry of Education
  • Private coaching industry
  • Enrolment restrictions
  • Rote-oriented teaching
  • Foundation programs
  • Competitive exams (e.g., JEE, NEET)
  • Shadow education system
  • Consumer Protection Act

 

Important Phrases:

  • “Restoring childhood”
  • “Rote-oriented exam system”
  • “Shadow education system”
  • “Competitive exams pressure”
  • “False and misleading advertising”
  • “Transparency and accountability”
  • “Mental health interventions”

 

Quotes:

  • “The load on today’s children is high.”
  • “Coaching helps students crack ultra-competitive exams.”
  • “Misleading advertising happens in every industry.”
  • “The pressure is because of competition.”
  • “Education is a service industry.”

 

Useful Statements:

  • “The Ministry’s guidelines aim to alleviate the pressure on young children by restricting enrolment to those above 16 years old.”
  • “Coaching centers fill the gaps left by the education system, catering to students’ needs from various backgrounds and academic levels.”
  • “Mental health interventions are crucial in reducing pressure on students, but systemic changes and public awareness campaigns are essential for long-term impact.”
  • “The role of parents in understanding and alleviating the pressure on their children is emphasized.”

 

Examples and References:

  • Student suicides in Kota, Rajasthan.
  • Misleading advertising by some coaching institutes.
  • Lack of conceptual understanding in the school system.

 

Facts and Data:

  • India’s growing private coaching industry has faced numerous challenges, including student suicides, fire incidents, and complaints of poor infrastructure and teaching.
  • Research shows higher levels of tuition and coaching in states with higher levels of government school systems.

 

Critical Analysis:
The discussion highlights systemic issues within the education system, the role of coaching centers, and the challenges in implementing regulatory measures effectively. It emphasizes the need for a holistic approach, including changes in pedagogy, parental involvement, mental health support, and regulatory oversight.

 

Way Forward:

  • Implement the Ministry’s guidelines effectively, with clear regulations and oversight mechanisms.
  • Reform the education system to focus on conceptual understanding and reduce reliance on rote learning.
  • Increase awareness about mental health issues and provide adequate support services for students.
  • Encourage parental involvement in understanding and alleviating academic pressure on children.
  • Ensure transparency and accountability in the coaching industry to protect students from false advertising and unethical practices

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Tackling Unfair Means in Public Examinations: The 2024 Bill

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NA

Mains level: Unfair Means in Public Exams

cheating

Introduction

  • The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, introduced in Lok Sabha, seeks to combat “unfair means” in public examinations and enhance transparency and credibility in the examination system.
  • This comprehensive legislation addresses various aspects of unfair practices in public exams and outlines stringent penalties for violations.

“Unfair Means” in Examinations

  • Enumerating Offenses: Section 3 of the Bill outlines at least 15 actions that constitute “unfair means” in public examinations, primarily for monetary or wrongful gain.
  • Examples: These actions include question paper leaks, unauthorized access to question papers or answer sheets, tampering with answer sheets, providing unauthorized solutions to questions, and conducting fake examinations.

Scope of “Public Examinations”

  • Defining Public Examinations: Under Section 2(k), a “public examination” encompasses any examination conducted by designated “public examination authorities” listed in the Bill’s Schedule or notified by the Central Government.
  • Designated Authorities: The Schedule includes entities like UPSC, SSC, RRBs, IBPS, and NTA, responsible for various national-level examinations.
  • Central Government’s Authority: Ministries and Departments of the Central Government, along with their attached and subordinate offices for staff recruitment, fall under the Bill’s purview.

Penalties for Violations

  • Stringent Measures: Section 9 stipulates that offenses are cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable.
  • Cognizable Offenses: Authorities can arrest individuals without a warrant.
  • Non-Bailable: Bail is not a matter of right and is subject to a magistrate’s discretion.
  • Non-Compoundable: Complainants cannot withdraw the case, necessitating a trial.

Punishments

  • Individual Offenders: Violators may face imprisonment ranging from three to five years and fines of up to Rs 10 lakh.
  • Additional Penalty: Failure to pay the fine can result in additional imprisonment, as per the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
  • Service Providers: Those providing support for examination conduct can be fined up to Rs 1 crore, along with other penalties.
  • Organized Paper Leaks: In cases of organized paper leaks constituting “organized crime,” offenders may face imprisonment for a minimum of five years, extendable up to ten years, and a fine not less than one crore rupees.

Rationale Behind the Bill

  • Addressing Rampant Paper Leaks: Numerous cases of question paper leaks in recruitment exams nationwide have disrupted the hiring process and affected millions of applicants.
  • Need for Specific Legislation: The absence of a substantive law to address unfair practices in public examinations necessitated a comprehensive central legislation.
  • Objectives: The Bill aims to ensure transparency, fairness, and credibility in public examinations while deterring individuals and entities exploiting vulnerabilities in the system for wrongful gains.
  • Model Draft for States: The Bill is intended to serve as a model for states to adopt at their discretion, assisting them in preventing disruptions in their state-level public examinations.

Conclusion

  • This legislation represents a significant step toward safeguarding the integrity of public examinations in India.
  • By establishing stringent penalties for unfair practices and addressing the issue of paper leaks, the legislation seeks to reassure candidates that their sincere efforts will be duly rewarded and their future secured.
  • Moreover, the Bill’s potential to serve as a model for state-level legislation enhances its impact in curbing exam-related malpractices.

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Stricter Rules for Indian Students Pursuing Higher Education Abroad

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NA

Mains level: Higher education in foreign countries

Introduction

  • Indian students aspiring to pursue higher education in English-speaking countries, notably Canada and the U.K., are facing increased difficulties due to tightening immigration rules.
  • This shift in regulations is affecting various aspects of the admission process and has raised concerns among higher education experts.

Recent Policy Changes

[1] Canada’s Revised Requirements:

  • The Canadian government, responding to political tensions with India, revised its requirements in December 2023 to enhance the protection of international students.
  • Notable Changes:
    1. The Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) amount, necessary for visa applications, increased from 10,000 Canadian dollars (approximately ₹6.15 lakh) to 20,635 Canadian dollars (around ₹12.7 lakh).
    2. Canada has limited the total number of study permits or student visas to be issued to 3.6 lakh, down from nearly four lakh.

[2] UK’s Restriction on Dependant Family:

  • Starting in 2024, international students in the UK will be prohibited from bringing dependant family members while pursuing their studies.

[3] Increased GIC Requirements in Other Countries:

  • Countries like Germany and Australia have steadily raised their GIC amounts by around 10% annually, with Germany requiring 11,208 euros (₹10 lakh) for visa applications as of May 2023.

Impact on Students

  • Financial Challenges: The substantial increase in GIC requirements, such as in Canada, poses financial challenges for Indian students, making it difficult to afford living expenses in expensive countries.
  • Reduced Visa Accessibility: Canada’s reduction in the number of study permits affects Indian students’ access to higher education in the country.
  • Change in Study Choices: The stricter rules have led to changes in study preferences, with some students considering countries like Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the Netherlands, Finland, Taiwan, and Israel as alternative destinations for their education.

Mixed Implications

  • Addressing Diploma Mills: Canada’s measures are aimed at curbing the issue of ‘diploma mills,’ improving the quality of education, and discouraging unethical practices by agents.
  • Impact on Bachelor’s Degree Seekers: While master’s program students benefit from eased norms, those pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Canada face uncertainty and delays in their visa applications.

Conclusion

  • The recent changes in admission rules for Indian students seeking higher education abroad highlight the evolving landscape of international education.
  • These alterations necessitate adaptability among students and have sparked shifts in study preferences towards countries with more accessible pathways

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Micro-credentials, the next chapter in higher education

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: National Credit Framework (NCrF)

Mains level: more active role of Higher Education Institutes (HEIs)

Higher Education In India | 06 Apr 2020

Central Idea:

The article advocates for a more active role of Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) in India to enhance students’ employability by incorporating micro-credentials, short-duration learning activities validating specific skills. It emphasizes the need to bridge the gap between traditional education and current job requirements, highlighting the flexibility and accessibility of micro-credentials. The evolving hiring practices, prioritizing skills over degrees, further reinforce the significance of these short-duration learning programs.

Key Highlights:

  • Micro-Credentials Definition: Short-duration learning activities proving specific outcomes, offering flexibility for learners.
  • Changing Hiring Practices: Shift towards prioritizing skills over degrees in recruitment.
  • Industry Players: Various organizations and universities globally providing micro-credentials.
  • National Credit Framework (NCrF): In India, a framework outlining learning outcomes and credits for progression.
  • Quality Benchmarking: The importance of ensuring consistent quality standards and regulations for micro-credentials.
  • Trust Building: Reliable assessment methods critical to fostering trust in micro-credentials.
  • Potential Impact: Micro-credentials as a valuable addition to traditional education, enhancing students’ skills.

Key Challenges:

  • Quality Assurance: Ensuring consistent quality in micro-credentials to prevent divergence in learning outcomes.
  • Regulation: The need for clear regulations to facilitate recognition and endorsement in workplaces and educational institutes.
  • Assessment Methods: Developing reliable assessment methods critical for establishing trust in micro-credentials.

Key Terms and Phrases:

  • Micro-Credentials: Short-duration learning activities proving specific outcomes.
  • National Credit Framework (NCrF): Framework in India outlining learning outcomes and credits.
  • Just-in-Time Skills: Acquiring skills when needed, addressing the gap between traditional education and current job requirements.

Key Quotes:

  • “Hiring practices are changing, with a tendency to prioritize skills over degrees.”
  • “Micro-credentials are evolving as the new normal in higher education.”

Key Statements:

  • The article asserts the need for HEIs to play a more active role in enhancing students’ employability.
  • Micro-credentials are presented as a disruptive solution to bridge the knowledge gap between traditional education and job requirements.

Key Examples and References:

  • Atingi, Alison.com, Credly, Coursera, edX, FutureLearn, Google, Linkedin, Microsoft, PwC, and Udacity are mentioned as organizations providing micro-credentials.
  • Reference to the National Credit Framework (NCrF) in India as a guideline for learning outcomes and credits.

Key Facts and Data:

  • The National Education Policy 2020 focuses on providing skilled education from school to higher levels.
  • Micro-credentials can be one to five credit short modules, aligning with the NCrF.

Critical Analysis:

The article underscores the evolving nature of education and employment, recognizing the importance of skills over traditional degrees. It emphasizes the potential of micro-credentials in addressing these shifts and encourages collaboration between HEIs and industries.

Way Forward:

  • Collaboration: Encourage collaboration between HEIs and industries for the development of credit-based micro-credentials.
  • Regulation: Establish clear regulations to harmonize micro-credentials with existing academic programs.
  • Quality Assurance: Ensure consistent quality in micro-credentials through reliable assessment methods.
  • Awareness: Raise awareness among students and employers about the value of micro-credentials in enhancing skills and employability.

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Key takeaways from All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE), 2021-22

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: AISHE Survey

Mains level: Read the attached story

Introduction

  • The All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) captures student enrollment across eight levels, including undergraduate, postgraduate, PhD, MPhil, diploma, PG diploma, certificate, and integrated programs.
  • The survey received responses from 10,576 standalone institutions, 42,825 colleges, and 1,162 universities/university-level institutions.

About AISHE

  • AISHE is a report published by the Ministry of Education since 2011.
  • Aim: Portray the status of higher education in the country.
  • Survey covers all institutions in India providing higher education.
  • Data collected on parameters like teachers, student enrollment, programs, exam results, education finance, and infrastructure.
  • Indicators calculated: Institution Density, Gross Enrolment Ratio, Pupil-teacher ratio, Gender Parity Index, Per Student Expenditure.
  • Higher Education defined as education obtained after completing 12 years of schooling or equivalent.

Key Takeaways:

[1] Enrollment Trends: Female Dominance

  • Rising Female Enrollment: The AISHE report reveals a consistent increase in female enrollment in higher education institutions.
  • 2014-15 to 2021-22: Female enrollment grew by 32%, from 1.5 crore in 2014-15 to 2.07 crores in 2021-22. In the last five years, it increased by 18.7% from 1.74 crore in 2017-18.
  • PhD Enrollment Surge: The most significant growth was observed at the PhD level, with 98,636 women enrolled in 2021-22, compared to only 47,717 eight years ago.
  • Proportion of Women: Among the additional 91 lakh students joining higher education in 2021-22 compared to 2014-15, 55% were women. The postgraduate level saw the highest proportion of female students, with 55.4%.

[2] Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) and Gender Parity

  • GER Insights: The estimated GER for the age group 18-23 years in India is 28.4, based on 2011 census data.
  • State-wise GER: States with the highest GER include Chandigarh (64.8%), Puducherry (61.5%), Delhi (49%), and Tamil Nadu (47%).
  • Gender Parity Index (GPI): GPI measures the ratio of female GER to male GER. In 26 states and Union Territories, GER favors women. At the national level, the GPI is 1.01, and for SC and ST categories, it is 1.01 and 0.98, respectively.

[3] Academic Discipline Enrollment

  • UG Enrollment by Discipline: The Bachelor of Arts (BA) program holds the highest enrollment with 1.13 crore students, constituting 34.2% of total undergraduate enrollment. Overall, 3.41 crore students are enrolled in UG programs.
  • UG Discipline Preferences: UG enrollment distribution in 2021-22 is led by Arts (34.2%), followed by Science (14.8%), Commerce (13.3%), and Engineering & Technology (11.8%). BA(Hons) accounts for 6.2%.
  • PG Enrollment: Social science has the highest number of postgraduate students with 10.8 lakh. The Master of Arts (MA) program leads with 20.9 lakh students, constituting 40.7% of total postgraduate enrollment.
  • PhD Discipline: In the PhD category, social sciences rank third after engineering and science. While 52,748 students pursue a PhD in engineering and 45,324 in science, 26,057 opt for PhD in social sciences.

[4] Preference for Government Institutions

  • Government vs. Private: Surprisingly, 73.7% of all students attend government universities, which constitute only 58.6% of all universities.
  • Government Sector Enrollment: State public universities hold the largest share of enrolment, accounting for around 31% of total university enrolment.
  • Private Universities: In terms of numbers, government-owned universities enroll 71.06 lakh students, while privately managed universities enroll 25.32 lakh students. Students show a preference for government educational institutions.

[5] Demographics of Graduates

  • Graduation Statistics: In the 2021-22 academic year, an estimated 1.07 crore students graduated from various programs, with 50.8% being women.
  • Category-wise Graduates: Approximately 35% of graduates belong to Other Backward Classes (OBC), 13% are from Scheduled Caste (SC), and 5.7% are from Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities.
  • Stream-wise Graduation: Arts and social sciences streams exhibit higher graduation rates. At the undergraduate level, BA degrees top the list with 24.16 lakh graduates. MA degrees dominate at the postgraduate level with 7.02 lakh graduates. In PhD programs, science leads with 7,408 graduates, followed by engineering and technology with 6,270 graduates.

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Science Ministry announces first recipients of VAIBHAV Fellowship

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Vaibhav Fellowship Scheme

Mains level: NA

Introduction

  • In a significant move to bolster India’s scientific research ecosystem, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) recently unveiled the first batch of ‘Vaibhav’ fellows.

About Vaibhav Fellowship Scheme

  • The Vaibhav Fellowship, initiated in June 2023, is designed to attract Indian-origin scientists residing abroad for short-term collaborations with Indian institutions.
  • These collaborations aim to foster research excellence and innovation by tapping into the expertise of Indian scientists from around the world.

Benefits for Vaibhav Fellows

  • Collaboration: Fellows commit to spending a month or two annually in India for a maximum of three years, collaborating with host Indian institutions.
  • Financial Support: Each selected Vaibhav fellow receives a stipend of ₹4 lakh per month, along with accommodation during their stay in India.
  • Renowned Host Institutions: Host institutions encompass esteemed names like the IISc, IIT, and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, among others.
  • Research Grant: The host institutions are provided with a research grant to support collaborative projects and technology start-ups initiated by the fellows.
  • Long-term Research Connections: Fellows are encouraged to build enduring research connections with host institutions, collaborate with faculty, and bring fresh ideas to the field, contributing to Indian university and research settings.

Vaibhav vs. Vajra: Distinct Objectives

  • Vaibhav Fellowship Scheme: Primarily targets the Indian diaspora for collaborations, with a focus on translational outcomes in critical areas of scientific research.
  • Vajra Scheme: Open to all foreign scientists, it promotes short-term visits by foreign faculty to Indian institutions, offering a broader platform for international collaboration.

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Better use of technology needs free access

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: ASER 2023

Mains level: ASER 2023 report underscores the importance of smartphone ownership in shaping deeper access and skills, with a focus on gender disparities

ASER 2023: Examining Education Beyond Basics

 

Central Idea:

The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023 highlights the widespread access to smartphones among 14-18 year olds in India, emphasizing the ownership gap between boys and girls. While most youth can use smartphones for basic tasks, ownership significantly impacts the depth of access to information and services. The study suggests that motivation, often fueled by entertainment during the COVID-19 pandemic, drives learning technology skills. Gender disparities in smartphone ownership contribute to variations in online participation, especially in certain services. Access to devices without constraints promotes self-learning, as evidenced by an earlier Pratham experiment.

 

Key Highlights:

  • Widespread Smartphone Access: ASER 2023 reveals that 92% of surveyed 14-18 year olds in India know how to use a smartphone.
  • Ownership Disparities: Nearly half of boys own smartphones, while only 20% of girls possess one.
  • Impact on Skills: Ownership influences skills like using social media safety features, indicating deeper access and understanding.
  • Motivation and Learning: Motivation, driven by entertainment and the COVID-19 pandemic, plays a crucial role in acquiring smartphone skills.
  • Gender Disparities: Girls may show less participation in certain online activities, potentially due to social obstacles rather than technological barriers.
  • Educational Use: Regardless of ownership and gender, around 70% of youth report using phones for studies, but the impact on academic learning is unclear.

 

Key Challenges:

  • Gender Disparities in Ownership: The significant gap in smartphone ownership between boys and girls may limit girls’ access to certain online services and skills.
  • Social Obstacles: Girls may face social barriers that affect their participation in online activities and use of certain features.
  • Impact on Learning: The ASER 2023 report does not conclusively determine the impact of smartphone use on academic learning and performance.
  • Inequality in Skills: Ownership disparities contribute to differences in skill levels, particularly in tasks requiring ownership, such as sharing videos.

 

Key Terms and Phrases:

  • Smartphone Skills: Refers to the ability to effectively use and navigate smartphones, encompassing various tasks and applications.
  • Gender Disparities: Differences between boys and girls in terms of smartphone ownership, access, and skills.
  • Social Obstacles: Challenges related to societal norms and expectations that may hinder certain groups’ access to and use of technology.

 

Key Quotes:

  • “Access to a common smartphone can be described as basic, but owning a smart device is necessary for deeper access to information and services.”
  • “Motivation to use and learn new technology came during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
  • “Girls seem to show less participation than boys in certain online services, which may have more to do with social obstacles than technological barriers.”

 

Key Examples and References:

  • ASER 2023 Report: Provides comprehensive data on smartphone access, ownership, and skills among 14-18 year olds in India.
  • Pratham Experiment (2017): Demonstrates how children, given unfettered access to technology, can learn and adopt digital skills on their own.

 

Key Facts and Data:

  • 92% of surveyed 14-18 year olds in India know how to use a smartphone.
  • Nearly half of boys and 20% of girls own smartphones.
  • Nearly 70% of youth, both boys and girls, report using phones for studies.

 

Critical Analysis:

  • Ownership Impact: Ownership of smartphones significantly influences the depth of access to information and services.
  • Motivation and Learning: Motivation, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, plays a pivotal role in driving self-learning of technology skills.
  • Gender Disparities: While access is widespread, gender disparities in ownership contribute to variations in online participation.

 

Way Forward:

  • Addressing Gender Disparities: Initiatives to bridge the gender gap in smartphone ownership and access.
  • Promoting Digital Literacy: Educational programs emphasizing digital literacy, especially for girls, to overcome social obstacles.
  • Integration into Education: Exploring ways to integrate smartphones into education to enhance learning opportunities.
  • Understanding Impact: Further research to understand the impact of smartphone use on academic learning and performance.

 

In summary, the ASER 2023 report underscores the importance of smartphone ownership in shaping deeper access and skills, with a focus on gender disparities. Motivation and overcoming social obstacles are crucial in promoting self-learning, and initiatives to address ownership gaps can contribute to a more inclusive digital landscape

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The need to examine the examination system

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Na

Mains level: critical examination of the challenges in the current education system

The key reforms under India's new education policy | Mint

Central Idea:

The article discusses the challenges and inadequacies in the current examination systems of educational institutions in India. It emphasizes the need for transparency, oversight, and credibility in assessments to ensure that degrees and certificates truly reflect students’ learning achievements.

Key Highlights:

  • Credibility of the examination system is crucial for maintaining educational standards.
  • Decentralized systems in India with numerous universities and boards face challenges in maintaining transparency and standardization.
  • The article criticizes the focus on memory-based testing, inflation of marks, and a lack of emphasis on higher-order thinking skills.
  • Employers often rely on their own assessments rather than institutional certifications.
  • The article suggests the use of technology, external audits, and adherence to minimum standards to improve assessment processes.

Key Challenges:

  • Lack of transparency and oversight in examination processes.
  • Inconsistency and inadequacies in syllabi and teaching methods.
  • Confidentiality leading to malpractices and scandals in examinations.
  • The need for balancing autonomy with proper oversight in educational institutions.
  • Negligence, fraud, and quality issues in assessment processes.

Key Terms:

  • Decentralized system
  • Transparency
  • Oversight
  • Standardization
  • Higher-order thinking
  • Autonomy
  • External audit
  • Credibility
  • Minimum standards
  • Technology in assessment

Key Phrases:

  • “Credibility of assessment and standard of education can be ensured only through transparency in teaching and assessment.”
  • “Inconsistency of the examination system is cause for concern.”
  • “Confidentiality is also a cause for scandals in examinations.”
  • “Transparency and proper oversight take lead roles in the examination systems.”

Key Quotes:

  • “A credible examination system is one of the key ways to improve the standard of education.”
  • “The employability of a graduate depends on higher order learning, while examination boards do not certify students on those skills.”
  • “The higher education regulator truly believes in decentralization through autonomous institutions without oversight.”

Key Examples and References:

  • Instances of question papers with language errors, conceptualization issues, and irrelevant questions.
  • Employers disregarding institutional certifications in favor of their own assessments.
  • The coaching market for competitive examinations and skilling due to a lack of faith in institutional certifications.

Key Facts:

  • India has over 1,100 universities, 50,000 affiliated colleges, and 60 school boards.
  • Total enrollment in higher education is 40.15 million students.
  • Employers conduct rigorous assessments of candidates’ academic achievements and suitability for employment.

Critical Analysis:

The article provides a critical examination of the challenges in the current education system, emphasizing the need for transparency, oversight, and credibility. It highlights the disconnect between institutional certifications and actual learning outcomes, calling for a shift towards higher-order thinking skills.

Way Forward:

  • Emphasize transparency in teaching and assessment processes.
  • Implement external audits of assessment systems to ensure reliability and consistency.
  • Balance autonomy with proper oversight in educational institutions.
  • Use technology to standardize question paper setting and evaluation processes.
  • Codify and address issues of negligence, fraud, and academic inadequacies in assessments.
  • Release audit reports regularly to assess examination boards in terms of transparency, reliability, and consistency.

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Making public education inclusive

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Odisha Adarsha Vidyalayas

Mains level: education quality in government schools

Practising inclusive education in India: Taking the agenda forward –  Cambridge Network for Disability and Education Research (CaNDER). © All  Rights Reserved.

Central idea

Odisha revolutionizes public education with initiatives like Odisha Adarsha Vidyalayas, ‘Mo School’ Abhiyan, and 5T-High School Transformation, aiming to surpass private schools in quality. This results in a substantial shift, with 81% of students currently enrolled in government schools. The state’s commitment to inclusivity, alumni engagement, and technology integration drives equality and excellence in education.

Key Highlights:

  • Revolutionary Reforms: Odisha’s education sector undergoes revolutionary changes through initiatives like Odisha Adarsha Vidyalayas, ‘Mo School’ Abhiyan, and 5T-High School Transformation Programme.
  • Recognition and Ranking: OAVs receive accolades, with one ranked the fifth-best in government-run day schools, emphasizing qualitative English-medium education for rural and semi-urban areas.
  • Inclusive Enrollment: OAVs ensure representation of marginalized groups, leading to a higher enrollment of female students. They also rescue and prepare vulnerable children for OAV entrance exams.
  • Alumni Engagement: Mo School Abhiyan connects schools with alumni, promoting mentorship, collaboration, and financial contributions, creating a significant impact on infrastructure and engagement.

Key Phrases:

  • Quality Education: Odisha’s focus on continuous teacher education, technology integration, and maintaining a favorable teacher-pupil ratio highlights its commitment to providing quality education.
  • Alumni Community: Mo School Abhiyan leverages the alumni community to contribute to school development, creating a unique model of collaborative efforts for educational improvement.
  • 5T-High School Transformation: The 5T concept drives the High School Transformation Programme, emphasizing transparency, technology, teamwork, and timeliness for comprehensive educational changes.

UNFPA India | Empowering Adolescents in Odisha through Life Skills Education

Analysis:

Odisha’s proactive approach to education, combining infrastructure development, alumni engagement, and technology integration, has led to a significant shift in enrollment patterns, with a majority of students now choosing government schools.

Key Data:

  • Enrollment Shift: In 2019-20, private schools had 16,05,000 students; in 2021-22, this number reduced to 14,62,000, indicating a shift towards government schools.
  • Financial Contributions: More than 5.5 lakh contributors, including ministers, MPs, and professionals, have contributed over ₹797 crore in 40,855 schools under the School Adoption Programme.

Key Terms:

  • Odisha Adarsha Vidyalayas (OAV): A model aiming to bridge the rural-urban education gap by providing qualitative and affordable English-medium education.
  • Mo School Abhiyan: An initiative connecting schools with alumni, promoting collaboration, contributions, and celebrating successes to improve government schools.
  • 5T-High School Transformation Programme: Rooted in transparency, technology, teamwork, and timeliness, focusing on technological advancements and holistic development in high schools.

Challenges:

  • Parental Trust: Historical perceptions of poor education quality in government schools challenge rebuilding parental trust.
  • Affordability Concerns: Despite reforms, concerns persist regarding the economic accessibility of quality education in government schools.
  • Perceived Quality Gap: Overcoming the perception gap regarding the quality of education in government schools compared to private counterparts.
  • Economic Accessibility: Addressing financial barriers for families, ensuring that quality education remains economically accessible.

Way Forward:

  • Continuous Alumni Engagement: Strengthen collaborations between schools and alumni to maintain a sustained focus on improvement. Explore mentorship programs and alumni-led initiatives for ongoing school development.
  • Enhancing Perceived Value: Implement awareness campaigns highlighting the positive changes in government schools. Showcase success stories and academic achievements to alter perceptions.
  • Financial Inclusivity: Introduce scholarship programs or financial aid to address economic barriers. Collaborate with governmental and non-governmental organizations to provide educational subsidies.
  • Technology Integration: Expand technological resources in schools for interactive and enhanced learning experiences. Introduce digital literacy programs to prepare students for a technology-driven future.

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Shortage of Doctors in India

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Medical Education initiatives and latest updates

Mains level: Medical Education reforms, challenges and solutions

What’s the news?

  • The demand for doctors exceeds the supply in large parts of India.

Central idea

  • The demand for doctors in India consistently surpasses the available supply, while the pursuit of medical education often outstrips the number of seats available. Reducing this demand-supply gap in medical education has proven to be a challenging endeavor, with potential implications for the availability of healthcare professionals.

Expanding Medical Education

  • Over the last decade, India has made significant strides in expanding medical colleges and seats at both undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) levels.
  • UG seats have nearly tripled, PG seats have almost quadrupled, and the number of medical colleges has doubled since 2010-11.
  • Despite this expansion, in 2021, India had only 4.1 medical graduates per lakh population, falling behind countries like China, Israel, the US, and the UK.

Challenges in scaling

  • Regulatory and Financial Constraints: On average, Indian medical colleges offer 153 UG seats per college, significantly fewer than Eastern Europe (220) and China (930). This discrepancy is a result of regulatory and financial constraints.
  • Infrastructure Limitations: Expanding UG seats in a public medical college from 150 to 200 required additional resources, such as a larger library, increased daily outpatient department (OPD) footfalls, and more nursing staff, as per the draft guidelines for establishing new medical colleges in 2015.
  • Quality Maintenance: Concerns that disproportionate scaling can impact the quality of pedagogy and, subsequently, the quality of doctors produced
  • Faculty Shortages: Both public and private colleges face teaching faculty shortages, despite better remuneration structures in public colleges. Scaling up can further strain the already limited pool of qualified teaching staff.
  • Economic Viability for Private Colleges: Investing in scaling can be risky for private colleges if seats remain vacant and costs aren’t recovered. This can lead to high capitation fees and price distortions.
  • Curriculum Limitations: The nature of the competency-based curriculum dictates constraints on scalability. For example, there can’t be more than 15 students surrounding a bed or in any other practical class.
  • Equity Concerns: The goal of producing doctors evenly across regions might not result in efficient production. Migration of doctors from states with higher production can be an issue.

Value addition box

Innovations from the US

  • India’s competency-based curriculum is akin to that of the US, which has successfully scaled up the production of doctors by optimizing resource utilization.
  • Innovations, such as involving practicing MD doctors as mentors for medical students and integrating interprofessional education (IPE) into the curriculum, have enhanced the quality of education and reduced the faculty requirements.

Quality vs. Scale vs. Equity: A triad of challenges

  • Quality:
  • Ensuring the highest standards of medical education, which translates into competent, skilled, and ethical practitioners.
  • The competency-based curriculum in India requires small-group teaching to ensure a thorough understanding and hands-on experience for students.
  • There’s a concern that rapid scaling could lead to a decline in the quality of education and subsequently the quality of doctors produced.
  • Quality assurance becomes even more critical given the life-and-death implications of medical practice.
  • Scale:
  • Increasing the number of medical graduates to meet the country’s healthcare needs.
  • Despite the expansion of UG and PG seats in medical colleges, the demand-supply gap persists.
  • Regulatory, infrastructural, and financial constraints pose significant challenges in scaling up.
  • Equity:
  • The National Medical Commission prioritizes an even distribution of medical colleges and seats. They aim for localized doctor production to ensure different regions have adequate healthcare.
  • Policies such as the cap on UG seats and the location restrictions of new colleges highlight this focus.
  • However, this might not lead to efficient doctor production due to phenomena like interstate migration of doctors.

Way forward

  • Regulatory Reforms: Streamline regulations to facilitate the establishment and expansion of medical colleges while ensuring quality standards.
  • Faculty Development: Prioritize investment in faculty development programs to address shortages and retain experienced educators.
  • Technology Integration: Embrace technology to enhance scalability and access to medical education, including e-learning and telemedicine tools.
  • Competency-Based Curriculum: Continue to implement competency-based curricula to produce doctors with practical skills and real-world readiness.
  • Incentives for Rural Service: Develop and implement policies that incentivize medical graduates to serve in underserved rural areas, addressing healthcare disparities.
  • Public-Private Collaboration: Foster collaboration between public and private sectors to expand the availability of medical education seats and improve educational infrastructure.

Conclusion

  • Bridging the gap between the demand for doctors and the supply of medical education is a multifaceted challenge in India. To meet the growing healthcare needs of the population, policymakers must carefully consider the trade-offs between quality, scale, and equity in medical education.

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Aligning higher education with the United Nations SDGs

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: SDGs report 2023

Mains level: NEP 2020 and Its Alignment with SDGs and the significant role of Universities

What’s the news?

  • Though it has been eight years since the inception of these goals, the SDGs Report 2023 flagged slow progress and painted a grim picture.

Central idea

  • The SDGs Report 2023 highlights sluggish progress exacerbated by the lingering effects of COVID-19, climate change impacts, geopolitical conflicts, and a fragile global economy. This universal struggle is particularly pronounced in the least developed countries, including India. Despite India’s resilience in facing global crises, achieving the SDGs remains a challenge.

About SDGs

  • The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a global commitment to address pressing socio-economic and environmental challenges.
  • These 17 goals with 169 targets, unanimously agreed upon by all 193 UN member states, aim to eradicate poverty, enhance education, reduce inequality, and stimulate economic growth by 2030.

NEP 2020 and Its Alignment with SDGs

  • India’s commitment to realizing the SDGs is evident through recent actions and policies.
  • The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in India closely aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG4, which focuses on quality education.

Here’s how NEP 2020 aligns with the SDGs:

  • Quality Education and Lifelong Learning (SDG4): NEP 2020 emphasizes quality education for all in India, addressing disparities and promoting inclusivity, in alignment with SDG4. It also recognizes the importance of lifelong learning, supporting SDG4’s objective of inclusive and equitable quality education throughout one’s life.
  • Gender Equality (SDG5): The policy promotes gender equality in education, ensuring equal opportunities for girls and women. It aims to eliminate gender-based discrimination and stereotypes in education, aligning with SDG5’s objective.
  • Employability and Skills Development (SDG8): NEP 2020 focuses on equipping students with practical skills and knowledge, making them more employable. This aligns with SDG8’s goal of promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.
  • Environmental Sustainability (SDG 13): The policy acknowledges the significance of environmental education and sustainability. It encourages eco-friendly practices and awareness of environmental issues among students, aligning with SDG 13’s objective of combating climate change.
  • Research and Innovation (SDG9): NEP 2020 underscores the importance of research and innovation in higher education. It seeks to foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, aligning with SDG 9’s goal of promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization and fostering innovation.
  • Global Partnerships for Development (SDG17): The policy promotes international collaboration in higher education and research. It aims to establish partnerships with global institutions, foster knowledge exchange, and align with SDG17’s objective of strengthening global partnerships for sustainable development.

Enhancing the Role of Universities

  • Research-Teaching Nexus: Universities should strengthen the connection between research and teaching in higher education. By bridging the gap between research and teaching, universities can provide students with real-world insights and solutions to global challenges.
  • Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Education: Universities should promote multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to education. Such systems produce well-rounded individuals capable of conducting research and finding innovative solutions to complex issues.
  • Innovative Solutions and Start-ups: Collaboration with private companies and the development of innovative solutions and start-ups should be encouraged. Universities can serve as hubs for innovation and entrepreneurship, contributing to SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure).
  • Value-Based Education (VBE): Introducing value-based education can help instill a sense of responsibility in citizens towards themselves, society, and the planet. This values-based approach can align with SDG 15 (Life on Land) by fostering a deeper connection between individuals and the environment.

Suggestions for the Universities

  • Mapping Operations with SDGs: NEP 2020 should guide Indian higher education institutions to align their daily operations with the SDGs.
  • Ranking according to SDGs: While ranking universities based on SDG achievement is commendable, it should be bolstered with comprehensive measures to meet the SDG deadline.
  • Stakeholder Education and Orientation: All stakeholders in higher education should be educated and oriented to ensure no activities neglect the SDGs. Collaboration among the 56,205 higher educational institutions and universities in India is essential.
  • Community Engagement: Universities should actively engage with their local communities, focusing on community health, energy conservation, efficient resource allocation, waste reduction, and skill development. Sharing resources and infrastructure with other universities and external partners should become the norm.
  • Institutional Strategies: Sustainability and SDGs should be integrated into the core institutional strategies of universities, influencing daily administration, teaching, and research.
  • Socio-economic Integration: Higher education must be closely integrated with socio-economic development to ensure meaningful and multiple impacts on the SDGs. Universities should contribute directly to the well-being and nation-building of every citizen.

Conclusion

  • India’s commitment to the SDGs, particularly in higher education through NEP 2020, is a positive step towards achieving the 2030 agenda. To accelerate progress, universities must embrace sustainability as a guiding principle and incorporate the SDGs into their daily operations. By doing so, they can play a pivotal role in addressing pressing global challenges and ensuring a better future for all.

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Many states refrain to implement PM-USHA Scheme

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: PM-USHA Scheme

Mains level: Not Much

Central Idea

  • States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal have not signed the required MoU for implementing the National Education Policy (NEP) under the PM-USHA scheme.
  • Concerns revolve around budget allocation and the absence of specific funds for NEP reforms.

PM-USHA Scheme

  • The Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) was introduced as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme to financially support institutions in States/UTs.
  • Its aim was to enhance access, equity, and excellence in higher education with improved efficiency, transparency, accountability, and responsiveness.
  • The initial phase of the scheme commenced in 2013, followed by the second phase in 2018.
  • In alignment with the National Education Policy, the RUSA initiative has been revamped as the Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM-USHA).

Challenges and Concerns

  • Lack of Additional Funds: The MoU requires states to undertake NEP-related administrative, academic, accreditation, and governance reforms. States are concerned that there are no extra funds designated specifically for NEP reforms within the scheme.
  • 40% State Contribution: States have to bear 40% of the expenses under the PM-USHA scheme, leading to further apprehensions about their ability to fund NEP initiatives.
  • Incomplete Alignment: The MoU doesn’t explicitly address the financial needs for implementing NEP changes, leading to dissatisfaction among some state governments.

Government Response and Flexibility

  • Consultations and Integration: The University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman emphasizes the integration between NEP and PM-USHA through the MoU, which necessitates alignment with NEP principles.
  • Streamlined Approach: The PM-USHA scheme consolidates various components and offers states more flexibility in focusing on felt needs.
  • Focus on Prioritized Districts: States can identify priority districts based on enrollment ratios, gender parity, and demographic proportions, ensuring tailored educational interventions.

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Should there be a blanket ban on smartphones in schools?

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: India's digital transformation, schemes and policies

Mains level: India's digital transformation, ban on smartphones in Indian schools analysis

What’s the news?

  • UNESCO’s call for a ban on smartphones in Indian schools sparks nationwide debate on their impact, with educators and experts divided over whether to implement a blanket ban or nuanced regulations.

Central idea

  • With 1.2 billion mobile and 600 million smartphone users, India’s digital transformation is reshaping society. Predicted to reach over a billion by 2026, smartphone use in education is being debated after UNESCO’s call for a school ban, raising questions about classroom dynamics and student well-being.

UNESCO’s Stance on Smartphone Ban

  • With 1.2 billion mobile phone users and 600 million smartphone users in India, the country is experiencing a technology boom.
  • UNESCO recommends a global ban on smartphones in schools due to concerns about disruptions, cyberbullying, and compromised learning.
  • Research suggests that the mere presence of mobile devices can distract students and hinder their academic engagement.
  • The London School of Economics’ research highlights the positive impact of not allowing mobile phones in schools on academic performance.

Delhi’s Directorate of Education’s Approach

  • The Directorate of Education, Private School Branch, Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, issued an advisory on restricting mobile phone use in schools.
  • The advisory emphasizes the importance of reaching a consensus among stakeholders like students, parents, teachers, and school heads regarding mobile phone use in educational environments.
  • Delhi’s response demonstrates a proactive approach to maintaining a conducive learning atmosphere and prioritizing student well-being.
  • The Directorate’s concern centers around smartphone distractions such as notifications, games, and social media engagement during class hours.
  • The Delhi Government’s response showcases a commitment to addressing the potential negative impact of smartphone usage on education.

Impact of Mobile Phones on Students

  • Positive Impacts:
  • Access to Information: Smartphones offer students instant access to a vast pool of information and educational resources. Over 80% of students in developed countries use smartphones to access educational content.
  • Digital Literacy: Smartphone use fosters digital literacy, a crucial skill in today’s technology-driven world. The NEP (National Education Policy) in India emphasizes digital education and the use of technology.
  • Interactive Learning: Mobile apps and online platforms enhance interactive learning experiences. The use of QR codes in the state curriculum and additional resources showcases the integration of technology for learning.
  • Flexibility and Convenience: Smartphones enable learning beyond traditional classroom hours and locations. In countries like Finland, students are allowed to bring phones to class around age 12, promoting flexible learning.
  • Educational Apps: Educational apps cater to diverse learning styles and subjects. Language learning apps, mathematics tutorials, and science simulations provide engaging learning opportunities.
  • Negative Impacts:
  • Distractions and Reduced Focus: Mere proximity to smartphones can lead to distraction and reduced focus during classes. Research by the London School of Economics suggests that mobile phones can deter academic performance.
  • Addiction and Sleep Deprivation: Excessive smartphone usage contributes to addiction and sleep deprivation among students. Teenagers’ addiction to smartphones has been linked to increased anxiety and behavioral problems.
  • Cyberbullying and Mental Health: Smartphone-enabled access to social media platforms exposes students to cyberbullying and mental health issues. Students’ exposure to unrealistic standards on social media can lead to feelings of inadequacy and depression.
  • Decline in Face-to-Face Interaction: Increased smartphone use can lead to reduced face-to-face interactions among students. UNESCO’s recommendation to ban smartphones in schools aims to promote more meaningful face-to-face interactions.
  • Academic Decline due to Distracted Learning: Checking notifications, playing games, and engaging in social media during class hours negatively impact academic performance. Studies show a correlation between excessive smartphone use and lower grades.

Perspectives in Favor of a Smartphone Ban in Schools

  • Enhanced Academic Focus: Banning smartphones can lead to improved academic focus among students. Research indicates that the presence of mobile devices distracts students and hampers their learning engagement.
  • Mitigation of Cyberbullying and Mental Health Concerns: A smartphone ban would protect students from cyberbullying and associated mental health issues. Students exposed to social media platforms can experience emotional distress due to online interactions.
  • Encouragement of Face-to-Face Interaction: Banning smartphones would encourage more meaningful face-to-face interactions, fostering interpersonal skills. UNESCO’s recommendation emphasizes maintaining academic integrity through human interactions.
  • Positive Impact on Academic Performance: Limiting smartphone use during school hours can lead to improved academic performance. Research from the London School of Economics suggests that mobile phone restrictions can positively influence student achievement.
  • Development of Healthy Learning Habits: Implementing a smartphone ban promotes healthy learning habits by reducing distractions. Excessive smartphone use has been linked to addiction and sleep deprivation, which hinder effective learning.

Perspectives Against a Smartphone Ban in Schools

  • Access to Information and Resources: Smartphones provide quick access to a wealth of educational information and resources. Educational apps and online resources cater to diverse learning styles and offer supplementary materials.
  • Preparation for Real-World Technology Use: Allowing controlled smartphone use prepares students for a technology-driven future. National Education Policies and state curricula emphasize the importance of digital literacy and technology integration.
  • Customized Learning and Engagement: Smartphone apps and interactive platforms offer personalized and engaging learning experiences. Many students in developed countries use smartphones to access tailored educational content.
  • Parental Responsibility and Education: Educating students about responsible smartphone use is the responsibility of parents. Some developed countries allow controlled smartphone use, teaching students about balanced usage.
  • Bridge the Gap for Economically Disadvantaged Students: Smartphones bridge technology gaps for economically disadvantaged students, providing access to digital resources. An outright ban could worsen disparities among students based on their socioeconomic backgrounds.

Way Forward

  • Holistic Stakeholder Engagement: Engage all stakeholders, including students, parents, teachers, and school administrators, in open discussions and decision-making processes regarding smartphone usage in schools.
  • Incorporate Age-Based Guidelines: Develop age-specific guidelines for smartphone use in classrooms, taking into account developmental stages and potential distractions.
  • Digital Literacy Curriculum: Integrate digital literacy education within the curriculum to educate students about responsible smartphone usage, privacy, and online etiquette.
  • Educate Educators: Provide teachers with training on managing smartphone use effectively in classrooms and incorporating them as tools for learning.
  • Parental Awareness Campaigns: Launch campaigns to educate parents about the implications of excessive smartphone use, emphasizing responsible parenting in the digital age.
  • Digital Divide Solutions: Consider alternative solutions, like providing laptops, tablets, or internet facilities alongside smartphones, to bridge the digital divide effectively.
  • Research on New Learning Paradigms: Invest in research to explore innovative approaches that harness the benefits of smartphones while mitigating potential distractions and drawbacks.

Conclusion

  • As India strides toward an increasingly digital future, the education system faces the challenge of embracing innovation while mitigating distractions. Balancing student welfare, academic integrity, and equitable access will be vital in shaping policies that harness technology’s potential while preserving the sanctity of the classroom.

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IIM bill 2023

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: IIM Amendment Bill 2023

Mains level: IIM Amendment Bill 2023, significance , concerns and way forward

What’s the news?

  • A new amendment bill introduced by the Centre in the Lok Sabha has sparked a debate on the autonomy of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). The bill proposes to make the President of India the Visitor to IIMs with powers to audit their functioning, order probes, and appoint as well as remove directors.

Central idea

  • In 2017, the Parliament passed the IIM Act, significantly expanding the autonomy of IIMs and giving them greater control over their affairs. One crucial provision mandated an independent review of the institutes every three years, with the report to be made public. However, after six years, only a few IIMs have complied with this requirement, leading the government to table the IIM (Amendment) Bill in 2023.

The proposed provisions in the Bill

  • Creation of the Post of Visitor: The Bill proposes the creation of the post of Visitor, who will be the President of India. The Visitor will play a crucial role in overseeing the functioning of the IIMs and ensuring proper governance.
  • Appointment Powers: The Visitor will have the authority to appoint the chairperson of the Board of Governors (BoG) of the IIMs. This move grants the President of India a significant say in the leadership of the institutes.
  • Involvement in Director Appointments: The Bill empowers the Visitor to have a say in the appointment process for directors of IIMs. The Visitor will have representation on the selection committee for the appointment of directors, allowing them to influence the choice of institute heads.
  • Review and Inquiry Initiation: The Visitor will have the power to initiate reviews or inquiries into the affairs of any IIM. This provision allows for greater oversight and scrutiny of the institutes’ functioning.
  • Director Removal: The Visitor will be granted the authority to remove a director of an IIM if deemed necessary. This move gives the President the power to take action against directors who may not be performing their duties effectively or who are involved in any misconduct.

Issues with the Current Governance

  • Lack of Accountability: The current governance structure in IIMs lacks adequate accountability due to the significant autonomy granted by the 2017 IIM Act. This has led to a governance vacuum with limited checks and balances on directors’ actions, potentially resulting in mismanagement.
  • Absence of Norms on Key Matters: The IIM Act’s failure to establish clear norms on crucial matters, such as the appointment of key positions, has led to a lack of transparency and objectivity in decision-making.
  • Turmoil and Protests: Some IIMs have experienced internal turmoil and protests against administrative decisions, indicating a disconnect between management and stakeholders.
  • For instance, at IIM Ahmedabad, faculty and alumni protested against changes to the institute’s logo and the decision to demolish architecturally significant structures on the campus.
  • Rising MBA Course Fees: An additional concern with the current governance is the relentless rise in the fee for MBA courses, which is not necessarily related to the actual costs of the course.
  • Unresponsive to Queries and Suggestions: There have been reports that some IIMs have been unresponsive to queries and suggestions from various stakeholders, including the government.
  • Uneven Governance Practices: The level of governance and accountability might vary across different IIMs. Some of the lower-ranked IIMs have been accused of operating as petty tyrannies, with directors holding unchecked power.

Importance of Government Control

  • Ensuring Accountability: Government control is crucial to ensuring accountability in the functioning of educational institutions, including the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). It helps prevent misuse of power, financial irregularities, and a lack of transparency.
  • Preserving the Public Interest: As public institutions, IIMs have a responsibility to serve the public interest. Government control ensures that the institutes remain focused on their core mission of providing quality education and contributing to socio-economic development.
  • Academic Integrity: Government oversight safeguards academic integrity by promoting fairness in faculty appointments, curriculum design, and research activities.
  • Addressing Societal Needs: Government involvement allows IIMs to align their objectives with societal demands, producing graduates with relevant skills to address the country’s evolving challenges.
  • Equitable Access and Affordability: Government control promotes inclusivity by implementing policies that ensure equal access to quality education, irrespective of socio-economic backgrounds.
  • Quality Assurance: Government oversight allows the establishment of quality assurance mechanisms, ensuring that the IIMs maintain their reputation as world-class institutions adhering to global standards.

Concerns Regarding the IIM Amendment Bill 2023

  • Potential Government Control: Critics and some directors of IIMs are concerned about increased government control over the institutions through the designation of the President of India as the Visitor with powers to appoint and remove directors.
  • Autonomy Erosion: The bill has raised fears that it may undermine the autonomy granted to IIMs in 2017, potentially leading to a dilution of their independence and decision-making authority.
  • Lack of Stakeholder Involvement: Stakeholders, including directors of IIMs, are apprehensive about insufficient consultation during the bill’s drafting, which they believe could impact the institutes’ governance.
  • Apprehensions About the Independent Board Model: Critics argue that the existing independent board model governing B-schools has been successful globally and could continue to be effective in India without introducing a Visitor.
  • Potential for Ideological Influence: The critiques allege that the bill may be used to enforce ideological conformity, raising concerns about the Visitor’s influence over the institutes’ academic pursuits.
  • Impact on Institutional Reputation: Uncertainty surrounding the bill could affect IIMs’ reputation, leading stakeholders to question their stability and governance.

Way Forward

  • Inclusive Consultation: The government should engage in inclusive consultations with IIMs, education experts, policymakers, and stakeholders to address concerns and ensure broad consensus on the bill’s provisions.
  • Amendment Refinements: Based on feedback received during consultations, the government should consider refining the bill’s provisions to strike an appropriate balance between accountability and autonomy.
  • Codifying Norms: Clear norms and guidelines should be incorporated into the bill to provide a framework for responsible governance while allowing flexibility in decision-making.
  • Promote Transparency: The bill should emphasize transparency in decision-making processes and overall governance to build trust among stakeholders.
  • Continuous Evaluation: Implementing a system of continuous evaluation and feedback will help gauge the effectiveness of the bill’s provisions.
  • Focus on Quality Education: The primary focus should remain on maintaining and improving the quality of education in IIMs while fostering greater accountability.

Conclusion

  • The Bill reflects the government’s efforts to restore accountability and democratic oversight in the IIM system. Striking the right balance between autonomy and accountability is vital to maintaining the IIMs’ esteemed position in the Indian education landscape.

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A new national foundation and the ease of doing research

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NRF

Mains level: Establishment of the NRF and its significance for India's research landscape

What’s the news?

  • The Union Cabinet recently cleared a bill enabling the setting up of the National Research Foundation (NRF), with a corpus of Rs 50,000 crore, to be placed in Parliament in the Monsoon Session.

“There is no single factor more important to the intellectual, social, and economic progress of a nation and to the enhanced well-being of its citizens than the continuous creation and acquisition of new knowledge.”

Central Idea

  • The NRF has sparked enthusiasm among researchers and academics, who are eagerly awaiting a boost in research and development (R&D) expenditures by the government. The NRF’s vision, as outlined in the Draft National Education Policy (DNEP) 2019 and the detailed project report (DPR) 2019, is founded on the principle that progress and well-being depend on generating new scientific and social knowledge.

What is the NRF?

  • The NRF is a proposed autonomous institution in India, aimed at promoting and funding research and development activities across various disciplines.
  • The NRF is founded on the belief that the advancement of human well-being and progress relies on the creation of new scientific and social knowledge.
  • It is inspired by the successful model of the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the United States, which has been a major driver of research and innovation in the US.

Functioning and Governance

  • The NRF will be established as the highest governing body for scientific research, in accordance with the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP).
  • The Department of Science and Technology (DST) will serve as the administrative department of the NRF, with a Governing Board consisting of eminent researchers and professionals from various disciplines.
  • The PM will be the ex-officio President of the Board, while the Union Minister of Science and Technology and the Union Minister of Education will be the ex-officio Vice-Presidents.
  • The Principal Scientific Adviser will chair the Executive Council responsible for the NRF’s functioning.

Mission and Objectives

  • Capacity Building: The NRF will focus on enhancing research capabilities at universities and colleges. It will establish doctoral and postdoctoral programs, set up “Centres of Excellence” at universities, and provide funding for shared infrastructure. Mentorship programs will be initiated to empower faculty members and students in higher education institutions.
  • Nurturing Excellence in Cutting-Edge Research: The NRF will support curiosity-driven research across disciplines, creating a repository of knowledge for potential future applications and independent work within the country. It will encourage international collaborations and participation in mega-science projects to strengthen research capacity.
  • Research for Societal Impact: The NRF will fund competitive peer-reviewed grant proposals across all disciplines, including interdisciplinary research, and across various institutions. It will play a vital role in supporting research with tangible societal impact, recognizing outstanding research through awards and national seminars.

Financial Autonomy and Flexibility of the NRF

  • Autonomy in Decision-Making: As an autonomous institution, the NRF will have the authority to make independent decisions related to financial matters, including budget allocation, funding priorities, and research project support. This autonomy enables the NRF to align its financial strategies with its research objectives effectively.
  • Block Grant Funding: The NRF will receive financial support from the government in the form of a block grant. The NRF’s governing board will have the discretion to allocate these funds based on the organization’s needs and priorities.
  • Flexibility in Allocation: To sustain and enhance the NRF’s activities in the long run, the DPR had proposed an annual grant that would eventually aim to reach at least 0.1% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), approximately Rs 20,000 crore in current terms
  • Remuneration Structure: The NRF will have the flexibility to determine the remuneration structure for fellowships, projects, and other financial support mechanisms. This ensures that researchers are adequately incentivized and compensated, attracting top talent and promoting quality research.
  • Transparent Financial Management: While enjoying financial autonomy and flexibility, the NRF will be accountable for its financial decisions. The NRF’s governing board will establish transparent financial rules and guidelines to ensure proper budget management, reporting, and accountability.
  • Corpus Creation: In the initial years, any unspent funds will be held to create a corpus. This corpus will be professionally managed to generate steady returns, which can be utilized to support future research funding and initiatives.

Conclusion

  • The establishment of the NRF marks a pivotal moment in India’s research landscape. With its ambitious missions, commitment to excellence, and focus on societal impact, the NRF is poised to transform India into a research and innovation powerhouse. By fostering a culture of inquiry, providing support to cutting-edge research, and promoting collaborations, the NRF has the potential to propel India to a position of global leadership.

Also read:

Where India lags in science, research fields, and can National Research Foundation help fix it?

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Cabinet approves Bill for National Research Foundation (NRF)

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: National Research Foundation (NRF)

Mains level: NA

research

Central Idea

  • The Union Cabinet’s approval of the National Research Foundation (NRF) Bill, 2023 marks a significant milestone in the field of scientific research in India.
  • With an estimated budget of ₹50,000 crore from 2023-28, the NRF will reshape the research landscape in the country.

What is NRF?

  • Apex Body: The NRF will be established as the highest governing body for scientific research, in accordance with the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP).
  • Department of Science and Technology’s Role: The DST will serve as the administrative department of the NRF, with a Governing Board consisting of eminent researchers and professionals from various disciplines.
  • Leadership Structure: PM will be the ex-officio President of the Board, while the Union Minister of Science & Technology and the Union Minister of Education will be the ex-officio Vice-Presidents.
  • Functioning: The Principal Scientific Adviser will chair the Executive Council responsible for NRF’s functioning.

Consolidation and Funding

  • Integration of Science and Engineering Research Board: The proposed Bill repeals the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) established in 2008 and subsumes it into the NRF.
  • Equitable Funding: The NRF aims to ensure equitable distribution of research funding, addressing the current disparity between eminent institutions like IITs and IISc and state universities. It seeks to allocate research funds more fairly, with an expected private sector investment of ₹36,000 crore.
  • Government Contribution: The government will contribute ₹10,000 crore over five years, while the DST will continue to receive its annual budget for funding autonomous research bodies, scholarships, and capacity-building programs.

Collaboration and Policy Framework

  • Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration: The NRF will foster collaborations among industries, academia, government departments, and research institutions. It will establish an interface mechanism to facilitate participation and contributions from industries, state governments, scientific ministries, and line ministries.
  • Policy Framework and Regulatory Processes: NRF’s focus will include creating a policy framework and regulatory processes that encourage collaboration and increased industry spending on research and development (R&D).
  • Research in Social Sciences and Humanities: The NRF aims to promote research not only in natural sciences but also in humanities, social sciences, and arts. It recognizes the importance of integrating these disciplines in decision-making processes.

Addressing National Priorities

  • Priority Areas: The NRF intends to identify priority areas aligned with national objectives, such as clean energy, climate change, sustainable infrastructure, improved transportation, and accessible healthcare.
  • Multidisciplinary Projects and Centers of Excellence: To address national priorities, the NRF will support large-scale, long-term, multidisciplinary, and multi-institutional projects. It also plans to establish Centers of Excellence focusing on crucial research areas for the country.
  • International Collaborations: The NRF will coordinate and support research in mega international projects, including LIGO and ITER, in which India is actively involved.

Funding and Impact

  • Increased Funding: The NRF aims to significantly increase the funding available for scientific research in India from both government and private sources. Currently, India’s spending on research and development remains below 0.7% of its GDP.
  • Potential Impact: The NRF’s establishment has the potential to address the pressing issues in Indian science and enhance the country’s research output. Experts view it as a major landmark for science in India, with the allocated ₹50,000 crore as a starting point for future growth and impact.

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VAIBHAV Fellowship Program

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: VAIBHAV Program

Mains level: Various initiatives for Indian Diaspora

vaibhav

Central Idea: The Ministry of Science & Technology has launched the Vaishvik Bhartiya Vaigyanik (VAIBHAV) fellowships programme.

VAIBHAV Program

  • The program aims to connect the Indian STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine) diaspora with Indian academic and R&D institutions.
  • It promotes collaborative research work, knowledge sharing, and the exchange of best practices in frontier areas of science and technology.

Implementation and Eligibility

  • Implementing Agency: Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology.
  • Beneficiaries: outstanding scientists/technologists of Indian origin (NRI/OCI/PIO) engaged in research activities in their respective countries.
  • Benefits: Grant of INR 4,00,000 per month, international and domestic travel expenses, accommodation, and contingencies
  • Verticals identified: 75 fellows will be selected to work in 18 identified knowledge verticals, including quantum technology, health, pharma, electronics, agriculture, energy, computer sciences, and material sciences.
  • Collaborations: The VAIBHAV Fellow will collaborate with Indian Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs), universities, and/or public-funded scientific institutions.
  • R&D Activity: The fellow can spend up to 2 months per year, for a maximum of 3years, in an Indian institution.

VAIBHAV Summit and Participation

  • The Government of India organized the VAIBHAV Summit to connect the Indian STEMM diaspora with Indian institutions.
  • The summit was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister and saw the participation of over 25,000 attendees.
  • Indian STEMM diaspora from more than 70 countries took part in the deliberations.

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Is the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) flawed?

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NIRF Ranking

Mains level: State of higher education in India

nirf

Central Idea

  • In a country as diverse as India, ranking universities and institutions is a complex task.
  • The Ministry of Education established the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in 2016 to assess the performance of institutions based on critical indicators.
  • Institutions eagerly await their standings in this nationally recognized system every year.

NIRF Ranking: An Overview

  • The NIRF releases rankings across various categories, including ‘Overall’, ‘Research Institutions’, ‘Universities’, ‘Colleges’, and specific disciplines.
  • The rankings serve as an important resource for prospective students navigating the higher education landscape in India.
  • NIRF ranks institutes based on their total score, which is determined using five indicators:
  1. Teaching, Learning & Resources (30% weightage)
  2. Research and Professional Practice (30%)
  3. Graduation Outcomes (20%)
  4. Outreach and Inclusivity (10%)
  5. Perception (10%)

Concerns about the methodology

  • Role of Bibliometrics: Bibliometrics refers to the quantitative analysis of scholarly publications, including metrics such as the number of publications, citations received, and journal impact factors.
  • Limitations: Bibliometrics may not adequately consider factors such as the quality and relevance of research, innovation, societal impact, and contributions beyond traditional publications.
  • Caution against Over-Reliance: A comprehensive evaluation methodology should consider a broader range of factors to provide a more holistic assessment of institutional performance.

Issues with NIRF’s Bibliometric Approach

  • Reliance on Commercial Databases: The NIRF relies on commercial databases like Scopus and Web of Science to collect bibliometric data for evaluating research output and impact. However, these databases may have limitations in terms of coverage, accuracy, and the inclusion of non-traditional research outputs.
  • Accuracy and Misuse Concerns: There are concerns regarding the accuracy of bibliometric data, potential manipulation of citation counts, and the misuse of metrics for promotional purposes. It is important to ensure the integrity and validity of the data used in ranking assessments.
  • Neglecting Non-traditional Contributions: The focus on research articles in bibliometric indicators may overlook other valuable intellectual contributions, such as books, book chapters, patents, policy reports, and other forms of non-traditional scholarly outputs.
  • Disincentive for Local Issues: The emphasis on internationally recognized journals and global research trends may discourage researchers from addressing local issues and conducting research that is contextually relevant to national or regional priorities.

Transparency and Flaws in the Rankings

  • Lack of Transparency: Institutions and stakeholders should have access to detailed information about the methodology, data sources, weightage assigned to different indicators, and the process of data collection and analysis.
  • Need for Detailed NIRF Methodology: While the NIRF publicly shares its ranking methodology, there is a need for more comprehensive and transparent documentation that provides a detailed view of the evaluation process. This would enhance stakeholders’ understanding and enable a more informed assessment of the rankings.
  • Addressing the Discrepancy: Clear and precise definitions for indicators like research quantity and quality are crucial to avoid potential ambiguity and misinterpretation. Transparent guidelines and criteria should be established to ensure a consistent and fair evaluation.

Conclusion

  • Promoting Comprehensive Evaluation: There is a need to develop evaluation methodologies that go beyond bibliometrics and consider a broader range of qualitative and quantitative factors to provide a more comprehensive assessment of institutional performance.
  • Transparency, Diverse Factors, and Balance: Ensuring transparency in ranking methodologies, considering diverse factors, and striking a balance between quantitative metrics and qualitative assessments will contribute to a more accurate and meaningful evaluation of universities in India.

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Kerala High Court’s Ruling on Education Loan and Credit Scores

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: CIBIL Score

Mains level: Read the attached story

loan

Central Idea

  • Student’s credit score not a factor: Kerala High Court emphasizes that a student’s credit score should not be a determining factor in rejecting an education loan application, highlighting the importance of equal opportunities for students.
  • Importance of humanitarian approach: The court asserts that a humanitarian approach is necessary from banks while considering education loan applications, recognizing students as the “nation builders of tomorrow.”

RBI Circular on Educational Loan Scheme

  • Model scheme for financial support: RBI has a model educational loan scheme prepared by the Indian Banks Association (IBA) to provide financial support to deserving students pursuing higher education, ensuring equal opportunities.
  • Adoption by scheduled commercial banks: In 2019, the RBI advised all scheduled commercial banks to adopt the educational loan scheme, aiming for consistent practices and adherence to principles outlined in the circular.

Role of RBI in Education Loan Policies

  • Ensuring financial support: RBI’s circular and advisory role aim to ensure that deserving students are not denied the opportunity to pursue higher education due to financial constraints, promoting inclusive access to education loans.
  • Standardization and uniformity: The RBI’s model educational loan scheme and guidance seek to establish standardized practices across scheduled commercial banks, fostering fair and equitable access to education loans.

What is CIBIL Score?

  • Numerical reflection of credit history: Credit scores, like the Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL) score, provide a numerical summary of an individual’s credit payment history across different loan types and institutions, aiding lenders in assessing creditworthiness.
  • Impact on loan applications: Credit scores play a crucial role in loan applications and financial assessments, serving as indicators of an individual’s ability to repay debts.

Why Education Loan can be an exception?

  • Enabling pursuit of higher education: Education loans play a vital role in enabling students to pursue higher education, providing necessary financial support for tuition fees, living expenses, and educational costs.
  • Equal opportunities for students: Access to education loans ensures equal opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds, facilitating their academic aspirations and future contributions to society.
  • Implications of loan rejections: Loan rejections based solely on credit scores can hinder students’ educational prospects and limit their access to quality education and future career opportunities.

Judicial perspective on Education Loan

  • Holistic evaluation beyond credit scores: Kerala HC emphasized the importance of considering the ground realities, future prospects, course potential, and scholarship opportunities for students in education loan applications, promoting a comprehensive assessment approach.
  • Upholding equal access for all: Key rulings such as KM George vs The Branch Manager and Pranav SR vs The Branch Manager underscore the court’s commitment to upholding principles of equal access to education loans and fair assessments.

Significance of the Kerala HCs Ruling

  • Equal opportunities: The ruling ensures equal opportunities for students by emphasizing that credit scores should not be the sole basis for loan rejections, preventing students from being denied educational opportunities based on their credit history.
  • Humanitarian approach: The court’s emphasis on a humanitarian approach acknowledges the importance of considering students’ future potential and recognizes their role as future builders of the nation.
  • Fair assessment criteria: The ruling establishes the need for fair assessment criteria that go beyond credit scores, encouraging financial institutions to consider factors such as course potential and future earning capabilities.
  • Protection of educational aspirations: The ruling safeguards students’ educational aspirations, preventing loan rejections solely based on credit scores and allowing deserving students to pursue their studies.
  • Precedent for future cases: The ruling sets a precedent for future cases, promoting a more holistic and compassionate approach in evaluating education loan applications, and potentially influencing other courts and financial institutions.

Way Forward

  • Peer-to-Peer Lending Networks: Facilitate peer-to-peer lending platforms for education loans, connecting students directly with lenders and expanding access to funding.
  • Education Loan Guarantee Funds: Establish funds to guarantee education loans, reducing risk for lenders and encouraging loans to students with lower credit scores.
  • Financial Literacy Programs: Implement comprehensive financial literacy programs to equip students with knowledge and skills for responsible financial management.
  • Industry-Academia Initiatives: Foster collaborations between industry and academia to provide scholarships, internships, and grants, supporting students’ education and future employability.
  • Innovative Repayment Models: Explore income-share agreements and flexible repayment options to align loan repayment with individual earnings and ease financial burden.
  • Crowdfunding for Education: Utilize crowdfunding platforms dedicated to education, enabling students to raise funds for their educational expenses from a wider audience.
  • Collaborative Industry Sponsorship: Encourage partnerships where companies sponsor education loans in exchange for an internship or job placement opportunities, benefiting both students and companies.

 

 

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Revised Guidelines for Deemed University Status

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: UGC, Accredition of Universities

Mains level: Read the attached story

university

Central Idea

  • The University Grants Commission (UGC) has released revised guidelines allowing higher education institutions to apply for deemed university status.
  • The new guidelines aim to establish more quality-focused deemed universities by simplifying the eligibility criteria.

University Grants Commission (UGC)

  • UGC is a statutory body under the University Grants Commission Act, of 1956.
  • It is charged with the task of coordinating and maintaining standards of higher education in India.
  • It provides recognition to universities and also allocates funds to universities and colleges.
  • It is headquartered are in New Delhi, and it also has 6 regional centres.
  • All grants to universities and higher learning institutions are handled by the UGC.
  • In 2015-16, the Union government initiated a National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) under UGC to rank all educational institutes.

 

Why in the news?

  • Light but tight regulatory framework: The guidelines are based on the principle of a “light but tight” regulatory framework envisioned in the National Education Policy 2020.

What is Deemed University?

A Deemed University is a status granted to higher educational institutions in India by the Department of Higher Education (DHE) under the Ministry of Education based on the recommendation of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

State University Deemed University
Establishment Created by state government through legislative assembly act Granted autonomy by the UGC based on academic and research merits
Funding Fully funded by the state government Self-funded
Fee Structure Regulated and streamlined according to government guidelines Freedom to set their own fee structure
Curriculum Regulated and aligned with UGC guidelines Autonomy to design their own courses and curriculum
Research Research programs and activities aligned with government norms Emphasis on research with credible research output
Infrastructure Facilities and infrastructure as per government provisions State-of-the-art infrastructure
Affiliated Institutes Can have affiliated colleges and institutes Generally have a single institution
Admission Process Follows state government guidelines for admissions Can set their own admission policies and criteria
Degree Granting Authorized to award degrees and diplomas Authorized to award degrees and diplomas
Flexibility Governed by UGC regulations and guidelines Autonomy in decision-making and flexibility in operations

 

New changes introduced-

Eligibility Criteria and Changes

  • Previous eligibility criteria: Under the 2019 guidelines, institutions with an existence of at least 20 years were eligible to apply for deemed university status.
  • Revised eligibility criteria: The revised guidelines replace the previous criteria with requirements such as multi-disciplinarity, NAAC grading, NIRF ranking, and NBA grading.
  • Criteria for application: Institutions with valid accreditation by NAAC, NBA accreditation for eligible programs, or ranking in the top 50 of specific categories in NIRF for the last three years can apply for deemed university status.

Cluster of Institutions and Distinct Institution Category

  • Cluster of institutions: A cluster of institutions managed by multiple sponsoring bodies or a society can also apply for deemed university status.
  • Distinct Institution category: The guidelines introduce the “Distinct Institution” category, exempting institutions focusing on unique disciplines, addressing strategic needs, preserving Indian cultural heritage or the environment, dedicated to skill development, sports, languages, or other disciplines determined by the Expert Committee.

Changes in Faculty Strength and Corpus Fund

  • Increased faculty strength: The revised guidelines increase the required faculty strength from 100 to 150.
  • Increased corpus fund for private institutions: The corpus fund requirement for private institutions has been increased from Rs 10 crore to Rs 25 crore.

Executive Councils and Academic Bank of Credits

  • Creation of executive councils: Private universities seeking deemed university status will be required to create executive councils, similar to central universities.
  • Mandatory registration on Academic Bank of Credits: Deemed universities must register on the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) and can offer twinning programs, joint degree programs, and dual degree programs.

Off-Campus Centers and Future Plans

  • Off-campus centers eligibility: Deemed universities with a minimum ‘A’ grade or ranked from 1 to 100 in the “universities” category of NIRF rankings are eligible to establish off-campus centers.
  • Future removal of “deemed to be university” term: The UGC chairperson stated that the term “deemed to be university” will be removed once the Higher Education Commission of India is established through an act of Parliament.
  • Current number of deemed institutions: Currently, there are around 170 deemed institutions in the country.

Back2Basics:

NAAC NIRF NBA
Full Form National Assessment and Accreditation Council National Institutional Ranking Framework National Board of Accreditation
Governing Body University Grants Commission (UGC) Ministry of Education, Government of India All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)
Purpose Assessing and accrediting higher education Ranking higher education institutions Accrediting technical education programs in engineering
Assessment Criteria Quality parameters and predefined criteria Teaching, learning, research, graduation outcomes, etc. Criteria and standards for quality technical education
Accreditation Grades A, A+, B, B+, C
Focus Evaluating institution’s quality and performance Ranking institutions based on various parameters Accrediting engineering programs for quality technical education
Scope All higher education institutions in India All higher education institutions in India Technical education programs in the field of engineering

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Low Enrollment of Muslims in Higher Education

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: AISHE

Mains level: Religious disparity in higher education

muslim

Central Idea

  • All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2020-21 conducted by the Ministry of Education reveals the underrepresentation of Muslims in higher education compared to other communities.

What is the AISHE?

  • To portray the status of higher education in the country, the Ministry of Education conducts an annual web-based AISHE since 2010-11.
  • Data is collected on several parameters such as teachers, student enrolment, programmes, examination results, education finance and infrastructure.
  • Indicators of educational development such as Institution Density, Gross Enrolment Ratio, Pupil-teacher ratio, Gender Parity Index, Per Student Expenditure will also be calculated from the data collected through AISHE.
  • These are useful in making informed policy decisions and research for development of the education sector.

AISHE 2020-21 data on Minority Education

The survey highlights a decline in Muslim enrollment, potentially due to economic constraints and limited opportunities for pursuing higher education.

(1) Decline in Muslim Enrollment:

  • Muslim enrollment in higher education declined by 8% in the 2020-21 academic year, while other marginalized communities experienced improved enrollment rates.
  • Economic impoverishment forces talented Muslim students to prioritize earning opportunities after completing school, rather than pursuing higher education.
  • Drastic declines were reported in UP (36%), J&K (26%), Maharashtra (8.5%), and TN (8.1%).
  • Delhi witnessed a significant portion of Muslim students failing to enroll for higher education.

(2) Uttar Pradesh’s Low Enrollment Rate:

  • Muslims constitute around 20% of the population in the state.
  • Despite an increase in the number of colleges in UP, mere 4.5% Muslim enrollment is in higher education.

(3) Kerala’s Exceptional Performance:

  • Kerala stands out as the only state where 43% of Muslims pursue higher education, bucking the trend of low enrollment.

(4) Female enrolment improving:

  • Muslim and other minority communities exhibit higher female student enrollment than male students, indicating progress for women in minority communities.
  • Male members of the Muslim community face pressure to earn a living early, potentially hindering their pursuit of higher education.

(5) Lack of Muslim Teachers:

  • Muslim representation among teachers in higher education institutions is alarmingly low, comprising only 5.6%.
  • General Category teachers account for 56%, while OBC, SC, and ST teachers make up 32%, 9%, and 2.5%, respectively.
  • Gender disparities among teachers persist, with only 59 female Muslim teachers for every 100 male Muslim teachers.

Reasons for such low enrollment

  • Religious influence: Certain societal and cultural norms within the Muslim community prioritize early marriage and family responsibilities over pursuing higher education, especially for female students.
  • Economic Challenges: The Muslim community faces financial limitations that hinder their ability to afford higher education expenses, including tuition fees and accommodation.
  • Lack of Awareness and Guidance: Many Muslim students, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds, lack information about available higher education opportunities, scholarships etc.
  • Preferences for religious preachings: Many families prefer religious teachings at Madrasas over STEM education considering the acute competition and lack of reservation facilities.
  • Stereotypes and Discrimination: Instances of religious discrimination and bias discourage Muslim students from pursuing higher education and create a sense of unwelcomeness in educational institutions.
  • Socio-political Factors: Political decisions, policy changes, or the withdrawal of educational support programs can have a direct impact on the enrollment of Muslim students in higher education.

Schemes promoting Muslim education in India

  • Maulana Azad National Fellowship: Provides scholarships for minority students pursuing M Phil and Ph D programs.
  • National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC): Offers interest-free loans and scholarships to economically disadvantaged minority students.
  • Nai Udaan Scheme: Provides free coaching and assistance for competitive exams to minority students.
  • Seekho Aur Kamao (Learn and Earn) Scheme: Offers skill development and vocational training to enhance employability among minority students.
  • Pre-Matric and Post-Matric Scholarship Schemes: Provides financial assistance for educational expenses to increase access to education for minority students.
  • Bridge Courses and Remedial Coaching: Helps minority students bridge educational gaps and improve academic performance.

Way Forward

Following efforts should be made to address the declining enrollment of Muslim students in higher education:

  • Providing scholarships and financial aid to economically disadvantaged Muslim students.
  • Creating awareness programs to highlight the importance of higher education and its long-term benefits.
  • Collaborating with community organizations to develop mentoring and support systems for Muslim students.
  • Implementing policies that promote inclusive education and equal opportunities for all communities.
  • Encouraging the recruitment and representation of Muslim teachers and non-teaching staff in higher education institutions.

 

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What is PARAKH Program?

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: PARAKH

Mains level: Curriculum harmonization

Central Idea

  • The Ministry of Education has organized a workshop in New Delhi to discuss the unification of 60 school examination boards operating across different states and union territories.
  • The key component of this plan is PARAKH, the National Assessment Centre established under the National Council of Educational Research and Training.

What is PARAKH?

  • PARAKH stands for Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development.
  • It is an organization created to bring school boards from various states and union territories onto a unified platform.
  • It has been launched as part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020.
  • It acts as a constituent unit of the NCERT.
  • It is tasked with holding periodic learning outcome tests like the National Achievement Survey (NAS) and State Achievement Surveys.
  • It will work on three major assessment areas: large-scale assessments, school-based assessment, and examination reforms.

Key objectives of PARAKH

  • Uniform Norms & Guidelines: Setting comprehensive norms, standards, and guidelines for student assessment and evaluation in all recognized school boards.
  • Enhance Assessment Pattern: Encouraging school boards to adopt assessment patterns aligned with the skill requirements of the 21st century.
  • Reduce Disparity in Evaluation: Establishing uniformity across state and central boards, which currently employ different evaluation standards, resulting in significant score disparities.
  • Benchmark Assessment: Developing a benchmark assessment framework to move away from rote learning and align with the objectives of the NEP 2020.

Outcomes of the recent workshop

(1) Establishing Equivalence of Boards

  • The Centre is planning for the equivalence of boards to facilitate seamless transitions for students across different boards or regions.
  • The objective is to align curriculum standards, grading systems, and evaluation methodologies to enhance the credibility and recognition of certificates and grades obtained across boards.

(2) Moving away from Rote Examination Culture

  • The workshop highlighted the need to reassess the prevailing rote examination culture in the education system.
  • There is a growing realization that holistic assessments, considering various dimensions of a student’s abilities and potential, are equally important.

(3) Standardization and Fairness in Assessments

  • The discussion emphasized the importance of well-designed and standardized question papers to ensure fairness and consistency across schools and boards.
  • Striking a balance between formative and summative assessments was identified as a means to reduce the burden of high-stakes examinations while effectively measuring student progress.

Conclusion

  • PARAKH’s significance lies in its potential to bring about transformative change, facilitating collaboration, and benchmarking assessments.
  • It is an important step towards creating a standardized and equitable assessment system, providing students with a fair platform to demonstrate their abilities and skills.

 

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All India Survey on Higher Education: A Wake-up Call for the Muslim Community

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: findings of All-India Survey on Higher Education

Mains level: Sachar Committee Report, Higher education enrollment of Marginalized communities

Higher

Central Idea

  • The recently released All India Survey on Higher Education 2020–21 has shown some alarming trends. While there have been improvements in the enrollment of certain communities in higher education, there has been a drastic drop in the enrollment of Muslim students. The survey provides a grim picture of the marginalisation of the Muslim community in higher education and the need for the government to take action to address.

Findings of the survey

  1. Enrollment overview:
  • Enrollment of Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs in higher education increased by 4.2%, 11.9%, and 4% respectively compared to 2019-20.
  • The upper castes showed the highest growth rate of 13.6%, after declining with the implementation of Mandal II in the late 2000s.
  1. Enrollment of Muslim students:
  • The enrollment of Muslim students dropped by 8% from 2019-20, by 1,79,147 students. This level of absolute decline has never happened in the recent past for any group.
  • UP accounts for 36% of the total decline in Muslim enrollment, followed by Jammu and Kashmir (26%), Maharashtra (8.5%), Tamil Nadu (8.1%), Gujarat (6.1%), Bihar (5.7%) and Karnataka (3.7%).
  • Muslims constitute about 4.6% of total enrollment in higher education while they represent about 15% of society.
  • Among major states, in 2020-21, Muslims did not do better than Dalits except in Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Delhi. Kerala tops in the percentage of Muslim youth (43%) who are currently attending higher education.

Factors behind declining enrollment of Muslim students

  • Lack of job opportunities: Muslim students face a high unemployment rate, which means that they may not see higher education as a path to a good job.
  • Discrimination: There is discrimination in the job market against Muslim candidates. Studies have shown that Muslim candidates are less likely to be invited to job interviews compared to candidates with Brahmin or Dalit names.
  • Economic factors: Muslim students may not have the financial means to pursue higher education, and may have to work to support themselves and their families. This can lead to a high dropout rate.
  • Violence and ghettoization: Violence against Muslims has increased, which has led to a sense of fear and insecurity, and has restricted their mobility. This has resulted in a trend towards ghettoization.
  • Discriminatory policies: Some state governments have stopped providing financial support to Muslim students pursuing higher education. This has made it more difficult for them to access higher education opportunities.

All you need to know about Sachar Committee report, 2006

  • The Sachar Committee was commissioned by the Indian government in response to concerns about the social and economic status of Muslims in India.
  • The committee surveyed the status of Muslims across various parameters, including education, employment, and access to social services.
  • The report found that Muslims in India were disproportionately affected by poverty, illiteracy, and lack of access to basic services such as healthcare and sanitation.
  • The report highlighted the need for affirmative action policies to address the marginalization of Muslims, such as reservations in education and employment.
  • The report also recommended the establishment of an Equal Opportunities Commission to address discrimination against Muslims and other minority communities in India.
  • The Sachar Committee Report sparked a national debate about the social and economic status of Muslims in India and led to increased attention on the issue of affirmative action for marginalized communities.

Policy recommendations to address low Muslim students enrollment

  • Initiate positive discrimination policies: The government could implement policies such as sub-quotas for Muslims within the OBC quota to improve their access to higher education opportunities.
  • Provide scholarships and fellowships: The government could provide greater financial support to minority students pursuing higher education, such as scholarships and fellowships, to help them overcome economic barriers.
  • Address discrimination in the job market: The government could work to create more job opportunities for Muslims and address discrimination in the job market to help improve their economic prospects.
  • Promote social and economic equality: The overall goal should be to promote greater social and economic equality for Muslims in India, which could involve a range of policies and initiatives focused on education, employment, and other areas.

Conclusion

  • The All-India Survey on Higher Education highlights the deepening marginalisation of the Muslim community in higher education and the need for the government to take action to address the situation. Positive discrimination in favour of Muslims, as recommended by the Sachar Committee Report, is the need of the hour to ensure equitable access to higher education for all communities. Without such efforts, India will not be able to realise its potential and contribute to the harmonious development of society.

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SC quota for Dalit Muslims and Christians

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Darwin’s Theory of Evolution: Exclusion From Indian School and College Curricula

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Evolution theories

Mains level: Darwin’s theory of evolution, exclusion form school textbooks and concerns

Evolution

Central Idea

  • The recent exclusion of Darwin’s theory of evolution from Indian school and college curricula has prompted concerns among scientists and educators, as it is one of the most firmly established theories in science that explains the origin of all forms of life and rescues the explanation from the belief in an intelligent designer.

What is Darwin’s theory of evolution?

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is one of the most influential scientific theories ever proposed. The main ideas behind Darwin’s theory of evolution include:

  • Variation: Within a population, there is variation in traits among individuals.
  • Inheritance: Some of these traits are passed on from parents to offspring.
  • Overproduction: Most populations produce more offspring than can survive to maturity.
  • Natural selection: Individuals with traits that are advantageous for survival and reproduction in their particular environment are more likely to survive and pass on their traits to their offspring, while those with less advantageous traits are less likely to survive and reproduce.
  • Adaptation: Over time, the frequency of advantageous traits in a population will increase, resulting in a better match between the organisms and their environment, known as adaptation.
  • Common descent: All living organisms share a common ancestor that lived in the distant past.

Evolution

Facts for prelims: Scientists and theories

Scientist Theory Key Points
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Theory of Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics Organisms change and evolve during their lifetimes based on the environmental needs, and these changes can be passed on to their offspring. For example, giraffes developed longer necks by stretching their necks to reach higher branches, and these longer necks were passed on to their offspring.
Thomas Malthus Theory of Population Populations tend to increase faster than the food supply, leading to competition for resources. Only the individuals with advantageous traits survive, while others perish. This concept of “survival of the fittest” became an important part of Darwin’s theory.
Charles Darwin Theory of Natural Selection Organisms with advantageous traits have a greater chance of surviving and reproducing, passing on those traits to their offspring. Over time, this leads to the development of new species through the process of speciation. Darwin’s theory also emphasized the importance of variation, competition, and adaptation in the evolutionary process.
Alfred Russel Wallace Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection Similar to Darwin’s theory, Wallace’s theory emphasized the role of natural selection in the development of new species. However, Wallace also proposed that natural selection could result in the divergence of species into separate branches, which could eventually become new genera or families.
Hugo de Vries Mutation Theory Mutations, or sudden genetic changes, are the driving force behind evolution rather than gradual changes over time. De Vries also proposed the concept of “species-polymerism”, where multiple species could arise from a single ancestral species through mutations.
Stephen Jay Gould Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium Evolutionary change occurs in rapid bursts (punctuations) followed by long periods of stability (equilibrium). This theory challenges the traditional view of evolution as a slow, gradual process. Gould also emphasized the role of contingency or chance events in shaping evolutionary history.

Why must students and teachers in school concern themselves with Darwin’s theory?

  • Understanding the origin of human beings and other forms of life: Darwin’s theory of evolution is one of the most firmly established theories in science that explains the origin of human beings and all other forms of life in the world.
  • Challenging the belief in an intelligent designer: Darwin’s theory rescues the explanation of the origin of life from the belief that an ‘intelligent designer’ (read: god) built them the way they are and put them in their place.
  • Encouraging critical inquiry and embracing critique: The teaching of Darwin’s theory offers possibilities of confronting science’s own troubled history and requires caution alongside curiosity, creativity and imagination.
  • Understanding the historical and contemporary world of science: The teaching of Darwin’s theory can help students understand that science is rarely the story of a lone man, and it is shaped by the social and cultural beliefs of its times.
  • Enhancing scientific literacy: Understanding Darwin’s theory of evolution is crucial for enhancing scientific literacy, as it is an essential component of biology and a cornerstone of modern science.

Criticisms: Darwin’s theory of evolution

  • Lack of transitional fossils: Some critics argue that there is a lack of transitional fossils, which are intermediate forms of species between ancestral and descendant forms. They claim that the absence of such fossils undermines the validity of the theory of evolution.
  • Incomplete explanation of variation: While Darwin’s theory of natural selection explains how variation arises in a population, it does not fully explain the source of the variation. Some critics argue that the theory does not account for genetic mutations or other mechanisms that can generate variation.
  • Lack of empirical evidence for macroevolution: While the theory of evolution is well-supported by empirical evidence for microevolution (small-scale changes within a species), critics argue that there is insufficient empirical evidence to support macroevolution (large-scale changes between species).
  • The origin of life: Critics argue that Darwin’s theory does not explain how life originated in the first place.
  • Complexity of living organisms: Critics argue that the complexity of living organisms cannot be explained solely by natural selection and that there must be some other explanation for the diversity and complexity of life.

Conclusion

  • Science is a messy affair that requires caution alongside curiosity, creativity, and imagination. The teaching of Darwin’s theory must offer possibilities of confrontation without underplaying its strengths. While Darwin must remain in our textbooks, the way it is taught must change to include other influences that have shaped the theory and the consequent use of the theory by others and himself.

Mains Question

Q. What is Darwin’s theory of evolution? As the theory is being dropped from the school textbooks, discuss why must students and teachers in school concern themselves with Darwin’s theory?

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Importance of Science of Empathy and Inclusivity in IITs

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NA

Mains level: Empathy in higher education and role of IITS in reducing social inequality in local communities

Empathy

Central Idea

  • The recent spate of suicides among IIT students and the subsequent media attention, which has brought to the fore the social behavior and anxieties within the IIT student community. It emphasizes that studying at the IITs can be highly stressful, especially for students from socially marginalized backgrounds.

For instance: JEE Exam and Social Inequality

  • There are disparities among students from different social strata in the JEE Advanced entrance exam, with lower cut-offs for SC/ST students compared to general category students.
  • This disparity in scores can be attributed to cultural and material inequalities faced by SC students, such as lack of basic amenities like water, sanitation, and transportation.

What is mean by material inequality?

  • Unequal distribution of resources and basic amenities: Material inequality refers to the unequal distribution of resources and basic amenities such as food, water, shelter, healthcare, education, and access to opportunities, among individuals or groups in a society.
  • Factors responsible: It is a result of various factors such as income, social class, gender, race, ethnicity, and geographical location.
  • Negative effects: Material inequality can have negative effects on the well-being and opportunities of individuals and communities, leading to disparities in access to resources and basic needs.

How IITs can engage with local communities?

  • Conduct Field and Community Studies: Students from all disciplines can conduct field and community studies to understand the causes of material inequality in the surrounding areas. This will provide them with insights into the problems that exist and help them design effective solutions.
  • Interdisciplinary Field Work: IITs can adopt an interdisciplinary fieldwork pedagogy where professors from different disciplines work together to design solutions for societal challenges. This will help students to develop mutual respect, empathy, and a collective understanding of how the state and the market work.
  • Local Problem Areas: IITs can identify and work on concrete problems of all sizes and difficulty levels, such as cooking energy, public transport, small enterprises, and pollution, in the surrounding districts. Faculty members can work with district administrations to address these and involve both IIT and local college students.
  • Collaboration and Teamwork: Engaging with local communities will reduce competitive stress and increase collaboration and teamwork within the student body. Students will appreciate the diversity of backgrounds and understand the adversities many among them have had to face.
  • Democratic Science: Students should demand training in a science of empathy and diversity that probes and explores all nooks and crannies of knowledge and society. Only when Indian science turns more democratic will the university become more empathetic and the society more equal and prosperous.

Value addition box

IIT Bombay as an example:

  • IIT Bombay can use the communities in surrounding districts as problem areas for research and academics. From cooking energy to public transport, there are concrete problems of all sizes for students and faculty members to grapple with.
  • Faculty members can work with district administrations to involve both IIT and local college students, thereby creating an ecosystem of higher education that satisfies its institutional and cultural roles.

 What is empathy?

  • Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. It involves being able to put oneself in another person’s shoes and perceive things from their perspective.
  • Empathy allows individuals to connect with others emotionally, recognize their needs and respond with sensitivity and compassion.
  • It is an important aspect of emotional intelligence and plays a crucial role in building strong relationships, effective communication, and social cohesion.

What do you understand by mean science of empathy?

  • Science of empathy refers to the study and application of empathy as a scientific concept, including understanding its mechanisms, impact, and potential applications in various fields such as healthcare, education, and social justice.
  • It involves using scientific methods to study empathy, including neuroscience, psychology, and social science research.
  • The goal is to deepen our understanding of empathy and how it can be applied to improve social and emotional outcomes for individuals and communities.

Why Empathy is important in IITs?

  • Addressing social inequalities: IITs are known for their rigorous academic curriculum and high-achieving students, but they also have a responsibility to address social inequalities that exist in society. Empathy can help students and faculty understand the challenges faced by underprivileged communities and develop solutions that address these challenges.
  • Fostering collaboration: Empathy can help IIT students and faculty work together more effectively by understanding each other’s perspectives and experiences. This can lead to better collaboration and teamwork, which is essential for tackling complex problems.
  • Developing socially responsible professionals: IITs aim to produce professionals who can make a positive impact on society. Empathy is an important quality for professionals who want to understand the needs and concerns of their clients or users, and develop solutions that meet those needs.
  • Enhancing research: Empathy can also enhance research by promoting interdisciplinary collaborations that consider a wide range of perspectives and experiences. This can lead to more innovative and effective solutions to complex problems.

Why Empathy is important along with science in higher education?

  • Social Responsibility: Higher education institutions have a social responsibility to produce graduates who understand the societal impacts of their work and who are capable of creating solutions that benefit all members of society. Empathy helps students to understand the perspectives of those who may be affected by their work and to create solutions that are more inclusive and equitable.
  • Collaborative Work: In higher education, collaborative work is increasingly common across disciplines, cultures, and even national borders. Empathy enables students to understand the needs and motivations of their collaborators and to work effectively as part of a team.
  • Diversity and Inclusion: Diversity and inclusion are key principles of higher education, and empathy plays a crucial role in achieving these goals. Empathy helps students to understand and appreciate the experiences and perspectives of others who come from different backgrounds, leading to a more inclusive and welcoming learning environment.
  • Ethical Considerations: Science and technology can have ethical implications, and empathy is necessary to understand the impact of scientific and technological advancements on different groups of people. Empathy can help students to identify potential ethical dilemmas and to create solutions that align with ethical principles.

Conclusion

  • The issues of social inequality and stress among students in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) suggests the need for an empathetic and inclusive approach towards higher education. Interdisciplinary fieldwork and community engagement can create a diverse and inclusive ecosystem of higher education, preparing students to become better professionals and citizens.

Mains Question

Q. Empathy along with science is an essential ingredient in higher education in India. In light of this statement discuss how IITs can play a critical role in promoting empathy and reducing social inequalities in India.

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UGC releases National Credit Framework (NCrF)

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: National Credit Framework (NCrF)

Mains level: Read the attached story

The University Grants Commission (UGC) released the National Credit Framework (NCrF), which will allow students to earn educational credits at all levels, irrespective of the mode of learning i.e. offline, online, or blended.

What is National Credit Framework (NCrF)?

  • The NCrF is a meta-framework that integrates the credits earned through school education, higher education, and vocational and skill education.
  • It consists of three verticals:
  1. National School Education Qualification Framework (NSEQF)
  2. National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF) and
  3. National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF)
  • The NCrF provides a mechanism for the integration of general academic education and vocational and skill education, ensuring equivalence within and between these two education streams.
  • Institutions would be free to notify their detailed implementation guidelines with flexibility for catering to their academic requirements.

Key features

(1) Credit System

  • Under the NCrF, one credit corresponds to 30 notional learning hours in a year of two semesters.
  • A student is required to earn a minimum of 20 credits every semester.
  • A student can earn more than 40 credits in a year.
  • Maximum credits a student can earn during schooling period is 160.
  • A three-year bachelor’s degree course will result in a total of 120 credits earned.
  • A Ph.D. degree is at Level 8 and earns 320 credits upon completion.

(2) Study of Vedas:  Students can obtain credits for their proficiency in diverse areas of the Indian knowledge system, including the Puranas, Vedas, and other related components.

(3) Indian Knowledge System (IKS): UGC notified the final report, which includes the components of the IKS. The IKS comprises 18 theoretical disciplines called vidyas and 64 practical disciplines, including vocational areas and crafts. These disciplines were the foundation of the 18 sciences in ancient India, as per the report.

(4) Educational Acceleration: The NCrF supports educational acceleration for students with gifted learning abilities. It provides scope for crediting national/international achievers in any field, including but not limited to sports, Indian knowledge system, music, heritage, traditional skills, performing & fine arts, master artisans, etc.

(5) International Equivalence: The international equivalence and transfer of credits shall be enabled through various multilateral/bilateral agreements between respective regulators of the countries concerned. NCrF would lend credibility and authenticity to the credits being assigned and earned under various programs in India, making these credits more acceptable and transferable internationally.

 


 

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Academic Freedom in India declined strongly since 2013: Report

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Academic Freedon

Mains level: State of higher education in India

freedom

India’s academic freedom index is in the bottom 30 percent among 179 countries, according to a new report.

Academic Freedom Index Update, 2023

  • The report was a collaborative effort of 2,917 country experts worldwide.
  • It was co-ordinated by Swedish think tank V-Dem Institute and the Institute of Political Science at the Friedrich Alexander University in Germany.
  • It identified 22 countries – including India, China, the United States and Mexico – where it said universities and scholars experience significantly less academic freedom today than they did ten years ago.
  • The index score measures five indicators-
  1. Freedom to research and teach
  2. Freedom of academic exchange and dissemination,
  3. Institutional autonomy of universities
  4. Freedom of academic and cultural expression and campus integrity
  5. Absence of security infringements and surveillance on campus.

What one means by academic freedom?

  • Academic freedom refers to the independence and autonomy that scholars and researchers have in pursuing their academic work, without fear of censorship, retaliation, or repression from the government or other entities.
  • It includes the freedom to conduct research, publish findings, and express opinions and ideas, without interference or pressure from external forces.
  • It is considered a cornerstone of higher education and is essential for the advancement of knowledge and the free exchange of ideas.

India’s performance

  • India is ranked among the bottom 30% with an index score of less than 0.4 among the 179 countries assessed by the researchers.
  • On a scale of 0 (low) to 1 (high), India scored 0.38, lower than Pakistan’s 0.43 and the United States’ 0.79, says the report. LOL!
  • The report has ranked the United States among the top 50% of countries with an index score just below 0.8. China has been ranked among the bottom 10% with a score of less than 0.1.
  • The report said that academic freedom in India began to decline in 2009 with a drop in university autonomy, followed by “a sharp downturn in all indicators” from 2013.

Reasons for such poor ratings

  • A lack of a legal framework to protect academic freedom has enabled attacks on academic freedom.
  • The report sees there is notable pressure on the institutional dimensions of academic freedom — institutional autonomy and campus integrity.

Again anti-India narrative

  • The report sees regime change in India since as a declining trend in the country’s academic freedom.
  • All such reports are being increasingly publicized ahead of India’s general elections in 2024.

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Two Australian public universities to set up campuses in GIFT City

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NA

Mains level: Foreign universities in India

Central idea:

GIFT City, Gandhinagar

  • GIFT city is India’s first operational smart city and international financial services centre (much like a modern IT park).
  • The idea for GIFT was conceived during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit 2007 and the initial planning was done by East China Architectural Design & Research Institute (ECADI).
  • Approximately 225 units/companies are operational with more than 12000 professionals employed in the City.
  • The entire city is based on the concept of FTTX (Fibre to the home / office).The fiber optic is laid in fault tolerant ring architecture so as to ensure maximum uptime of services.
  • Every building in GIFT City is an intelligent building. There is piped supply of cooking gas. India’s first city-level DCS (district cooling system) is also operational at GIFT City.

 

Procedure for Universities coming to India

  • The process for getting approval for setting up a campus in India will be strictly online in the beginning. Interested institutions have to apply at the UGC portal with a non-refundable fee, and then submit some documents.
  • After the applications are received, a committee formed by the Commission will examine these applications on these factors:
  1. Credibility of the institution
  2. Programmes to be offered by the institution
  3. Their potential to strengthen academic opportunities in India
  4. Proposed infrastructure

UGC (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations 2023: Key questions answered

  • UGC approval compulsory: All foreign universities that wish to set up their campus in India will be allowed to do so only after getting approval from the UGC.
  • Reputed institutions: To set up a campus in Indian foreign universities will either have to be in the top 500 to apply or will have to be “highly reputed” in their respective countries (if the varsity does not participate in global rankings). If their ranking is between 500 and 100, but the subject-wise ranking is higher than overall, then in such cases, the institutions will be permitted to set up their campuses only for those ranked subjects.
  • Quality assurance: Additionally, the UGC will reserve the right to inspect these Indian campuses of foreign HEIs at any time, and they will not be outside the purview of anti-ragging and other criminal laws.
  • Offline classes only: All the foreign universities that open their branches in India will be allowed to conduct offline classes only, i.e. foreign universities can offer only full-time programmes in physical mode.
  • Freedom to choose admission process, fee, and faculty: All foreign varsities will have the freedom to come up with their own admission process. However, the universities will have to ensure “quality of education imparted at their Indian campuses is on par with their main campus.”
  • Admissions to all: Foreign higher educational institutes will have the freedom to enroll Indian as well as international students on their Indian campuses.
  • International funds transfer: To ensure that there is no chaos in funds transfer, all matters related to funding will be as per the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999.
  • Safeguarding of students’ interest: FHEI shall not discontinue any course or programme or close the campus without the commission’s prior approval. In the case of a course or programme disruption or discontinuation, the parent entity shall be responsible for providing an alternative to the affected students.
  • Equivalence with degrees awarded by Indian HEIs: The qualifications awarded to the students in the Indian campus shall be recognised and treated as equivalent to the corresponding qualifications awarded by the FEHI in the main campus located in the country of origin.
  • Securing India’s national interest: FEHIs shall not offer any such programme or course which jeopardises the national interest of India or the standards of higher education in India. The operation of FEHIs shall not be contrary to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency, or morality.

Why such move?

  • Increase in domestic enrolment: India has more than 1000 universities and 42,000 colleges. Despite having one of the largest higher education systems in the world, India’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education is just 27.1%, among the worlds’ lowest.
  • Education quality improvement: The lack of quality in Indian education is reflected in the QS World University Rankings 2022. IIT Bombay was the top-ranking Indian institute in the list with a ranking of 177. Only eight Indian universities made it to the top 400.
  • Paving the way: London Business School, King’s College in London, the University of Cambridge, and New York University have started preliminary discussion with the GIFT City authorities and the regulator to establish facilities at the GIFT International Financial Services Centre.

Benefits of the move

  • Human capital generation: This move would complement efforts to provide high quality human capital to India’s financial services industry.
  • Decreased overseas spending: Indian students’ overseas spending is set to grow from current annual $28 billion to $80 billion annually by 2024.
  • Reduce FOREX spending: Apart from fostering a competition in quality, International branch campuses can also help in reducing the foreign exchange outflow.
  • Prevents brain-drain: Education attracts opportunities. Atmanirbhar Bharat push will retain the domestic talent. More than eight lakh Indians gave up their citizenship in the last seven years.
  • Increase India’s soft power: Opening the door for foreign universities can improve India’s soft power as it will provide further impetus to the government’s Study in India programme that seeks to attract foreign students.

Challenges

  • Regulatory challenges: The following factors may deter foreign higher educational institutions from investing in India-
  1. Multi-layer regulatory framework governing different aspects of higher education
  2. Lack of a single regulatory body overlooking the collaborations/ investments and
  3. Multiple approvals are required to operate in India
  • Implementation issues: While NEP has taken the right steps to boost the education sector and pave the way for a globally-compatible education system, its implementation has been slow and requires clarity.
  • Higher possibility of Brain Drain: A policy challenge that stands before the GoI is to facilitate such tie-ups in a way that the Indian talent chooses to and is incentivised to remain in India and the Indian educational infrastructure is developed to match global standards.

Conclusion

  • The intent of the GoI, with respect to international universities setting up campuses in India, is clear from the provisions in the NEP.
  • However, much clarity is awaited for the proper implementation.

 

 

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The question in the minds of students: How to be future-ready?

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NA

Mains level: Rapidly changing technology ,Higher education, challenges and opportunities

students

Central Idea

  • Intelligent Machines are revealing glimpses of a future envisaged long ago in science fiction as they steadily morph from human-assist systems to systems-as-human. The currently indispensable face obsolescence. The question in the minds of students entering college is this: How to be future-ready?

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Learn quickly to swim through these rapidly evolving times

  • Work at the edges of disciplines: Now, one not only needs to be competent in a major area but also learn new topics quickly and deeply and be able to work at the edges of disciplines, while innovating constantly.
  • Skills are new oil: Capability is judged not only by grades, but also by skills demonstrated in complex situations.
  • Rapidly changing times: Worth will also be measured vis-a-vis Artificial Intelligence. Critical and original thinking, quality communication, IQ-EQ balance, and ethics will remain important strengths for swimming through these rapidly evolving times.
  • Change is already in the air: Students and institutions are evolving, the former much faster, to assimilate advancements and prepare for the times ahead.
  • Colleges must enable students to follow flexible pathways: There are options for dual degrees, minors, specialisations across disciplines in their home institutions as well as certifications from worldwide venues. External experiences like internships in industry, academia, research institutions and start-ups add value to a candidate’s capability repertoire.

students

What is needed to prepare for entering the world?

  1. Move across disciplines
  • A combination of core and transdisciplinary professional competence: To be prepared for the future, one needs to learn new things quickly and thoroughly, constantly sharpening one’s cutting edge. This attitude needs to be ingrained at this stage.
  • Average performance and shallow knowledge are a recipe for disaster: It is also necessary to demonstrate personal excellence in a few relevant areas. Completing tasks well is really important.
  1. Learn to add value to machine intelligence
  • Grasp and utilise Automation effectively: Automation is not only relieving us of mundane work but slowly and steadily encroaching upon tasks meant for so-called intelligent humans and doing them better. One must effectively grasp and utilise it rather than fear and shy away.
  • For instance, learn from open sources: Many students are building amazingly smart systems using open-source platforms and off-the-shelf components with ambitions to take on giants.
  • Using Artificial Intelligence with consciously: Learning to add value to machine intelligence for solving complex problems better is the mantra here. For this, one needs to understand how it works, what are its current limitations and pitfalls, develop deeper insights and innovate. Blind usage of Artificial Intelligence could be dangerous.
  1. Learn to collaborate
  • Ability to work both alone as well as in a group: The next proficiency to develop is to be able to work both alone as well as in a group, to creatively ideate, lead and collaborate towards success. Often, people who work alone find it difficult working in a team and vice versa. Now both aptitudes are required.
  • Entrepreneurial spirit of sprinting is must: One requires a special bonding of steadiness with speed, constant ideation with dogged persistence. Such an entrepreneurial spirit of sprinting a long-distance race steadily, sometimes in a team, sometimes alone will be needed at every stage of a career, whether at the peak of success or in the trenches of failure.
  1. Remain human
  • Intellectual-emotional balance: Technology has an interesting way of transforming human beings into automatons without the victim being aware. With extensive usage, people begin to think and behave the way machines work. Therefore, a critical aspect to nurture is to remain human.
  • Learn to replenish the mind and body regularly: It is vital to nourish a soulful side through sports, arts, culture, philosophy and humanitarian work, not just as part of a curriculum, but as a passion where one can be blissfully immersed, forgetting everything else for some time.

students

Conclusion

  • In the rapidly-evolving world, the key to success is to be future-ready by developing a unique combination of skills that set us apart from machines. Colleges and universities must enable students to follow flexible pathways, combining core and transdisciplinary professional competence, completing tasks well, and developing personal excellence in relevant areas. By embracing these ideas and staying ahead of the curve, we can be confident in our ability to thrive in an increasingly automated and technology-driven world.

Main question

Q. The future of society is not as much dependent on whether machines will become human-like but more on whether humans will become machines. Discuss

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Assessing the Learning of the School Children

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NEP

Mains level: NEP, ASER survey findings

Context

  • The Covid pandemic had caused schools to shut down in March 2020, and India had one of the longest school closures in the world primary schools were closed for almost two years. The impact of the pandemic on the education sector was feared to be twofold learning loss associated with long school closures, and higher dropout rates, especially among older children, due to squeezed family budgets.

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ASER survey during the pandemic

  • Assessing the learning losses: Estimates from these three state-level surveys could be used to understand the extent of children’s learning losses. These state level estimates are extremely useful as they are the only ASER estimates of learning we have between 2018 and 2022.
  • Rising learning level pre-pandemic: For the country as a whole, learning levels had been rising slowly between 2014 and 2018, after being stagnant for several years. For example, at the all-India level, the proportion of children in Class III who could read a Class II level text (a proxy for grade-level reading) had risen from 23.6 per cent in 2014 to 27.2 per cent in 2018.
  • Big fall during pandemic: ASER 2022 shows a big drop in this proportion to 20.5 per cent. This 7-percentage point fall is huge, given how slowly the all-India numbers move and confirms fears of large learning losses caused by the pandemic.
  • Higher losses in math: In math also, learning levels had risen slowly between 2014 and 2018. The 2022 estimates show a drop here as well although much smaller than in the case of reading.

Case study of three states- Karnataka Chhattisgarh and West Bengal

  • Assess learning levels in three states: Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal in 2021, when schools were still closed or had just reopened. While these are not national estimates, they provide an interim measurement that is more reflective of pandemic-induced learning losses than the estimates for 2022.
  • Reading and math losses: Across all three states, there were large learning losses in both reading and math in 2021 in excess of 7 percentage points, except in the case of Std V in West Bengal. The loss in reading is a little higher, though not by much.
  • Learning losses was much below 2014 levels: In both reading and math, the 2021 learning levels in these three states fell below their 2014 levels. A year later, ASER 2022 data shows that across all three states, there has been a recovery in both reading and math (except Karnataka in reading and West Bengal in reading in Std V) after schools reopened in 2021-22.
  • Recovery still below pandemic: In other words, while the 2022 learning levels were still below or in some cases close to the 2018 levels, comparing 2018 with 2022 hides the dramatic fall in learning levels observed between these two points and the subsequent recovery that has happened in the last year.

 Impact of New Education Policy

  • Focus on foundational competency: Another big development during 2020-21 was the introduction of the new National Education Policy (NEP) in 2020. For the first time, there was a big focus on the early years and the importance of foundational competencies.
  • Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN): Once schools reopened, states moved quickly and almost all states have made a major push in the area of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) under the NIPUN Bharat mission (National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy). This push is reflected in the ASER 2022 data.
  • Directive for NEP Implementation: As part of the survey, ASER field investigators visited one government school in each of the sampled village to record enrolment, attendance and school facilities. This year we also asked whether schools had received any directive from the government to implement FLN activities in the school and whether teachers had been trained on FLN. At the all-India level, 81 per cent schools responded that they had received such a directive and 83 per cent said that at least one teacher in the school had been trained on FLN.

Recovery of learning losses

  • Partial recovery in some states: Extrapolating from the experience of the three states for which we have 2021 data, we can assume that other states also experienced large learning losses during the pandemic. However, once schools reopened, states made a concerted effort to build or re-build foundational competencies, which has resulted in a partial and in some cases, a full recovery.
  • Earliest open, recovered faster: The extent of the recovery varies across states depending on how long their schools were closed as well as when they initiated learning recovery measures. For instance, Chhattisgarh was one of the earliest states to reopen their primary schools in July 2021, giving them a longer period to work with children, as compared to, for instance, Himachal Pradesh or Maharashtra, where schools reopened much later.
  • Remarkable recovery by Chhattisgarh: Taking into account the 2021 figures, the 2022 estimates for Chhattisgarh point to a remarkable recovery, in both reading and math, that is hidden if we just compare 2022 with 2018.
  • Lack of data for many states: In the absence of a 2021 measurement for other states, it is difficult to say what the original pandemic-induced learning loss was from which states are aiming to recover.

Conclusion

  • As per the ASER survey learning losses of the student have been recovered quickly than expected. NEP looks very promising for better learning outcomes for children and college students. Every state and union territory should implement the NEP in its entirety.

Mains Question

Q. Analyze the learning outcomes and recovery of children based on ASER survey. What is impact of NEP on recovery of learning outcome after pandemic?

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Vishwaguru aspirations and the internationalization of Indian higher education

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NA

Mains level: Foreign university campus in India, benefits and challenges, way ahead

education

Context

  • The 2020 National Education Policy (NEP) was a pathbreaking moment in the annals of Indian higher education. The policy envisions a complete overhaul and re-energising of the higher education system. The just announced University Grants Commission (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023, have re-ignited debates on the internationalization of Indian higher education.

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education

Major factors that influence Internationalization of higher education

  • Prohibitive costs of higher education, especially in developed countries: Indian students must pay approximately Rs 70 lakh per annum to study at Harvard, Yale or Stanford and over Rs 55 lakh per annum to study at Oxford or Cambridge. Tuition fees alone would be about 15 times more expensive than Indian private universities. The new proposal vitiates the NEP’s vision of equity and inclusion as it envisages higher education only for the super-rich.
  • The establishment costs of top university campuses make the project unviable: The vision of uniform academic standards in both the parent university and its international campus is a noble aspiration. However, the reality is international campuses have become a second-rate option, primarily accessible to those unable to get admission to the main campus. The quality and excellence in teaching and research on overseas campuses cannot match those in their primary location.
  • The landscape of global higher education has dramatically changed post-Covid: The idea of brick-and-mortar international campuses has given way to building solid partnerships, student and faculty mobility, exchange and immersion programmes, joint teaching and research opportunities, collaborative conferences and publications and the development of online and blended degree programmes. The global thinking around international collaborations has changed.

Steps to become a global leader in international education

  • Greater autonomy to Indian universities as well as Institutions of Eminence (IoE): Indian universities, both public and private, are generally highly regulated and poorly governed. The ingrained institutional habit of regulatory bodies instructing universities on what they should be doing must stop. The government must pay greater attention to the IoEs and expand their scope and scale so that they become natural destinations for international students.
  • Establishing universities more of global orientation and outlook: Establish global universities in India led by the public and the private sector to cater to the needs and aspirations of international students. India’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) is lopsided. The national GER is approximately 22 per cent but there are states, such as Tamil Nadu, with a GER of 52 per cent. We must build more public and private universities across the country, with greater autonomy, resources and better governance structures, minimising the role of the regulatory bodies.
  • Provide more resources to all the Indian universities: Indian universities face acute resource scarcity. The NEP has envisaged a six per cent annual investment in higher education and a National Research Foundation to allocate additional resources. Government must encourage CSR and philanthropic initiatives with more tax incentives to enable private sector contributions to public and private universities.
  • Breaking the barriers, bias and prejudices and hierarchy: The NEP envisages breaking the long-standing barriers between public and private institutions. But many biases and prejudices persist. An institutionalised hierarchy in the Indian higher education system replicates the caste system. First, the IITs and the IIMs are placed high in the pecking order, followed by the central universities. Next come the IISERs, NITs and much lower down are the state public universities.
  • Establish a liberal and progressive regulatory ecosystem for Indian universities to attract international students: Much more than reforms in the education sector will be needed if India is to become a sought-after international destination for students from developing countries. Government must reform its visa processes and the FRRO registration procedures. There must be a significant improvement in the quality of infrastructure and hostels on university campuses. The safety, security and well-being of the students, especially women, must be ensured. Other forms of university towns and education cities can create a comprehensive ecosystem that will enable students and faculty to study, work and live in these communities.

education

What should be the India’s approach?

  • Focus on becoming global higher education destination in our own right: Instead of enabling the creation of international campuses of universities from developed countries, we need to focus on becoming a global higher education destination in our own right.
  • Assume leadership role to realise Vishwaguru aspiration: We will not realise the Vishwaguru aspiration by inviting prestigious foreign universities to locate campuses. We must assume the leadership role we had over 2,000 years ago when Nalanda, Takshashila, Vallabhi and Vikramshila attracted faculty and students from around the world.
  • High quality education in affordable cost: We can be truly global leaders in providing high-quality education at an affordable cost. Likewise, we can produce high-quality research at a relatively lower cost.
  • For instance: Indian scientists made a successful mission to Mars with a modest budget of $74 million, less than the production cost of $108 million for Gravity, a Hollywood film.

education

Conclusion

  • The vision of India becoming a Vishwaguru cannot be achieved by outsourcing Indian higher education to international universities. Instead of enabling the creation of international campuses of universities from developed countries, it must focus on becoming a global higher education destination in its own right.

Mains question

Q. India strives to become a global leader in international education. Discuss what steps need to take and what should be the India’s approach?

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UGC norms to setup Foreign Universities in India

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Top foreign universities

Mains level: Read the attached story

foreign universities

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has unveiled draft regulations for ‘Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India’.

Quest for Foreign Universities in India: A quick recap

  • The government had in 1995 drafted the Foreign Education Bill which had to be shelved.
  • Another attempt was made in 2006, but the draft law could not cross the Cabinet stage.
  • Then in 2010, the UPA-2 government brought the Foreign Educational Institutions Bill, which failed to get enough support in the Parliament.
  • The bill lapsed in 2014 as UPA lost power.
  • The New Education Policy, 2020 allows for establishment of foreign university campuses in India.

Procedure for Universities coming to India

  • The process for getting approval for setting up a campus in India will be strictly online in the beginning. Interested institutions have to apply at the UGC portal with a non-refundable fee, and then submit some documents.
  • After the applications are received, a committee formed by the Commission will examine these applications on these factors:
  1. Credibility of the institution
  2. Programmes to be offered by the institution
  3. Their potential to strengthen academic opportunities in India
  4. Proposed infrastructure

UGC (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations 2023: Key questions answered

  • UGC approval compulsory: All foreign universities that wish to set up their campus in India will be allowed to do so only after getting approval from the UGC.
  • Reputed institutions: To set up a campus in Indian foreign universities will either have to be in the top 500 to apply or will have to be “highly reputed” in their respective countries (if the varsity does not participate in global rankings). If their ranking is between 500 and 100, but the subject-wise ranking is higher than overall, then in such cases, the institutions will be permitted to set up their campuses only for those ranked subjects.
  • Quality assurance: Additionally, the UGC will reserve the right to inspect these Indian campuses of foreign HEIs at any time, and they will not be outside the purview of anti-ragging and other criminal laws.
  • Offline classes only: All the foreign universities that open their branches in India will be allowed to conduct offline classes only, i.e. foreign universities can offer only full-time programmes in physical mode.
  • Freedom to choose admission process, fee, and faculty: All foreign varsities will have the freedom to come up with their own admission process. However, the universities will have to ensure “quality of education imparted at their Indian campuses is on par with their main campus.”
  • Admissions to all: Foreign higher educational institutes will have the freedom to enroll Indian as well as international students on their Indian campuses.
  • International funds transfer: To ensure that there is no chaos in funds transfer, all matters related to funding will be as per the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999.
  • Safeguarding of students’ interest: FHEI shall not discontinue any course or programme or close the campus without the commission’s prior approval. In the case of a course or programme disruption or discontinuation, the parent entity shall be responsible for providing an alternative to the affected students.
  • Equivalence with degrees awarded by Indian HEIs: The qualifications awarded to the students in the Indian campus shall be recognised and treated as equivalent to the corresponding qualifications awarded by the FEHI in the main campus located in the country of origin.
  • Securing India’s national interest: FEHIs shall not offer any such programme or course which jeopardises the national interest of India or the standards of higher education in India. The operation of FEHIs shall not be contrary to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency, or morality.

Why such move?

  • Increase in domestic enrolment: India has more than 1000 universities and 42,000 colleges. Despite having one of the largest higher education systems in the world, India’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education is just 27.1%, among the worlds’ lowest.
  • Education quality improvement: The lack of quality in Indian education is reflected in the QS World University Rankings 2022. IIT Bombay was the top-ranking Indian institute in the list with a ranking of 177. Only eight Indian universities made it to the top 400.
  • Paving the way: London Business School, King’s College in London, the University of Cambridge, and New York University have started preliminary discussion with the GIFT City authorities and the regulator to establish facilities at the GIFT International Financial Services Centre.

Benefits of the move

  • Human capital generation: This move would complement efforts to provide high quality human capital to India’s financial services industry.
  • Decreased overseas spending: Indian students’ overseas spending is set to grow from current annual $28 billion to $80 billion annually by 2024.
  • Reduce FOREX spending: Apart from fostering a competition in quality, International branch campuses can also help in reducing the foreign exchange outflow.
  • Prevents brain-drain: Education attracts opportunities. Atmanirbhar Bharat push will retain the domestic talent. More than eight lakh Indians gave up their citizenship in the last seven years.
  • Increase India’s soft power: Opening the door for foreign universities can improve India’s soft power as it will provide further impetus to the government’s Study in India programme that seeks to attract foreign students.

Challenges

  • Regulatory challenges: The following factors may deter foreign higher educational institutions from investing in India-
  1. Multi-layer regulatory framework governing different aspects of higher education
  2. Lack of a single regulatory body overlooking the collaborations/ investments and
  3. Multiple approvals required to operate in India
  • Implementation issues: While NEP has taken the right steps to boost the education sector and pave the way for a globally-compatible education system, its implementation has been slow and requires clarity.
  • Higher possibility of Brain Drain: A policy challenge that stands before the GoI is to facilitate such tie-ups in a way that the Indian talent chooses to and is incentivised to remain in India and the Indian educational infrastructure is developed to match global standards.

Conclusion

  • The intent of the GoI, with respect to international universities setting up campuses in India, is clear from the provisions in the NEP.
  • However, much clarity is awaited for the proper implementation.

 

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[pib] The Urban Learning Internship Programme (TULIP)

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: TULIP Program

Mains level: Not Much

tulip

More than 25,000 internship opportunities have been advertised under the TULIP programme so far.

TULIP Program

  • TULIP is a portal jointly developed by the Ministry of HRD, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
  • It helps reap the benefits of India’s demographic dividend as it is poised to have the largest working-age population in the world in the coming years.
  • It helps enhance the value-to-market of India’s graduates and help create a potential talent pool in diverse fields like urban planning, transport engineering, environment, municipal finance etc.
  • It furthers the Government’s endeavors to boost community partnership and government-academia-industry-civil society linkages.

Why need such a program?

  • India has a substantial pool of technical graduates for whom exposure to real-world project implementation and planning is essential for professional development.
  • General education may not reflect the depth of productive knowledge present in society.
  • Instead of approaching education as ‘doing by learning,’ our societies need to reimagine education as ‘learning by doing.’

 

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Vice-Chancellor Appointment, New Chapter in Centre-State Relations

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NA

Mains level: Vice-Chancellor Appointment and Centre state relation

Vice-Chancellor Appointment

Context

  • Recent judgments of the Supreme Court of India on the appointment of vice chancellors (VC) in State universities in violation of the regulations of the University Grants Commission (UGC) are significant in the context of higher education in a federal country such as India.

Vice-Chancellor Appointment

What are the recent judgements of Supreme Court?

  • Gambhirdan K. Gadhvi vs The State of Gujarat (March 3, 2022): In the case, Gambhirdan K. Gadhvi vs The State of Gujarat (March 3, 2022), from Sardar Patel University, Gujarat, the Court (Justices M.R. Shah and B.V. Nagarathna) quashed the appointment of the incumbent Vice Chancellor on the ground that the search committee did not form a panel for the appointment of VC, and, therefore, was not in accordance with the UGC Regulations of 2018.
  • UGC regulations will prevail over state law: It was held that since the State law was repugnant to the UGC regulations, the latter would prevail and the appointment under the State law had become void ab initio.
  • Professor (Dr) Sreejith P.S vs Dr. Rajasree M.S. (October 21, 2022): In the second case, from Kerala, i.e., Professor (Dr) Sreejith P.S vs Dr. Rajasree M.S. (October 21, 2022), with the Bench of Justices M.R. Shah and M.M. Sundresh, the appointment of the Vice Chancellor of the A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technological University, Thiruvananthapuram, was challenged on the ground that the search committee recommended only one name, which is against the UGC Regulations.
  • Supreme court quashed the appointment of VCs: The Court quashed the appointment of the VC on the ground that the provision relating to the search committee in the University Act is repugnant to the UGC Regulations, and was therefore void.

Vice-Chancellor Appointment

Implications of the recent judgement

  • Many VCs asked to resigned by Governor: Decision of the Supreme Court triggered unprecedented developments in Kerala with the State Governor, who is the Chancellor of all the universities in Kerala, asking as many as 11 VCs of other universities of the State to resign immediately on the ground that their appointments too had become void after the Supreme Court’s judgment.
  • Tussle between governor and state: No VC has resigned as per the direction of the Governor. This development has intensified an already raging battle between the state government and the Governor, which is likely to become fiercer with the Kerala High Court quashing the appointment of the VC of the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies on November 14 on the ground that this appointment was in violation of the UGC Regulations.

What are the legal and constitutional issues with judgement?

  • UGC regulations vs state university Act: In both these cases, the issue framed by the Supreme Court is about whether the appointment of VCs should be made as per the UGC Regulations or the provisions of the State University Act.
  • Education in concurrent list, Centre and state can make a legislation: As education is a subject on the Concurrent list, this question needs to be addressed seriously. A VC is appointed by the Chancellor under the relevant University Act, but the Supreme Court has brought in Article 254 of the Constitution to rule that if provisions of the State law are repugnant to the provisions of the Union law, the State law will become void.
  • State law declared void over UGC violations: In the cases mentioned above, the top court found that the search committee recommended only one name for the appointment of VC which violates the UGC Regulations which require three to five names, and, therefore, the provision of the State law is void.
  • Subordinate regulations prevailed over state law: Thus, the Court’s conclusion is that if any provision in the State university law is repugnant to the UGC Regulations, the latter will prevail and the former will become void. So, on the one side we have an Act passed by a legislature and on the other we have regulations made by a subordinate body such as the UGC.

Opinion of experts

  • State laws are subordinate to the act of parliament: A careful reading of Article 254 would show that the repugnancy under this Article relates to a state law and a substantive law made by Parliament. It impliedly excludes rules, regulations, etc. Rules and regulations are made by subordinate authorities in this case the UGC whereas the substantive law is made by the superior authority, namely Parliament.
  • State laws are not subordinate to UGC regulations: The repugnancy can arise only between the provisions of the University Acts and the UGC Act, and not the regulations of the UGC.
  • UGC regulations are inferior to state assembly: The rules and regulations made by the subordinate authority, though laid in Parliament, do not go through the same process as a law. Normally these do not require the approval of Parliament. The rules and regulations have an inferior status as compared to an Act. The Constitution cannot be assumed to equate the Act with the rules.
  • Article 254 does not include regulations: The Constitution does not, in general terms, define the term law. The inclusive definition of law given in Article 13(2) is applicable only to that Article. It has no application to other Articles, which means the term law does not include the rules, regulations, etc. for the purpose of Article 254.
  • Violation of federal principle: The regulations made by a subordinate authority of the Union overriding a law made by a state legislature will amount to a violation of federal principles and a negation of the concurrent legislative power granted to the State by the Constitution.
  • UGC regulations are Not part of UGC act: The UGC Regulations on the appointment of VCs are outside the scope of the main provisions of the UGC Act as none of its provisions refers to the appointment of VCs.

Conclusion

  • Issue of appointment of vice-chancellor has opened the new conflicting chapter between Centre-state relations. Supreme court’s decision has further added the confusion rather than clarity to the issue. Supreme court need to review the judgements for harmonious relations between Centre and states.

Mains Question

Q. Explain the article 254 about Centre-state legislative relations? How the issue of vice-chancellor appointment is problematic for Centre-state relationship?  

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Giving More Autonomy to Universities

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: world university rankings

Mains level: Issues with the autonomy of the universities

Universities

Context

  • It is sad but not surprising that none of India’s institutions of higher education appears in the list of top 100 universities of the world.

Background: Ranking of the of the Indian Institutes

  • According to the QS World ranking: The 2023 edition of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) world university ranking reckons that three of India’s higher educational institutions amongst the top 200 of the World. Another three are counted among the top 300 whereas two more in the top 400.
  • As per the Times Higher education Ranking: The Times Higher Education (THE) ranking places only one Indian institution among the top 400 of the worlds.
  • Academic rankings: Rankings are the same with the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). Barring one of the most eminent public-funded deemed universities of the country, all the rest are Institutions of National Importance (INIs) the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), to be specific.

Why other universities reflect poor performance than IITs and INIs?

  • IITs have more autonomy: IITs are not only better funded but also generally self-governed, enjoying a greater degree of autonomy as they fall outside the regulatory purview of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
  • Strict UGC regulations: Funded through the University Grants Commission (UGC), universities are all subject to a very strict regulatory regime.
  • Micro-management of universities functioning: Abiding by UGC regulations and AICTE guidelines, encompasses almost all aspects of their functioning be it faculty recruitment, student admission and the award of degrees. In many cases, they are micro-managed by the regulatory authorities.
  • Very less autonomy to UGC affiliated Universities: Most of the universities have become so comfortable with the practice that they rarely assert their autonomy.
  • Ranking on basis of compliance: Central universities in the country are also ranked on the basis of their ‘obedience’ to regulatory compliances. Even in the academic domain, many of them are comfortable in publicly stating that they have adopted the model curricula, pedagogy and syllabi prescribed by the regulatory bodies, even though the same may have been only indicative.

Universities

What are the good practices of best universities around the world?

  • Importance to autonomy: The best universities in the world are continuously sensitized about the importance of their autonomy and are trained and enabled to make their own decisions.
  • University autonomy tool for comparison: The European University Association (EUA), for example, prescribes a ‘university autonomy tool’ that lets each member university compare its level of autonomy vis-à-vis the other European higher education systems across all member countries.
  • Four specific autonomies for ranking: By focusing on four autonomy areas (organizational, financial, staffing, and academic) the EUA computes composite scores and ranks all the countries in Europe.

Universities

What are the efforts taken to improve the universities performance?

  • National education policy 2020: A large number of commissions and committees, including the national policies on education (including the National Education Policy 2020), have highlighted the need for higher education autonomy. The new education policy seeks to completely overhaul the higher education system, and to attain this objective, repeatedly emphasizes the need for institutional autonomy.
  • Academic and administrative autonomy: The NEP regards academic and administrative autonomy essential for making higher education multi-disciplinary, and that teacher and institutional autonomy are a sine qua non in promoting creativity and innovation.
  • Independent board of management: The policy considers a lack of autonomy as one of the major problems of higher education and promises to ensure faculty and institutional autonomy through a highly independent and empowered board of management which would be vested with academic and administrative autonomy.
  • Light but tight regulation: It argues for a ‘light but tight’ regulatory framework and insists that the new regulatory regime would foster a culture of empowerment. Further, it goes on to say that by relying on a robust system of accreditation, all higher education institutions would gradually gain full academic and administrative autonomy.

Conclusion

  • Universities in India have been losing their autonomy. In the two years since the approval, announcement, and gradual implementation of the NEP, universities in India today are far less autonomous than earlier. If India wants to be leader in knowledge and patent economy then its universities must be freed from clutches of unreasonable regulations.

Mains Question

Q. Why Indian universities does poor on world ranking of universities? Autonomy of university is keystone to improve the performance of universities. Examine.

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‘Professors of Practice’ for all colleges, universities

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Professors of Practice

Mains level: Not Much

University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued new guidelines under which higher education institutes can create a new teaching position called Professor of Practice to hire experts from various sectors, in line with provisions that already exist in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

Professors of Practice

  • If one is a distinguished professional in any field but do not have a formal academic qualification such as a PhD, he/she can still be eligible for appointment as faculty in any college or university in India.
  • To be eligible for appointment, an individual will have to be a “distinguished expert” who has made remarkable contributions in their professions.
  • The post is open to the institutions themselves to decide the sector from which they want to rope in professionals.

Streams opened for this post

  • A professor of practice can be anyone with a background in a diverse range of areas from technology, science, social sciences, media, literature, armed forces, law, fine arts, etc.
  • However, the position is not open for those in the teaching profession — either serving or retired.

Minimum qualifications

  • No formal academic qualification is necessary in order to be considered for this position if a person has been an “exemplary” professional in their field of work.
  • Currently, under the UGC’s minimum qualifications needs a PhD to be recruited as a professor or associate professor, and also needs to have cleared the National Eligibility Test (NET).

Will the professor of practice be a full-time position?

  • It can be either a full-time or a part-time engagement for at least four years.
  • Initially, the hiring will be for one year.
  • Based on performance, extensions may be given.

How will these appointments be made?

  • Universities and colleges will carry out appointments on a nomination basis.
  • In other words, vice-chancellors or directors have been authorized to invite nominations for filling up posts, which cannot exceed 10 percent of the sanctioned faculty strength of an institute.
  • After nominations are invited, those interested can send their applications with detailed biodata and a brief write-up about the ways they can potentially contribute.
  • The applications will be considered by a selection committee comprising two senior professors from the respective institute, and one “eminent external member”.
  • Based on the recommendations of the committee, the academic council and the executive council of the institutes will take the final call on appointment.

What about remuneration?

  • The remuneration will be decided at the level of the institutes and the experts being hired.
  • In some cases, universities can even approach industries for financial support.

Why such move?

  • India’s higher education institutes are understaffed, with thousands of vacancies across central and state universities.
  • So the UGC is hoping that recruiting industry experts and professionals will help “augment faculty resources” in universities and colleges.
  • The move is aimed at addressing concerns about the quality of graduates being produced by Indian colleges and universities.
  • Around the world, the idea of a professor of practice aims essentially to facilitate and promote the integration of academic scholarship with practical expertise and experience.

 

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Issues faced by Teachers in India

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NA

Mains level: teacher concerns and issues

teacher Context

  • 5 September is teacher’s day. Teachers’ Day or Shikshak Divas marks the birthday of the country’s first Vice President (1952–1962) who went on to become the second President of India (1962-1967), a scholar, philosopher, Bharat Ratna awardee, a highly-respected teacher and prolific statesman – Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan.

teacher What are the issue with teachers?

  • Less attractive career: It seems that teaching the young is no longer an attractive profession because systemic conditions are so discouraging. It points towards the reforms that education now requires.
  • Diversion from teaching: Teaching children is not regarded as a serious profession. Non-teaching duties are routinely assigned, and now the digital regime has washed away the few traces of professional autonomy even in the best of private schools.
  • Bureaucratic over vigilance: So deep is official suspicion of their integrity that many states have installed CCTV cameras in classrooms. That is not the only form of insult teacher’s face. They have little power to assert their professional dignity in the face of bureaucratic or managerial authority.
  • Marginalisation by coaching institutes: The Indian school teacher now faces new social and economic forces. Coaching institutions have marginalised the secondary-level science teacher. All over the country, children are allowed to bunk school to attend NEET and JEE coaching classes. Science and math teachers were, in any case, aware that their pedagogic effectiveness would be measured by an unreformed examination system.
  • Reliability issue due to internet overuse: Social Science teachers are coping with a different kind of challenge to justify their knowledge and interpretation. Children’s access to the internet exposes them to a wilderness of socio-political ideas and information. It is not easy for social science teachers to convince children that they are more reliable than a YouTube video or a WhatsApp message.

Catchy line in this context for value addition

Jinke jiwan me guru nahi, unka jiwan abhi shuru nahi.

How to address these challenges

  • Supporting teacher control over curriculum and instruction: Classical top-down school leadership needs to be re-examined, and teachers must be recognized as professionals who have expertise to make good learning decisions for their students.
  • Establish adequate pay scales and financial incentives: Compensation systems signal what skills and attributes are valued and what kinds of contributions are rewarded.
  • Establish and conduct personnel evaluation systems: Teachers need regular feedback and accurate information on job expectations.
  • Provide adequate planning time for teachers: While all teachers work under tremendous time constraints, experienced teachers generally are able to complete their planning more quickly. For new teachers, adequate planning time can allay feelings of being overwhelmed.
  • Provide a structure for team planning and teaching: Teachers often report feeling isolated in their classrooms. Team planning and teaching can be an important step in retaining a high quality teaching force.

teacher Conclusion

  • Since the teacher is the pivot of the entire educational system and is the main catalytic agent for introducing desirable changes in the teaching learning process, all attempts need be made for motivating teachers to become innovative and creative. It goes without saying that a self-motivated and really industrious teacher can utilise his own resources to keep themselves abreast of new knowledge and skills.

Mains question

Q. It seems that teaching the young is no longer an attractive profession because systemic conditions are so discouraging. Critically analyse.

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Branch campuses in India, prospects and challenges

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2- University branch campuses

Context

India, after half a century of keeping its higher education doors closed to foreigners, is on the cusp of opening itself to the world.

Higher education reforms

  • Currently, India does not allow the entry and the operation of foreign university branch campuses.
  • The NEP 2020 was a turning point for the entry of foreign universities as it recommended allowing foreign universities ranked in the “top 100” category to operate in India — under somewhat unrealistic conditions.
  • Internationalism: The wide-ranging National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 promises higher education reforms in many areas, and internationalisation is prominent among them.
  • Strengthening India’s soft power: Among the underlying ideas is to strengthen India’s “soft power” through higher education collaboration, bringing new ideas and institutions from abroad to stimulate reform and show “best practice”, and in general to ensure that Indian higher education, for the first time, is a global player.
  • In February 2022, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget speech, announced that “world-class foreign universities and institutions would be allowed in the planned business district in Gujarat’s GIFT City”
  •  It was reported that in April 2022, the University Grants Commission (UGC) formed a committee to draft regulations to allow foreign institutions in the “top 500” category to establish campuses in India — realising that more flexibility was needed
  • Bringing global experience to India: Establishing branch campuses of top foreign universities is a good idea as this will bring much-needed global experience to India.

Challenges

  • Globally, branch campuses, of which there are around 300 now, provide a mixed picture.
  • Many are aimed at making money for the sponsoring university — and this is not what India wants.
  • It will not be easy to attract foreign universities to India and even more difficult to create the conditions for them to flourish.
  • Many of those top universities are already fully engaged overseas and would likely require incentives to set up in India.
  • Further, there are smaller but highly regarded universities outside the ‘top 500’ category that might be more interested.
  • Universities around the world that have academic specialisations focusing on India, that already have research or faculty ties in the country, or that have Non-Resident Indians (NRI) in senior management positions may be easier to attract.
  • What is most important is to prevent profit-seekers from entering the Indian market and to encourage foreign institutions with innovative educational ideas and a long-term commitment.
  • Many host countries have provided significant incentives, including building facilities and providing necessary infrastructure.
  • Foreign universities are highly unlikely to invest significant funds up front.
  • A big challenge will be India’s “well-known” bureaucracy, especially the multiple regulators.

Opportunities

  • India is seen around the world as an important country and an emerging higher education power.
  • It is the world’s second largest “exporter” of students, with 4,61,792 students studying abroad (according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
  • And India has the world’s second largest higher education system.
  • Foreign countries and universities will be eager to establish a “beachhead” in India and interested in providing opportunities for home campus students to learn about Indian business, society, and culture to participate in growing trade and other relations.
  • Benefits of branch campuses: International branch campuses, if allowed, could function as a structurally different variant of India’s private university sector.
  • Branch campuses, if effectively managed, could bring much needed new ideas about curriculum, pedagogy, and governance to Indian higher education — they could be a kind of educational laboratory.

Current initiatives

  • There has been modest growth of various forms of partnerships between Indian and foreign institutions.
  • The joint PhD programmes offered by the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay-Monash Research Academy and the University of Queensland-Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Academy of Research (UQIDAR), both with Australian partners, are some examples.
  • Another example is the Melbourne-India Postgraduate Academy (MIPA). It is a joint initiative of the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur with the University of Melbourne.
  • MIPA provides students with an opportunity to earn a joint degree accredited both in India and Australia: from the University of Melbourne and one of the partnering Indian institutions.
  • These partnerships suggest that India could offer opportunities for international branch campuses as well.

Challenges

  • Globally, branch campuses, of which there are around 300 now, provide a mixed picture.
  • Many are aimed at making money for the sponsoring university — and this is not what India wants.
  • It will not be easy to attract foreign universities to India and even more difficult to create the conditions for them to flourish.
  • Many of those top universities are already fully engaged overseas and would likely require incentives to set up in India.
  • Further, there are smaller but highly regarded universities outside the ‘top 500’ category that might be more interested.
  • Universities around the world that have academic specialisations focusing on India, that already have research or faculty ties in the country, or that have Non-Resident Indians (NRI) in senior management positions may be easier to attract.
  • What is most important is to prevent profit-seekers from entering the Indian market and to encourage foreign institutions with innovative educational ideas and a long-term commitment.
  • Many host countries have provided significant incentives, including building facilities and providing necessary infrastructure.
  • Foreign universities are highly unlikely to invest significant funds up front.
  • A big challenge will be India’s “well-known” bureaucracy, especially the multiple regulators.

Conclusion

After examining national experiences elsewhere, clear policies can be implemented that may be attractive to foreign universities. Once policies are in place, the key to success will be relationships among universities.

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TN clips Governor’s power to appoint VCs

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, Article 254

Mains level: Issues with role of Governor

The Tamil Nadu Assembly has adopted two Bills that seek to empower the government to appoint Vice-Chancellors (VCs) to 13 State universities under the aegis of the Higher Education Department by amending the respective Acts.

Role of Governors in State Universities

  • In most cases, the Governor of the state is the ex-officio chancellor of the universities in that state.
  • Its powers and functions as the Chancellor are laid out in the statutes that govern the universities under a particular state government.
  • Their role in appointing the Vice-Chancellors has often triggered disputes with the political executive.

Who is a Chancellor of a University?

  • In India, almost all universities have a chancellor as their titular head whose function is largely ceremonial.
  • The governor of the state, appointed as the union’s representative of state by the president, is the honorary chancellor of all State owned universities.
  • The de facto head of any government university is the vice-chancellor.
  • In private non-profit universities, normally the head of the foundation who has established the university is the chancellor of the university and is the head of the university.

What about Central Universities?

  • Under the Central Universities Act, 2009, and other statutes, the President of India shall be the Visitor of a central university.
  • With their role limited to presiding over convocations, Chancellors in central universities are titular heads, who are appointed by the President in his capacity as Visitor.
  • The VCs too are appointed by the Visitor from panels of names picked by search and selection committees formed by the Union government.
  • The Act adds that the President, as Visitor, shall have the right to authorize inspections of academic and non-academic aspects of the universities and also to institute inquiries.

What are the highlights of the TN Bills?

  • The Bills passed in Tamil Nadu stress that “every appointment of the Vice-Chancellor shall be made by the Government from out of a panel of three names” recommended by a search-cum-selection committee.
  • Currently, the Governor, in his capacity as the Chancellor of state universities, has the power to pick a VC from the shortlisted names.
  • The Bills also seek to empower the state government to have the final word on the removal of VCs, if needed.
  • Removal will be carried out based on inquiries by a retired High Court judge or a bureaucrat who has served at least as a Chief Secretary, according to one of the Bills.

Are other states trying to curtail the Governor’s role in appointing VCs?

  • In December, the Maharashtra Assembly passed a Bill amending the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016.
  • Under the original Act, the Maharashtra government had no say in the appointment of VCs.
  • If the changes take effect, the Governor will be given two names to choose from by the state government.
  • In 2019, the West Bengal government took away the Governor’s authority in appointing VCs to state universities.
  • It has also hinted at removing the Governor as the Chancellor of the universities.
  • But all such motives have been challenged by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

What is at the root of the differences?

  • In West Bengal, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, the elected governments have repeatedly accused the Governors of acting at the behest of the Centre on various subjects, including education.
  • The regulations, which differ from state to state, are often open to interpretation and disputes are routine.
  • In fact, the TN Bills make a case for giving the state government the upper hand in the VC appointment process by citing the examples of Gujarat and Telangana.
  • In Karnataka, Jharkhand and Rajasthan, state laws underline the need for concurrence between the state and the Governor.
  • The terms “concurrence” or “consultation” are absent from state legislation in most cases.

What is the UGC’s role in this?

  • Education comes under the Concurrent List.
  • But entry 66 of the Union List states — “coordination and determination of standards in institutions for higher education or research and scientific and technical institutions”.
  • This gives the Centre substantial authority over higher education.
  • The UGC plays that standard-setting role, even in the case of appointments in universities and colleges.
  • According to the UGC Regulations, 2018, the “Visitor/Chancellor” — mostly the Governor in states — shall appoint the VC out of the panel of names recommended by search-cum-selection committees.
  • Higher educational institutions, particularly those that get UGC funds, are mandated to follow its regulations.
  • These are usually followed without friction in the case of central universities, but are sometimes resisted by the states in the case of state universities.

Judicial observations in this regard

  • A Bench of Justices M R Shah and B V Nagarathna said “any appointment as a VC contrary to the provisions of the UGC Regulations can be said to be in violation of the statutory provisions, warranting a writ of quo warranto”.
  • It said every subordinate legislation of the UGC, in this case the one on minimum standards on appointments, flows from the parent UGC Act, 1956.
  • Therefore, being a subordinate legislation, UGC Regulations become part of the Act.
  • In case of any conflict between state legislation and central legislation, central legislation shall prevail by applying the rule/principle of repugnancy as enunciated in Article 254 of the Constitution.
  • It reiterated that the subject ‘education’ is in the Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.

 

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The impact of the CUET is likely to be harsher on disadvantaged sections

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Gross Enrolment Ratio

Mains level: Paper 2- Issues with CUET

Context

The introduction of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) can be seen as a step in the direction of aligning India with international standards.

About CUET

  • The UGC’s rationale for introducing the test is to address the disparity in the allocation of marks by different examination boards, and provide a “level playing field” to students from different sections of society and diverse regions.
  • The CUET has been envisaged as a corrective.
  •  Of the 48 central universities, 45 seem to have the requirements to institute the test.
  • The CUET is going to decide the fate of approximately 1.3 crore students for roughly 5.4 lakh undergraduate seats in 45 central universities.

Issues with the CUET

  • Students to contend with two examinations: The marks obtained in the board examination will remain vital for admission to state and private universities as well as job applications.
  • The students will now have to contend with two examinations.
  • Impetus to coaching classes: Many educationists argue that the new examination is likely to give an impetus to coaching classes.
  •  Coaching and private tuition will flourish without much concern for quality in the preparation of the study material.
  • Not all State Boards prescribe NCERT textbooks: The CUET syllabus will be based on NCERT (under the Ministry of Education) textbooks even though not all state boards prescribe these books.
  • The coaching industry stands to take advantage of this situation and students will have a hard time navigating two sets of textbooks.
  • The impact is likely to be harsher on disadvantaged sections of the society for whom access to higher education is seen as the only route to upward mobility.

Way forward

  • The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) is constantly increasing for higher secondary education (51.4 per cent according to UDISE, 2019-20) and higher education (27.1 per cent to AISHE, 2019-20).
  • The figures indicate that higher education has acquired a mass base in the country.
  • This has important implications for a knowledge-based economy and society.
  • Maintaining the momentum of GER would require more teachers, schools and higher education institutions of quality and slow down the rush for a few but highly sought after universities and colleges.

Conclusion

The new examination would put additional pressure on both students and teachers at a time when they are trying to overcome the exactions of the pandemic. It appears to diverge from the objective of the National Education Policy-2020 — equitable access to good quality higher education for all students.

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Common University Entrance Test

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: CUET

Mains level: Paper 2- CUET and related issues

Context

UGC introduced the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for admissions in undergraduate courses in 45 central universities in the country.

Benefits of Common University Entrance Test (CUET)

  • Deals with the issue of uneven quality of different boards: In a country like ours, because of the uneven quality of different school boards, there is a huge trust deficit and suspicion about the academic quality of even the “toppers”.
  • Eliminate the need for multiple exams: Furthermore, this centralised test would free the tension-ridden youngsters from the pressure of writing multiple entrance tests in different colleges/universities.
  • Eliminate the inflated cut-off: Likewise, the supremacy of the CUET score/ranking in the selection process would invariably eliminate inflated cut-offs for admissions in “branded” colleges.
  • It would avoid subjective biases, cherish objectivity, and quantify and measure one’s mental aptitude and domain knowledge in a specific discipline.

Issues with the CUET

  • 1] Impact on true learning: the dominant structure of education prevalent in the country is essentially book-centric and exam-oriented.
  • Either rote learning or strategic learning (a gift of coaching centres) is its essence; and far from learning and unlearning with joy, wonder and creativity, young students become strategists or exam-warriors.
  • In the coming years, schools are going to lose their relevance as students and parents are likely to rely primarily on gigantic coaching centres and fancy Ed Tech companies.
  • 2] No scope for subjective interpretation:  The MCQ-centric “objective” tests diminishes what every genuine learner needs — creative exploration, interpretative understanding and self-reflexivity.
  • In the name of “objective” tests, our students are deprived of the hermeneutic art of interpretation and skill of argumentation and compelled to reduce everything into an “objective” fact, we would do great damage to their creativity.

Conclusion

For real transformation, we have to see beyond the CUET, work on the quality of schools and creatively nuanced life-affirming pedagogy; and we must think of honest and fair recruitment of spirited teachers, and relative autonomy of academic institutions.

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Tapping technology for multilingual learning

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2- Technology for multilingual learning

Context

As the theme of International Mother Language Day 2022, it has much relevance in reshaping Indian higher education.

India’s unique cultural and linguistic diversity

  • According to the Language Census in 2018, India is home to 19,500 languages or dialects, of which 121 languages are spoken by 10,000 or more people in our country.
  • For centuries, India has been home to hundreds of languages and thousands of dialects, making its linguistic and cultural diversity the most unique in the world. 
  • Our linguistic diversity is one of the cornerstones of our ancient civilisation.
  • Impact of globalisation: While languages are among the key bridges that ensure cultural and civilisational continuity, globalisation and Westernisation have impacted not just the growth but also the survival of many of our dialects in this rich cultural and linguistic tapestry.
  • Therefore, International Mother Language Day has special significance to the Indian context.

Endangered languages

  • In November 1999, the UNESCO General Conference approved the declaration of February 21 as International Mother Language Day, in response to the declining state of many languages.
  • According to the UN agency, at least 43% of the estimated 6,000 languages spoken in the world are endangered.
  • UNESCO has been striving to protect the cultural and linguistic diversity of member-states through pro-active international measures.
  • It is our collective responsibility to revive and revitalise the 196 Indian languages which fall under the “endangered” category.

Role of technology: This year’s theme

  • Globally, the role of technology came to the fore during the COVID-19 pandemic when school shutdowns forced educators and learners to adapt themselves to online education.
  • The theme of International Mother Language Day in 2022 — “Using Technology for Multilingual Learning: Challenges and Opportunities” — is one of special relevance to us.
  • The central idea is to leverage technology to support and enrich the teaching-learning experience on a multi-lingual level.
  •  It also aims at achieving a qualitative, equitable and inclusive educational experience.
  • Inevitably, the widespread use of technology would fast-track development.
  • Multilingual education predicated on the increasing use of one’s mother tongue is a key component of inclusion in education. 
  • Seen in its entirety, this is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas”.

Direction of NEP

  • The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 encourages the use of mother tongue as the medium of instruction till at least Class five but preferably till Class eight and beyond.
  • The use of mother tongue in teaching is bound to create a positive impact on learning outcomes, as also the development of the cognitive faculties of students.
  • There is a pressing need to create and improve scientific and technical terminology in Indian languages.
  • We have been able to create a large English-based education system which includes colleges that offer courses in medicine and multiple disciplines of engineering.
  • This impressive system paradoxically excludes a vast majority of learners in our country from accessing higher education.

Way forward

  • The need to build an effective multilingual education system across diverse streams and disciplines becomes all the more imperative.
  • In this context, the collaboration between the AICTE and IIT Madras to translate some courses on the central government’s e-learning platform, Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM) into eight regional languages such as Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam and Gujarati, is commendable. Such tech-led initiatives will serve to democratise higher education.
  • At the same time, the decision of the AICTE to permit B. Tech programmes in 11 native languages, in tune with the NEP, is a historic move.
  • Our policy-planners, educators, parents and opinion leaders must bear in mind that when it comes to education in mother tongue and local languages, we can take the cue from European countries as well as Asian powers such as Japan, China and Korea, among others.

Conclusion

Co-existing over centuries, borrowing from and nurturing each other, our languages are interwoven with our individual, local and national identity.

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UGC’s ‘Academic Bank of Credits’ scheme

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NAAC

Mains level: Paper 2- ABC scheme for higher education

Context

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has recommended a revamp of the higher education scene in India. A new initiative stemming from this desire is an ‘Academic Bank of Credits’ (ABC) in higher education idea, which was notified recently by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

About the Academic Bank of Credits’ (ABC)

  • Any undergraduate or postgraduate student can create an account in the ABC portal and store information of his/her completed courses (i.e., subjects/papers in old terminology) and grades obtained.
  • These grades are stored for a period of five years. 
  • As multiple institutes are connected to the ABC portal, one can be formally enrolled in university ‘A’ but can choose to do some courses from university ‘B’, some more from university ‘C’ and so on and all of these would count towards the student’s degree.
  • Flexible and multidisciplinary: One can enrol in an equivalent course from another college in the same city or join online courses offered by other universities; or can enrol in SWAYAM (a programme initiated by the  Government of India) or the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) and add these credits.
  • Thus, education will truly become flexible and interdisciplinary, without forcing any single institute to float an unmanageable number of courses.
  • This flexibility will offer students a chance to enrol in a course and learn from teachers from some of the best institutes such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) or the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research.

Issues with ABC

  • Limited seats: ABC regulations say that the institute should allow up to 20% supernumerary seats for students enrolling through the ABC scheme.
  • There is no clarity on how the selection of students would be made if there are more than 20% seats.
  • Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) platforms such as SWAYAM and NPTEL are ‘supposedly designed’ for large enrolments.
  • So far we have not found any evidence in the public domain that these MOOC platforms can provide a reliable assessment of learning achievement if there is massive enrolment for a course.
  • Filtering criterion: The ABC portal will accept courses from a large inumber of higher education institutes.
  • The filtering criterion in the original regulation was that higher education institutes should have obtained an ‘A’ grade or higher in the latest round of National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accreditation.
  • This filtering criterion is not satisfactory.
  • Impact on small colleges: The ABC scheme specifies that students can avail up to 70% of courses from other institutes while being enrolled in a particular college.
  • If students avail these credits outside the parent college, they need not enrol for the corresponding in-house courses.
  • As the number of teaching posts in any higher education institute are calculated on the basis of student enrolment numbers, what happens when a large fraction of students do not enrol for the courses offered by you? 

Conclusion

In India, where the quality of education varies drastically from one institute to the next, this can lead to unmanageable academic and administrative issues in higher education institutes with brand names, and lead to a contraction in the number of teaching posts in smaller higher education institutes.

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Budgeting for the education emergency

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Expenditure on education in India

Mains level: Paper 2- Increasing the expenditure on education

Context

Faced with an unprecedented education emergency, this is the time to substantially ramp up public spending on education and make it more effective.

Low allocation for education

  • UNESCO’s 2030 framework for action suggests public education spending levels of between 4% and 6% of GDP and 15%-20% of public expenditure.
  • A recent World Bank study notes that India spent 14.1 % of its budget on education, compared to 18.5% in Vietnam and 20.6% in Indonesia, countries with similar levels of GDP.
  • But since India has a higher share of population under the age of 19 years than these countries, it should actually be allocating a greater share of the budget than these countries.
  • Public spending on education in most States in India was below that of other middle-income countries even before the pandemic.
  • Most major States spent in the range of 2.5% to 3.1% of State income on education, according to the Ministry of Education’s Analysis of Budgeted Expenditure on Education.
  • This compares with the 4.3% of GDP that lower-middle-income countries spent, as a group, between 2010-11 and 2018-19.
  •  In the 2021-22 Budget, the Central government’s allocation for the Education Department was slashed compared to the previous year, even though the size of the overall budget increased.
  • Of the major States and Delhi, eight either reduced or just about maintained their budget allocation for education departments in 2021-22 compared to 2020-21.

Way forward

  • The vast majority of the 260 million children enrolled in preschool and school, especially in government schools, did not have meaningful structured learning opportunities during the 20 months of school closures.
  • Infusion of resources: The education system now needs not only an infusion of resources for multiple years, but also a strengthened focus on the needs of the poor and disadvantaged children.
  • What it is spent on and how effectively resources are used are important.
  • It is clear what additional resources are required for.
  • The needs include: back-to-school campaigns and re-enrolment drives; expanded nutrition programmes; reorganisation of the curriculum to help children learn language and mathematics in particular, and support their socio-emotional development, especially in early grades; additional learning materials; teacher training and ongoing support; additional education programmes and collection and analysis of data.
  • Focus on teacher training:  How does expenditure on technology compare with the amounts spent on teacher training, which represents just 0.15% of total estimated expenditure on elementary education?
  • Teachers are central to the quality of education, so why does India spend so little on teacher training?

The opacity of education finance data in India

  • The opacity of education finance data makes it difficult to comprehend this.
  • For instance, the combined Central and State government spending on education was estimated to be 2.8% of GDP in 2018-19, according to the Economic Survey of 2020-21.
  • This figure had remained at the same level since 2014-15.
  • On the other hand, data from the Ministry of Education indicates that public spending on education had reached 4.3% of GDP in the same year, rising from 3.8% of GDP in 2011-12.
  • The difference in the figures is due to the inclusion of expenditure on education by departments other than the Education Department.
  •  Including expenditure on education by, for example, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (on Anganwadis, scholarships, etc.), the Ministry of Science and Technology (for higher education) is of course legitimate.
  • However, the composition of these expenditures is not readily available.

Conclusion

The questions for this Budget should be clear. How much additional funds are being allocated for different levels of education by the principal departments in 2021-22? Are the funds being spent on the specific measures required to address the education emergency facing the children?

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[pib] Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS)

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: TOP Scheme

Mains level: Not Much

The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has approved the inclusion of Alpine Skiing athlete Mohammad Arif Khan in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) Core group.

Target Olympic Podium Scheme

  • In order to improve India’s performance at the Olympics and Paralympics, the MYAS started the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) in September 2014.
  • It includes foreign training, international competition, equipment, and coaching camp besides a monthly stipend of Rs. 50,000/- for each athlete.
  • It was particularly launched for India’s Olympic medal dream, at the 2016 (Rio) and 2020 (Tokyo) Olympics.

How does it function?

  • The Mission Olympic Cell is a dedicated body created to assist the athletes who are selected under the TOP Scheme.
  • The MOC is under the Chairmanship of the Director-General, Sports Authority of India (DG, SAI).
  • The idea of the MOC is to debate, discuss and decide the processes and methods so that the athlete receives the best assistance.
  • The MOC also focuses on the selection, exclusion, and retention of athletes, coaches, training institutes that can receive TOPS assistance.

 

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Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA), 2021

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: ARIIA

Mains level: HEIs in India and their competence

Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2021 has been recently released.

About ARIIA

  • ARIIA is an initiative of erstwhile Ministry of HRD, implemented by AICTE and Ministry’s Innovation Cell.
  • It systematically ranks all major higher educational institutions and universities in India on indicators related to “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development” amongst students and faculties.
  • ARIIA 2020 will have six categories which also includes special category for women only higher educational institutions to encourage women and bringing gender parity in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship.
  • The other five categories are 1) Centrally Funded Institutions 2) State-funded universities 3) State-funded autonomous institutions 4) Private/Deemed Universities and 5) Private Institutions.

Major Indicators for consideration

  • Budget & Funding Support.
  • Infrastructure & Facilities.
  • Awareness, Promotions & support for Idea Generation & Innovation.
  • Promotion & Support for Entrepreneurship Development.
  • Innovative Learning Methods & Courses.
  • Intellectual Property Generation, Technology Transfer & Commercialization.
  • Innovation in Governance of the Institution.

Key highlights of 2021 report

  • Seven IITs and the IISc, Bengaluru, are among the top 10 central institutions in promotion and support of innovation and entrepreneurship development.
  • The top rank has been bagged by the IIT, Madras followed by the IITs in Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur and Roorkee.
  • The IISc has bagged the sixth position in the ranking followed by the IITs in Hyderabad and Kharagpur, the NIT, Calicut.

 

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Governor’s Role in State Universities

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Role of Governors in State Universities

Mains level: Issues with role of Governor

A controversy has erupted in Kerala over the reappointment of a person as the Vice-Chancellor of Kannur University, with Governor saying he approved the decision against his “better judgment” as Chancellor.

Role of Governors in State Universities

  • In most cases, the Governor of the state is the ex-officio chancellor of the universities in that state.
  • Its powers and functions as the Chancellor are laid out in the statutes that govern the universities under a particular state government.
  • Their role in appointing the Vice-Chancellors has often triggered disputes with the political executive.

A disputed case

  • In Kerala’s case, the Governor’s official portal asserts that while as Governor he functions with the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.
  • While acting as Chancellor he acts independently of the Council of Ministers and takes his own decisions on all University matters.
  • In marked contrast, the website of Rajasthan’s Raj Bhawan states that the “Governor appoints the Vice-Chancellor on the advice/ in consultation with the State Government”.

What about Central Universities?

  • Under the Central Universities Act, 2009, and other statutes, the President of India shall be the Visitor of a central university.
  • With their role limited to presiding over convocations, Chancellors in central universities are titular heads, who are appointed by the President in his capacity as Visitor.
  • The VCs too are appointed by the Visitor from panels of names picked by search and selection committees formed by the Union government.
  • The Act adds that the President, as Visitor, shall have the right to authorize inspections of academic and non-academic aspects of the universities and also to institute inquiries.

 

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The NIRF’s ranking of education institutions on a common scale is problematic

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NIRF

Mains level: Paper 2- Issues in ranking HEI based on common framework

Context

The ranking of State-run higher education institutions (HEIs) together with centrally funded institutions using the National Institutional Ranking Framework, or the NIRF, is akin to comparing apples and oranges.

Institute data

  • According to an All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2019-20 report, there are 1,043 HEIs.
  • Of these, 48 are central universities.
  • 135 are institutions of national importance,
  • 1 is a central open university,
  • 386 are State public universities,
  • 5 are institutions under the State legislature act,
  • 14 are State open universities,
  • 327 are State private universities,
  • 1 is a State private open university,
  • 36 are government deemed universities,
  • 10 are government aided deemed universities.
  • 80 are private deemed universities.

Comparison of financial health of State HEI with Central HEIs

  • A close study of the above data shows that 184 are centrally funded institutions (out of 1,043 HEIs in the country) to which the Government of India generously allocates its financial resources in contrast to inadequate financial support provided by State governments to their respective State public universities and colleges.
  • The Central government earmarked the sums, ₹7,686 crore and ₹7,643.26 crore to the IITs and central universities, respectively, in the Union Budget 2021.
  • Ironically, out of the total student enrolment, the number of undergraduate students is the largest (13,97,527) in State public universities followed by State open universities (9,22,944).

How NIRF ranks the education institutions?

  • Parameters set by the core committee of experts: The NIRF outlines a methodology to rank HEIs across the country, which is based on a set of metrics for the ranking of HEIs as agreed upon by a core committee of experts set up by the then Ministry of Human Resources Development (now the Ministry of Education), Government of India
  • The NIRF ranks HEIs on five parameters: teaching, learning and resources; research and professional practice; graduation outcome; outreach and inclusivity, and perception.

Where do State HEIs lag on NIRF parameters?

  • Teaching, learning and resources include metrics viz. student strength including doctoral students, the faculty-student ratio with an emphasis on permanent faculty, a combined metric for faculty with the qualification of PhD (or equivalent) and experience, and financial resources and their utilisation.
  • Low faculty strength in State HEIs: In the absence of adequate faculty strength, most State HEIs lag behind in this crucial NIRF parameter for ranking.
  • The depleting strength of teachers has further weakened the faculty-student ratio with an emphasis on permanent faculty in HEIs.
  • Research and professional practise encompasses a combined metric for publications, a combined metric for quality of publications, intellectual property rights/patents and the footprint of projects, professional practice and executive development programmes.
  • Need for modernisation of laboratories: As most laboratories need drastic modernisation in keeping pace with today’s market demand, it is no wonder that State HEIs fare miserably in this parameter as well while pitted against central institutions.

Issues with comparing State HEIs with Central HEIs

  • The difference in financial allocations diregarded: The financial health of State-sponsored HEIs is an open secret with salary and pension liabilities barely being managed.
  • Hence, rating such institutions vis-à-vis centrally funded institutions does not make any sense.
  • No cost-benefit analysis carried out: No agency carries out a cost-benefit analysis of State versus centrally funded HEIs on economic indicators such as return on investment the Government made into them vis-à-vis the contribution of their students in nation building parameters such as the number of students who passed out serving in rural areas, and bringing relief to common man.
  • While students who pass out of elite institutions generally prefer to move abroad in search of higher studies and better career prospects, a majority of State HEIs contribute immensely in building the local economy.
  • Issues in embracing technologies: State HEIs are struggling to embrace emerging technologies involving artificial intelligence, machine learning, block chains, smart boards, handheld computing devices, adaptive computer testing for student development.

Consider the question “What are the challenges in the ranking of Higher Education Institutions in India? What are the issues faced by State HEI?”

Conclusion

Ranking HEIs on a common scale purely based on strengths without taking note of the challenges and the weaknesses they face is not justified. It is time the NIRF plans an appropriate mechanism to rate the output and the performance of institutes in light of their constraints and the resources available to them.

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[pib] Scheme for Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages of India (SPPEL)

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: [pib] Scheme for Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages of India (SPPEL)

Mains level: Not Much

The Government of India has initiated a Scheme known as “Scheme for Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages of India” (SPPEL) informed the Minister of Culture and Tourism.

About SPPEL

  • The Scheme was instituted by Ministry of Human Resource Development in 2013.
  • The sole objective of the Scheme is to document and archive the country’s languages that have become endangered or likely to be endangered in the near future.
  • The scheme is monitored by the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) located in Mysuru, Karnataka.
  • The CIIL has collaborated with various universities and institutes across India for this mission.
  • University Grants Commission (UGC) is also providing financial assistance for the creation of centres for endangered languages at Central and State Universities.

What are Endangered Languages?

  • At the moment, the languages which are spoken by less than 10,000 speakers or languages that are not been linguistically studied earlier are considered endangered language.

Present status of the scheme

  • Presently, 117 languages have been listed for the documentation.
  • Documentation in the form of grammar, dictionary and ethno-linguistic profiles of about 500 lesser known languages are estimated to be accomplished in the coming years.

 

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There’s a mismatch between India’s graduate aspirations and job availability

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2- Mismatch between education aspirations and job availability

Context

There is a huge pool of unemployed university graduates with unfulfilled aspirations. This group of dissatisfied, disgruntled youth can lead to disastrous consequences for our society.

Enhanced enrollment

  • Reservation: The extension of reservations to OBCs and EWS increased the enrollment of students from these socio-economic backgrounds.
  • Increased education institutions: In addition, the massive increase in the number of higher education institutions has led to an enlargement of the number of available seats — there are more than 45,000 universities and colleges in the country.
  • The Gross Enrollment Ratio for higher education, which is the percentage of the population between the ages of 18-23 who are enrolled, is now 27 per cent.

Issues of employment opportunities

  • Unfortunately, the spectacular increase in enrollment in recent years has not been matched by a concomitant increase in jobs.
  •  Employment opportunities in the government have not increased proportionately and may, in fact, have decreased with increased contractualisation.
  •  Even in the private sector, though the jobs have increased with economic growth, most of the jobs are contractual.
  • Worse, the highest increase in jobs is at the lowest end, especially in the services sector — delivery boys for e-commerce or fast food for instance.
  • Thus what we see is a huge pool of unemployed university graduates with unfulfilled aspirations.
  • This group of dissatisfied, disgruntled youth can lead to disastrous consequences for our society, some of which we are already witnessing.

Way forward

  • A reduction in the rate of increase of universities and colleges might not be politically feasible given the huge demand for higher education.
  • Increase vocation institutions: A concurrent increase in the number of high-quality vocational institutions is something that can be done.
  • There are upwards of 15,000 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in the country currently.
  • Upgrading the existing ITIs, opening many more new ones with high-quality infrastructure and updated curriculum is something which should be done urgently.
  • There is a scheme to upgrade some ITIs to model ITIs.
  • However, what is required is not a selective approach but a more broad-based one that uplifts the standards of all of them besides adding many more new ones.
  • Industry might be more than willing to pitch in with funding (via the CSR route) as well as equipment, training for the faculty and internships for students.

Conclusion

These steps could help mitigate the mismatch between employment opportunities and the increasing number of educated youth in the country.

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Empathy through education

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2-SEL

Context

While the National Education Policy (2020) notes numeracy and literacy as its central aims, Social and Emotional Learning should be an equally important goal as it supports skills such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity.

What is social and emotional learning (SEL)?

  • SEL is the process of learning to recognise and manage emotions and navigate social situations effectively.
  • SEL is foundational for human development, building healthy relationships, having self and social awareness, solving problems, making responsible decisions, and academic learning.
  • Neurobiologically, various brain regions such as the prefrontal and frontal cortices, amygdala, and superior temporal sulcus are involved in the cognitive mechanisms of SEL.
  • Brain systems that are responsible for basic human behaviour, such as getting hungry, may be reused for complex mechanisms involved in SEL.
  • Despite its importance to life, SEL is often added as a chapter in a larger curriculum rather than being integrated in it.
  • The pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges for SEL as school closures reduced opportunities for students to deepen social relationships and learn collaboratively in shared physical spaces.
  • Even with parental involvement, the challenge of an inadequate support system for SEL remains.

Way forward

  • Perhaps we can contextually adapt best practices from existing models.
  • A starting point would be to consider insights from the Indian SEL framework:
  • One, the application of SEL practices should be based on students’ socioeconomic backgrounds.
  • Two, SEL strategies of caretakers and educators must align with one another.
  • Three, long-term success requires SEL to be based on scientific evidence.

Conclusion

As a sustainable development goal outlines, policymakers now have to ensure that future changes prioritise “inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” Importantly, the onus lies on all of us to make individual contributions that will drive systemic change.

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NEET

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Issues with the NEET

The Tamil Nadu Assembly has passed a bill exempting the State from the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to undergraduate (UG) medical courses.

About NEET

The NEET has replaced the formerly All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT).

It is an all-India pre-medical entrance test for students who wish to pursue undergraduate medical (MBBS), dental (BDS) and AYUSH (BAMS, BUMS, BHMS, etc.) courses.

The exam is conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA).

TN law: Permanent Exemption for NEET

  • The Bill exempts medical aspirants in Tamil Nadu from taking NEET examination for admission to UG degree courses in Indian medicine, dentistry and homeopathy.
  • Instead, it seeks to provide admission to such courses on the basis of marks obtained in the qualifying examination, through “Normalization methods”.
  • The aim of the Bill is to ensure “social justice, uphold equality and equal opportunity, protect all vulnerable student communities from being discriminated”.
  • It seeks to bring vulnerable student communities to the “mainstream of medical and dental education and in turn ensure a robust public health care across the state, particularly the rural areas”.

Why TN is against NEET?

  • Non-representative: TN opposes because NEET undermined the diverse societal representation in MBBS and higher medical studies.
  • Disfavors the poor: It has favored mainly the affordable and affluent sections of the society and thwarting the dreams of underprivileged social groups.
  • Exams for the elite: It considers NEET not a fair or equitable method of admission since it favored the rich and elite sections of society.
  • Healthcare concerns: If continued, the rural and urban poor may not be able to pursue medical courses.

Can any state legislate against NEET?

  • Admissions to medical courses are traceable to entry 25 of List III (Concurrent List), Schedule VII of the Constitution.
  • Therefore, the State can also enact a law regarding admission and amend any Central law on admission procedures.

Views of the stakeholders appointed by TN

  • A majority of stakeholders were not in favor of the NEET requirement.
  • NEET only worked against underprivileged government school students, and had profited coaching centres and affluent students.
  • NEET had not provided any special mechanism for testing the knowledge and aptitude of the students.
  • The higher secondary examination of the State board itself was an ample basis for the selection of students for MBBS seats.

A move inspired by a SC Judgement

  • This thinking of the State may be due to the observation made by the Supreme Court in the selection process of postgraduate (PG) courses in medicine.
  • The Medical Council of India (MCI) had prescribed certain regulations providing reservations for in-service candidates.
  • The Supreme Court struck down regulation 9(c) made by the MCI on the ground of the exercise of power beyond its statute.

Not a similar case

  • It must be remembered that the Supreme Court was only dealing with a regulation framed by the MCI.
  • The requirement of NEET being a basic requirement for PG and UG medical courses has now been statutorily incorporated under Section 10D of the Indian Medical Council (IMC) Act.
  • When the Tamil Nadu government issued an order in 2017 providing for the reservation of 85% of the seats for students passed out from the State board it was struck down by the Madras High Court.
  • The introduction of internal reservation for government school students is under challenge before the Madras High Court. Similarly, NEET as a requirement is also pending in the Supreme Court.
  • Unless these two issues are decided, NEET cannot be removed by a State amendment.

The bill cannot be passed

  • The present move to pass a fresh Bill on the same lines is most likely to meet the same fate.
  • The President refused to give his assent to this bill.
  • It is significant that no other State in India has sought an exemption from NEET and, therefore, exempting Tamil Nadu alone may not be possible.
  • Even among the seats allotted to the State, there is no bar for students from other States from competing or selecting colleges in Tamil Nadu.

The bigger question

  • The question is not whether the State government can amend a law falling under the Concurrent List.
  • The question is whether the State government can exempt Section 10D of the IMC Act, which is a parliamentary law that falls under the Central List (Entry 66).
  • Moreover, the Supreme Court has also upheld NEET as a requirement.
  • Mere statistics highlighting that a majority of the stakeholders do not want NEET in Tamil Nadu is not an answer for exempting the examination.

Again, it is State and Centre are at crossroads

  • Normally, a Bill requires assent from the Governor to become a law. Stalin’s contention is that this Bill deals with education, which is a Concurrent List subject.
  • Admissions to medical courses fall under Entry 25 of List III, Schedule VII of the Constitution, and therefore the state is competent to regulate the same.
  • Yet, as far as matters relating to the determination of standards for higher education are concerned, the central government has the power to amend a clause or repeal an Act.
  • So, just the passing of the Bill doesn’t enable the students to get exempted from writing NEET.
  • Already, Union Higher Education Secretary Amit Khare has held that if any State wants to opt out of the exam, it has to seek permission from the Supreme Court.

Options for Tamil Nadu

  • Data is necessary only when there is power to legislate on the subject concerned.
  • Since the Bill, which will become an Act only after the President’s nod, will come into effect only from the next academic year, the battle for and against the NEET requirement will continue in courts.
  • Hopefully, the courts will determine the legality and have a definite solution to the question of medical admissions within the next year.
  • Till such time, students who wrote NEET will fill the seats under the State quota.

Way forward: Preventing Commercialization of Medical Education

  • The time may also have come to examine whether NEET has met its purposes of improving standards and curbing commercialization and profiteering.
  • Under current norms, one quite low on the merit rank can still buy a medical seat in a private college, while those ranked higher but only good enough to get a government quota seat in a private institution can be priced out of the system.
  • The Centre should do something other than considering an exemption to Tamil Nadu.
  • It has to conceive a better system that will allow a fair admission process while preserving inter se merit and preventing rampant commercialization.

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What is Glue Grant Scheme?

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Glue Grant Scheme

Mains level: Not Much

Forty Central universities will kick off the implementation of innovative measures such as the academic credit bank and the glue grant meant to encourage multidisciplinary in UG courses.

Glue Grant Scheme

  • Under the glue grant, announced in this year’s budget, institutions in the same city would be encouraged to share resources, equipment and even allow their students to take classes from each other.
  • This is the first step for multidisciplinary.
  • We intend to start this from the second semester of the current academic year.
  • Ultimately, faculty will be able to design joint courses.
  • This also meant that institutions need not duplicate work by developing the same capacities, but would be able to build on each other’s expertise.

Credit bank

  • The first step would be the academic credit bank, which would have to be adopted separately by the academic council of each university to kick off implementation.
  • To start with, the system would allow students to attain qualifications by amassing credits rather than specific durations on campus.
  • A certain number of credits would add up to a certificate, then a diploma and then a degree, allowing for multiple entries and exit points.
  • Students can earn up to 40% of their credits in online Swayam classes, rather than in the physical classroom. In the future, these credits will hold validity across different institutions.

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Who was Major Dhyan Chand?

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Major Dhyan Chand

Mains level: Promotion of sports in India

The PM has announced that the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award will now be named after Major Dhyan Chand.

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Who was Dhyan Chand?

  • Quite simply, he was the first superstar of hockey, considered a wizard or magician of the game.
  • He was the chief protagonist as India won three consecutive Olympic hockey gold medals — Amsterdam 1928, Los Angeles 1932, and Berlin 1936.
  • He is said to have wowed the watching public with his sublime skills, intricate dribbling and gluttonous scoring ability.
  • During those tournaments, there was no team that could compete with India — and most of the matches saw huge victory margins.
  • India beat hosts the Netherlands 3-0 in the 1928 final, the US were thrashed by a scarcely-believable margin of 24-1 in the 1932 gold medal match, while Germany went down 8-1 in the 1936 decider.
  • In all, Dhyan Chand played 12 Olympic matches, scoring 33 goals.

Legends associated with Dhyan Chand

  • It is said that once his sublime skill and close control of the ball aroused such suspicion that his stick was broken to see whether there was a magnet inside.
  • During the 1936 Berlin Games, Adolf Hitler offered him German citizenship and the post of Colonel in his country’s Army, a proposition the Indian ace refused.

Why does the name evoke such emotion?

  • Dhyan Chand played during India’s pre-independence years, when the local population was subjugated and made to feel inferior by the ruling British.
  • Hence, seeing an Indian dominating the Europeans in a sport invented by them evoked a lot of pride in them.
  • There has been a long-running campaign arguing that Dhyan Chand be posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest honour.
  • Before Independence and for some years after that, hockey was the only sport in which India consistently excelled at the international and Olympic stage.
  • In fact, starting from Amsterdam 1928, India won seven of the eight hockey gold medals at the Games.
  • Apart from K D Jadhav’s wrestling bronze at Helsinki 1952, India had to wait until Atlanta 1996 and tennis player Leander Paes for an Olympic medal in a sport other than hockey.

Why is the renaming of the award significant?

  • The eight gold medals in hockey have often been termed as the millstone around the necks of the subsequent generation of players.
  • The modern game is an altogether different sport from the one played in Dhyan Chand’s era.
  • The Europeans and Australians have become much more proficient over the decades, while the change of surface has put a premium on fitness, speed, stamina, and physical strength.
  • India had not managed to get into the top four at the Olympics since the boycott-affected Moscow Games in 1980.
  • The later generations may have felt out of touch with the golden years, about which one could only read in books or listen to in tales of the protagonists and those who witnessed the heroics.

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What is Academic Bank of Credit?

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Academic Bank of Credit

Mains level: Need of multi-disciplinary education

On the first anniversary of the National Education Policy (NEP), the Centre plans to officially roll out some initiatives promised in the policy, such as the Academic Bank of Credit

Academic Bank of Credit

  • Academic Bank of Credit referred to as ABC is a virtual storehouse that will keep records of academic credits secured by a student.
  • It is drafted on the lines of the National Academic Depository.
  • It will function as a commercial bank where students will be the customers and ABC will offer several services to these students.
  • Students will have to open an Academic Bank Account and every account holder would be provided with a unique id and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
  • The academic accounts of students will have credits awarded by higher education Institutes to students for the courses they are pursuing.
  • However, ABC will not accept any credit course document directly from the students, and its institutes that will make the deposits in students’ accounts.

Functions of ABCs

  • ABC will be responsible for opening, closing, and validating the academic accounts of students.
  • It will also perform tasks including credit verification, credit accumulation, credit transfer/redemption of students, and promotion of the ABC among the stakeholders.
  • The courses will also include online and distance mode courses offered through National Schemes like SWAYAM, NPTEL, V-Lab, etc.
  • The validity of these academic credits earned by students will be up to seven years. The validity can also vary based on the subject or discipline. Students can redeem these credits.
  • For instance, if a student has accumulated 100 credits which is equivalent to say one year and they decide to drop out.
  • Once they decide to rejoin they can redeem this credit and seek admission directly in the second year at any university. The validity will be up to seven years, hence, students will have to rejoin within seven years.

Benefits for students

  • The participating HEIs in the ABC scheme will enable students to build their degrees as per their choices.
  • As per UGC guidelines, the higher education institutes will have to allow students to acquire credits 50-70% of credits assigned to a degree from any institute.
  • Students, depending upon their needs can take this opportunity.
  • UGC will ensure that students secured the minimum credits to be secured in the core subject area.

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Issues with school enrolment in India

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2- Issues with school education in India

Context

Proportion of children attending the government schools has been on the decline. This has several implications.

Issues with school education in India

  • A quality, free and regular school education represents our most potent infrastructure of opportunity, a fundamental duty of the state.
  • Meritocracy represents the idea that people should advance based on their talents and efforts.
  • But India’s meritocracy is sabotaged by flailing government schools.
  • The proportion of India’s children attending a government school has now declined to 45 per cent.
  • This number is 85 per cent in America, 90 per cent in England, and 95 per cent in Japan.
  • India’s 100 per cent plus school enrolment masks challenges; a huge dropout ratio and poor learning outcomes.
  • We have too many schools and 4 lakh have less than 50 students (70 per cent of schools in Rajasthan, Karnataka, J&K, and Uttarakhand).
  • China has similar total student numbers with 30 per cent of our school numbers.

It is not Government Vs. Private schools

  • Demand for better government schools is not an argument against private schools.
  • Because, without this market response to demand, the post-1947 policy errors in primary education would have been catastrophic for India’s human capital.

Way forward

  • We need the difficult reforms of governance, performance management, and English instruction.
  • Governance must shift from control of resources to learning outcomes; learning design, responsiveness, teacher management, community relationships, integrity, fair decision making, and financial sustainability.
  • Performance management, currently equated with teacher attendance, needs evaluation of scores, skills, competence and classroom management. Scores need continuous assessments or end-of-year exams.
  • The new world of work redefines employability to include the 3Rs of reading, writing, and arithmetic and a fourth R of relationships.
  • India’s farm to non-farm transition is not happening to factories but to sales and customer services which need 4R competency and English awareness.
  • English instruction is about bilingualism, higher education pathways, and employability.
  • Employment outcomes are 50 per cent higher for kids with English familiarity because of higher geographic mobility, sector mobility, role eligibility, and entrance exam ease.
  • India’s constitution wrote Education Policy into Lists I (Centre), II (State), and III (concurrent jurisdiction); this fragmentation needs revisiting because it tends to concentrate decisions that should be made locally in Delhi or state capitals.

Conclusion

Government needs urgent measure to addreess the issues which has bearing on its future.

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[pib] United District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2019-20

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: UDISE+

Mains level: State of higher education in India

The Union Education Minister has released the Report on United Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2019-20 for School Education in India.

What is UDISE+?

  • UDISE+ is one of the largest Management Information Systems on school education.
  • It covers more than 1.5 million schools, 8.5 million teachers and 250 million children.
  • Launched in 2018-2019, UDISE+ was introduced to speed up data entry, reduce errors, improve data quality and ease its verification.
  • It is an updated and improved version of UDISE, which was initiated in 2012-13 by the Ministry of Education under the UPA govt by integrating DISE for elementary education and SEMIS for secondary education.

Why is it important?

  • As per the UDISE+ website, “Timely and accurate data is the basis of sound and effective planning and decision-making.
  • Towards this end, the establishment of a well-functioning and Sustainable Educational Management Information System is of utmost importance today.”
  • In short, the UDISE+ helps measure the education parameters from classes 1 to 12 in government and private schools across India.

What does the 2019-20 report say?

  • The total enrolment in 2019-20 from primary to higher secondary levels of school education was a little over 25.09 crore.
  • Enrolment for boys was 13.01 crore and that of the girls was 12.08 crore.
  • This was an increase by more than 26 lakh over the previous year 2018-19.

(1) Pupil-teacher ratio improves

  • The Pupil-Teacher Ratio — the average number of pupils (at a specific level of education) per teacher (teaching at that level of education) in a given school year — showed an improvement all levels of school education in 2019-2020 over 2012-2013.

(2) GER improves

  • The gross enrolment ratio (GER), which compares the enrolment in a specific level of education to the population of the age group which is age-appropriate for that level of education has improved at all levels in 2019-2020 compared to 2018-2019.
  • The GER increased to 89.7 percent (from 87.7 percent) at Upper Primary level, 97.8 percent (from 96.1 percent) at Elementary Level, 77.9 percent (from 76.9 percent) at Secondary Level and 51.4 percent (from 50.1 percent) at Higher Secondary Level in 2019-20 compared to 2018-19.
  • GER for girls at secondary level has gone up by 9.6 percent to reach 77.8 percent in 2019-20 compared to 68.2 percent in 2012-13.

(3) Phyical infrastructure improves, but computers and internet access remain lacking

  • The report stated that just 38.5 percent of schools across the country had computers, while only 22.3 percent had an internet connection in 2019-20.
  • This is an improvement over 2018-2019 when 34.5 percent of schools had computers and a mere 18.7 percent of schools had internet access.

Key takeaways

  • While physical infrastructure is steadily improving, the digital infrastructure for schools has a long way to go.
  • With the overwhelming majority of schools have neither computers (61 percent) nor internet access (78 percent), achieving the Centre’s ‘Digital India’ vision when it comes to online education is still some ways off.
  • The vast increase in hand wash facilities is a big step towards the fulfilment of the Modi government’s ‘Swachh Bharat’ push.
  • The Gross Enrolment Ratio improving at all levels of school education in 2019-20 compared to 2018-19 is a plus.
  • While 93 lakh more boys enrolled in education than girls, when it comes to GER, the girls pulled ahead.

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Ed-tech in India

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: ShaGun platform

Mains level: Paper 2- Technology based learning in India

The article suggests a policy formulation for future of the learning with the adoption of technology.

Learning crisis facing and finding solutions through technology

  • India was facing a learning crisis, even before the Covid-19 pandemic, with one in two children lacking basic reading proficiency at the age of 10.
  • The pandemic worsened it with the physical closure of 15.5 lakh schools that has affected more than 248 million students for over a year.
  • With the Fourth Industrial Revolution — the imperative now is to reimagine education and align it with the unprecedented technological transformation.
  • The pandemic offers a critical, yet stark reminder of the impending need to weave technology into education.

Is India prepared for integrating technology in learning?

  • India’s new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020envisions the establishment of an autonomous body, the National Education Technology Forum (NETF).
  • The NETF will spearhead efforts towards providing a strategic thrust to the deployment and use of technology.
  • India is well-poised to take this leap forward with increasing access to tech-based infrastructure, electricity, and affordable internet connectivity.
  • Flagship programmes such as Digital India and the Ministry of Education’s initiatives, including the Digital Infrastructure for School Education (DIKSHA), open-source learning platform and UDISE+  will help in this direction.
  • However, we must remember that technology cannot substitute schools or replace teachers.
  • It’s not “teachers versus technology”; the solution is in “teachers and technology”.
  • In fact, tech solutions are impactful only when embraced and effectively leveraged by teachers.

Four key elements for ed-tech policy architecture

  • A comprehensive ed-tech policy architecture must focus on four key elements:
  • Access: Providing access to learning, especially to disadvantaged groups.
  • Enable: Enabling processes of teaching, learning, and evaluation.
  • Teacher training: Facilitating teacher training and continuous professional development.
  • Governance: Improving governance systems including planning, management, and monitoring processes.

Ed-tech ecosystem in India

  • With over 4,500 start-ups and a current valuation of around $700 million, the ed-tech market is geared for exponential growth.
  • There are, in fact, several examples of grassroots innovation.
  • The Hamara Vidhyalaya in Namsai district, Arunachal Pradesh, is fostering tech-based performance assessments.
  • Assam’s online career guidance portal is strengthening school-to-work and higher-education transition for students in grades 9 to 12.
  • Samarth in Gujarat is facilitating the online professional development of lakhs of teachers in collaboration with IIM-Ahmedabad.
  • Jharkhand’s DigiSATH is spearheading behaviour change by establishing stronger parent-teacher-student linkages.
  • Himachal Pradesh’s HarGhar Pathshala is providing digital education for children with special needs.

Way forward

1) Short term policy formulation

  • In the immediate term, there must be a mechanism to thoroughly map the ed-tech landscape, especially their scale, reach, and impact.
  • The policy formulation and planning process must strive to:
  • 1) Enable convergence across schemes– education, skills, digital governance, and finance.
  • 2) Foster integration of solutions through public-private partnerships, factor in voices of all stakeholders.
  • 3) Bolster cooperative federalism across all levels of government.
  • Special attention must be paid to address the digital divide at two levels: access and skills.
  • Thematic areas of the policy should feature infrastructure and connectivity; high-quality software and content; and global standards for outcome-based evaluation, real-time assessments, and systems monitoring.

2) Long-term policy measures

  • In the longer term, as policy translates to practice at local levels a repository of the best-in-class technology solutions, good practices and lessons from successful implementation must be curated.
  • The NITI Aayog’s India Knowledge Hub and the Ministry of Education’s DIKSHA and ShaGun platforms can facilitate and amplify such learning.

Conclusion

With NEP 2020 having set the ball rolling, a transformative ed-tech policy architecture is the need of the hour to effectively maximise student learning.

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Blended mode of teaching

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Blended learning

Mains level: Paper 2- Blended learning and related issues

Blended mode of teaching and its advantages

  • A recent circular by the University Grants Commission (UGC) proposes that all higher educational institutions (HEI) teach 40% of any course online and the rest 60% offline termed as blended learning (BL).
  • The UGC argues that this “blended mode of teaching” and learning paves the way for:
  • 1) Increased student engagement in learning.
  • 2) Enhanced student-teacher interactions.
  • 3) Improved student learning outcomes.
  • 4) More flexible teaching and learning environments, among other things.
  • 5) Other key benefits such as the increased opportunity for institutional collaborations at a distance and enhanced self-learning accruing from blended learning (BL).
  • 6) BL benefits the teachers as well. It shifts the role of the teacher from being a “knowledge provider to a coach and mentor”.
  • 7)  The note adds that BL introduces flexibility in assessment and evaluation patterns as well.

Challenges

  • All India Survey on Higher Education (2019-20) report shows that 60.56% of the 42,343 colleges in India are located in rural areas and 78.6% are privately managed.
  • Only big corporates are better placed to invest in technology and provide such learning.
  • Second, according to datareportal statistics, Internet penetration in India is only 45% as of January 2021.
  • This policy will only exacerbate the existing geographical and digital divide.
  • Third, BL leaves little room for all-round formation of the student that includes the development of their intelligent quotient, emotional quotient, social quotient, physical quotient and spiritual quotient.
  • The listening part and subsequent interactions with the teacher may get minimised.
  • Also, the concept note assumes that all students have similar learning styles and have a certain amount of digital literacy to cope with the suggested learning strategies of BL.
  • This is far from true. Education in India is driven by a teacher-centred approach.

Suggestions

  • The government should ensure equity in access to technology and bandwidth for all HEIs across the country free of cost.
  • Massive digital training programmes must be arranged for teachers.
  • Even the teacher-student ratio needs to be readjusted to implement BL effectively.
  • This may require the appointment of a greater number of teachers.
  • The design of the curriculum should be decentralised and based on a bottom-up approach.
  • More power in such education-related policymaking should be vested with the State governments.
  • Switching over from a teacher-centric mode of learning at schools to the BL mode at the tertiary level will be difficult for learners.
  • Hence, the government must think of overhauling the curriculum at the school level as well.
  • Finally, periodical discussions, feedback mechanisms and support services at all levels would revitalise the implementation of the learning programme of the National Education Policy 2020, BL.
  • It will also lead to the actualisation of the three cardinal principles of education policy: access, equity and quality.

Conclusion

Government must take steps to address the concerns with blended learning before implementing it.

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[pib] All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2019-20

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: AISHE Survey

Mains level: Read the attached story

Union Education Minister has announced the release of the report of All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2019-20.

This newscard provides useful data about the state of higher education in India on various parameters. Such data should not be missed while substantiating any point in answer writing.

About AISHE

  • AISHE was established by the Ministry of HRD for conducting an annual web-based survey, thereby portraying the status of higher education in the country.
  • The survey is conducted for all educational institutions in India on many categories like teachers, student enrolment, programs, examination results, education finance, and infrastructure.
  • This survey is used to make informed policy decisions and research for the development of the education sector.
  • This Report provides key performance indicators on the current status of Higher education in the country.

Highlights of the 2019-20 Report

(1) Total Enrolment

(2) Gross Enrolment Ratio

(3) Gender Parity Index (GPI)

  • GPI in Higher Education in 2019-20 is 1.01 against 1.00 in 2018-19 indicating an improvement in the relative access to higher education for females of eligible age group compared to males.

(4) Pupil-Teacher Ratio

 

  • TPR in Higher Education in 2019-20 is 26. In 2019-20: Universities: 1,043(2%); Colleges: 42,343(77%) and stand-alone institutions: 11,779(21%).

(5) Enrolment in higher education

  • 38 crore Students enrolled in programs at under-graduate and post-graduate levels.
  • Out of these, nearly 85% of the students (2.85 crore) were enrolled in the six major disciplines such as Humanities, Science, Commerce, Engineering & Technology, Medical Science and IT & Computer.

(6) Doctorate pursuance

  • The number of students pursuing PhD in 2019-20 is 2.03 lakh against 1.17 lakh in 2014-15.

(7) Total number of teachers

  • The Total Number of Teachers stands at 15,03,156 comprising of 57.5% male and 42.5% female.

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[pib] QS World University Rankings 2022

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: QS World University Ranking

Mains level: State of higher education in India

The Prime Minister has congratulated IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi and  IISc Bengaluru for top-200 positions in QS World University Rankings 2022.

QS World University Rankings

  • QS World University Rankings is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).
  • It comprises the global overall and subject rankings (which name the world’s top universities for the study of 51 different subjects and five composite faculty areas).
  • It announces ranking for five independent regional tables (Asia, Latin America, Emerging Europe and Central Asia, the Arab Region, and BRICS).

Highlights of the 2022 Report

  • IIT Bombay ranks joint-177 in the world, having fallen five places over the past year.
  • IIT Delhi has become India’s second-best university, having risen from 193 ranks in last year’s ranking to 185 in the latest ranking. It has overtaken IISc Bangalore, which ranks joint-186.
  • The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, has been ranked the “world’s top research university.
  • The top three institutions globally are — Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Oxford, and Stanford University ranked at number one, two, and three respectively.

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SARTHAQ Plan

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: SARTHAQ

Mains level: Not Much

Union Education Minister has launched ‘Students’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement through Quality Education (SARTHAQ), the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 implementation plan for school education.

SARTHAQ

  • SARTHAQ keeps in mind the concurrent nature of education and adheres to the spirit of federalism.
  • The plan delineates the roadmap for the implementation of NEP 2020 for the next 10 years.
  • States and Union Territories have been given the flexibility to adapt the plan with “local contextualization”.
  • They have been allowed to modify the plan as per their needs and requirements.

Envisaged outcomes

  • Increase in Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), Net Enrolment Ratio (NER), transition rate and retention rate at all levels and reduction in dropouts and out of school children.
  • Access to quality ECCE and Universal Acquisition of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by Grade 3.
  • Improvement in Learning Outcomes at all stages with an emphasis on teaching and learning through mother tongue/local/regional languages in the early years.
  • Integration of vocational education, sports, arts, knowledge of India, 21st-century skills, values of citizenship, awareness of environment conservation, etc. in the curriculum at all stages.
  • Introduction of Experiential learning at all stages and adoption of innovative pedagogies by teachers in classroom transaction.
  • Integration of technology in educational planning and governance and availability of ICT and quality e-content in classrooms.

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How to grow better colleges

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2- Improving the colleges

The article highlights the important role students can play in improving the quality of colleges and institution in India.

Improving the colleges

  • The global QS ranking is out and India has 12 universities and institutions in the top-100 in particular subjects.
  • We have many colleges offering higher education but typically they are not very good.
  • Today, with a huge number of students going to college, education is tied strongly to career prospects.
  • If studying and thinking harder do not lead to even a decent chance of career improvement, it is natural for most students to lose academic ambition.

Career prospects in various colleges

  • For admission in IIT, many work extremely hard to secure admission, but then lose motivation and drift towards near-certain graduation.
  • IIT admission is a value signal to future employers who do not see much relevance in the actual syllabus.
  • The entry wall is high, the exit wall is low, and the four-year syllabus is an obstacle course between the student and an employer with whom eye contact was made from atop the entry wall itself.
  • Students of varied subjects thus remain uninterested in their core syllabi.
  • Lower-ranked colleges may attract a slightly different mix of employment prospects, some in core areas.
  • In many colleges, both good and bad ones, high grades correlate only loosely with career outcomes. 

Improving the college

  • Very few jobs actually require the highest quality education — the best academic and research jobs.
  • In such a system, it may not be worthwhile or even practical for a mediocre college to unilaterally improve itself.
  • Having improved, it remains to convince society that it deserves to displace the pre-eminent colleges at the top.
  • For lower-ranking colleges to improve itself, its students must first see useful value in a better education.
  • That requires system-wide growth in opportunity.

How to achieve system-wide growth in opportunity

  • Such growth cannot be legislated from above. It must occur organically, from below.
  • There are several stakeholders involved in such transition.
  • 1) At the top are policymakers.
  • Policymakers are trying and have achieved many things.
  • In recent years, however, our demographics have caught up with us.
  • We have more than 650 million people under age 25.
  • No other country is close. We need more than policies.
  • 2) Next is industry. It faces a learning curve for technology.
  • Countries that wish to lead must develop their own technology, even at high cost.
  • Indian industry can often choose between importing slightly older technology from outside or developing things in-house.
  • A slow growth in the latter has begun and may pull our college system upward over time.
  • 3) Our next stakeholders are college teachers.
  • For a college to flourish, it needs many students who compete to enroll.
  • Our entrance exams for good engineering colleges are hard.
  • Our nationally renowned degree colleges which admit based on board marks are frequently forced to set very high cutoffs.
  • The need for more engineering colleges, for many students who are clearly good enough, has led to the creation of several private colleges that teach well in large volumes.
  • Quality of teachers’ is improving.
  • College teachers improve as their employers aim higher, and as their students bring more into the classroom.
  • 4) Finally, we have students. If students demand better instruction, colleges will sooner or later supply it.

Way forward for students

  • Students must aim to relate their learning to society.
  • They must see their learning not as an obstacle course but as an initiation into a process that yields tangible long-term value.
  • Indian society does not merely have people looking for work.
  • It also has work looking for people: Work in food, health, design, manufacturing, transport, safety, garbage, water, energy, farming, and a hundred other things that we can do better.
  • Room for improvement is plentiful, though the market models may not be efficient or mature yet.
  • The walls between our classrooms and our lives must be broken, if our colleges are to flourish.
  • In recent decades, India has also attracted much work from overseas. Growth in that direction may well be sustained.

Consider the question “India has many colleges and institutions offering higher education but few could get the spot in the list of top global institutes. Examine the factors responsible for this. Suggest the measures to deal with this issue.”

Conclusion

Such change, driven by student aspirations, will be organic, bottom-up, and unstoppable.

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Clustering educational institutes and research centres

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Cluster universitites, NEP 2020

Mains level: NEP 2020

National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) envisions establishing large multidisciplinary universities to promote research directed to solve contemporary national problems, and provides the option of setting up clusters of higher education institutes.

Q. Discuss the salient features of Cluster Universities as propounded by the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP).

What are Education Clusters?

  • This new concept is dedicated to students who want to discover & learn new things regardless of the field/branch/discipline they’re in.
  • Currently, higher educational institutions (HEIs) follow the structure of single-stream education.
  • Generally, what happens is that a student who has taken a major is allowed to study relevant subjects. He/she can’t opt for subjects from other majors.
  • This may restrict students to widen their thinking & learning capability.
  • With the introduction of Cluster University, the single-stream approach of teaching-learning will be ruled out.
  • All the institutions including the ones that are offering professional degrees will be transformed into a rationalized architecture that is popularly being referred to as- multidisciplinary clusters.

What are the Key Benefits of Cluster Universities?

More Space for Student-Teacher Collaboration

  • With HEIs getting merged to form a large unit, there would be more space for better student-teacher collaboration.
  • Students that are genuinely interested in learning a particular course would come together helping faculties to achieve better student learning outcomes.

Inculcating Leadership Qualities in Students

  • Students would be more confident as they pursue their choice of subjects. They would get an open field to polish their skills and also develop new ones.
  • Thus, the process would ultimately lead to the inculcation of leadership qualities in students.

Accelerate Institutional Networking

  • Since the Cluster University concept of the new education policy speaks of merging multidisciplinary HEIs, institutional networking would obviously go uphill.

Fewer Resources & More Expertise

  • Many students would be able to learn under a single entity. It is bound to increase the outcomes with comparatively fewer resources.
  • Such universities would increase faculty strength, both in terms of numbers and diversity of disciplines, and facilitate the conduct of research on real-life problems.

Way forward

  • For moving away from single-discipline institutions to multi-disciplinary universities, clustering is a promising model to achieve a critical mass in a university to invigorate research.
  • Many industry associations have established research centres and more could be encouraged to do.
  • India needs to earnestly pursue this model.

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Reform lessons for education

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2- Skill education in India

The article deals with state of the education and its relation with employment in India.

Improving higher education system

  • Improving India’s higher education justice and worker productivity needs the broadening of our education ambition.
  • Our focus on Gross Enrollment Ratio should also be anchored to Employed Learner Ratio -proportion of our 55 crore labour force in formal learning.
  • For enrolling five crore new employed learners, India needs five regulatory changes.

Reflecting on global and domestic education experience

  • Multi-decade structural changes include  organisations that are less hierarchical, lower longevity, shorter employee tenures, higher competition.
  • There is also change in the form of work: capitalism without capital, soft skills valued more than hard skills, 30 per cent working from home etc.
  • There change in the form of education in which Google knows everything, so tacit knowledge is more valuable than codified or embedded knowledge.
  • These shifts are complicated by a new world of politics, third-party financing viability, and fee inflation.

India faces financing failure in skill

  • We have 3.8 crore students in 1,000-plus universities and 50,000-plus colleges.
  • We confront a financing failure in skills:
  • Employers are not willing to pay for training of candidates but a premium for trained candidates.
  • Candidates are not willing to pay for training but for jobs.
  • Financiers are unwilling to lend unless a job is guaranteed, and training institutions can’t fill their classrooms.

Steps need to be taken

  • For many people the income support of learning-while-earning is crucial to raising enrollment.
  • Many students lack employability and workers lack productivity because learning is supply-driven.
  • Learning-by-doing ensures demand-driven learning.
  • The de facto ban on online degree learning with only seven of our 1,000-plus universities licensed for online offerings.
  • That needs to be changed.
  • High regulatory hurdles creates an adverse selection among entrepreneurs running educational institutions.

Five regulatory changes

  • First, modify Part 3 of the UGC Act 1956 and Part 8 of the UGC Act to include skill universities.
  • Second, remove clauses 3(A), 3(B), and clause 5 of UGC ODL and Online Regulations 2020 and replace them with a blanket and automatic approval for all accredited universities to design, develop and deliver their online programmes.
  • Third, modify clause 4(C)(ii) of UGC online regulations 2020 to allow innovation, flexibility, and relevance in an online curriculum as prescribed in Annex 1-(V)-3-i) that allows universities to work closely with industry on their list of courses.
  • Fourth, modify clauses 13(C)(3), 13(C)(5), 13(C)(7), 18(2) of UGC online regulations 2020 to permit universities to create partner ecosystems for world-class online learning services, platforms, and experience.
  • Fifth, introduce Universities in clause 2 of the Apprentices Act 1961 to enable all accredited universities to introduce, administer and scale all aspects of degree apprenticeship programs.
  • These five changes would enable enrolling five crore incremental employed learner.

Conclusion

Reforming education requires thinking horizontally, holistically, and imaginatively. The reforms suggested here should be carried out considering these aspects.

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Problem of control and governance of knowledge in a globalised world

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: UGC

Mains level: Paper 2- Impact of UGC's criteria in evaluation of research on social sciences and humanities

The article highlights the issues with the criteria applied by the UGC to evaluate the faculty research.

Impact of UGC standardisation on social sciences and humanities research

  • UGC has been the regulatory body responsible for maintaining standards in higher education, while addressing challenges of globalisation.
  • Processes of UGC mandated standardisation have in particular impacted social sciences and humanities research in Indian universities.
  • Over the years, UGC has linked institutional funding to ranking and accreditation systems like NAAC and NIRF.
  • In order to evaluate institutions, these bodies have evolved  criteria, which rank universities based on faculty research measured by citations in global journal databases like SCOPUS.
  • In comparison, importance granted to research outputs like books or other forms is declining.

Issues with the criteria

  • The insistence of publication in journals fails to distinguish between the varied trajectory of disciplines.
  • While in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Management) disciplines, research is often highly objective and quantified.
  • In social sciences and humanities research is subjective, analytical and argumentative.
  • In disciplines like history, sociology, politics, philosophy, psychology and literature, researchers spend years writing books that engage with ideas in complex ways.
  • In devaluing books as authentic forms of research, UGC does major disservice to scholars of social sciences and humanities.
  • Due to emphasis on publication, teachers spend most of their productive time writing articles and getting them published, thereby missing out on quality engagement with pedagogy and research.

Issues with the process of peer review

  • The process of peer review itself is subjective, and depends upon the knowledge, inclination and availability of time of the particular reviewer.
  • It is often quite challenging for scholars to meet peer-review standards of A-listed journals.
  • This has actually required the UGC to expand its own list, ending up including and subsequently deleting a large number of locally published journals.

Issue of inaccessibility

  • Publication of research in paywalled journal databases makes research inaccessible for students as universities continue to cut down library budgets.
  • Students and teachers, access articles through pirated sites like Libgen and Scihub, prone to be shut down at any point of time as evident from the litigations.
  • Clearly, access to knowledge is structurally made inequitable in favour of the elite and/or moneyed institutions and their constituents.

Way forward

  • The above arguments maintain for the possible multiplicity that can emerge as the end-result of research.
  • Interdisciplinary and practice-based research can throw up social and ecological experiments, artworks and performances, and numerous new outcomes yet to be conceived as research outputs.
  • While the UGC hopes to raise the standards to global levels, precarity of employment, longer teaching hours, a dismal student-teacher ratio, lack of sabbaticals, research and travel grants, access to research facilities and office space, adversely impact the research potential of teachers.
  • Regulating research needs to be replaced with facilitating research, allowing minds to think and gestate.
  • Regulations without facilitation will merely bureaucratise the governance of knowledge without generating any pathbreaking insights.

Conclusion

The UGC needs to widen its criteria which values publication of a book as much as a research paper in the mandated journal to widen the research in social sciences and humanities.

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Issues with NEP’s regulatory architecture

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NEP 2020

Mains level: Paper 2- Regulation of higher education through single regulator

The article deals with the idea of single regulator for higher education in the country and the challenges it could fece.

Recommendations for regulation of higher education

  • Regulatory bodies came up in response to the rapid growth of private participation since the 1980s.
  • Due to multiplicity of regulatory bodies in higher education, nearly all advisory panels appointed since 2005 have been asked for a single regulator.
  • National Knowledge Commission (NKC) concluded in 2007 that the plethora of agencies attempting to control entry, operation, intake, price, size, output and exit had rendered the regulation of higher education ineffectual.
  • The NKC recommended the setting up of an overarching Independent Regulatory Authority in Higher Education (IRAHE).
  • A major concern of the Yash Pal Committee constituted in 2009 was compartmentalisation of academia.
  • To promote such a dialogue, the Yash Pal committee recommended the creation of an apex body called the National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER).
  • TSR Subramanian committee in 2016 proposed an Act for setting up an Indian Regulatory Authority for Higher Education (IRAHE) to subsume all existing regulatory bodies in higher education.
  • The draft national policy presented by the Kasturirangan Committee in 2019 proposed a National Higher Education Regulatory Authority (NHERA) as a common regulatory regime for entire higher education sector.
  • The draft NEP 2020 proposed a Rashtriya Shiksha Aayog (RSA) to coordinate, direct and address inter-institutional overlaps and conflicts.

The regulatory regime under NEP 2020

  • NEP 2020 has now a single regulator for all higher education barring medical and law education.
  • It envisages an overarching Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), with four independent verticals comprising the National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC), the National Accreditation Council (NAC), the Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) and the General Education Council (GEC).
  •  The University Grants Commission (UGC) is to become HEGC while the other regulatory bodies will become professional standard setters.

Fragmented regulation of medical education to continue

  • NEP-2020 provides for separate regulation for medical education.
  • But it envisions healthcare education as an inter-disciplinary system.[Allopathic student to have a basic understanding of Ayurveda, Yoga etc and vice-versa]
  • Multiple regulators in health education include the National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH) and the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) and continuation of the Dental Council of India (DCI), Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) and the Indian Nursing Council (INC),
  • Thus, making medical education inter-disciplinary would be difficult due to multiple regulators.

Lessons from the governance of medical education

  • The above example demonstrate the difficulty in designing a single regulatory framework to take care of the domain-specific needs of even within healthcare education.
  • But if accepted as a principle, it has the potential to delay, if not derail, the idea of a single regulator.
  • And should that actually happen, the idea of reining in the regulators might mean abandoning the idea of regulation of regulators.

Issues with the single regulator proposed in NEP 2020

  • The regulatory architecture proposed in the NEP is far too monolithic for a system of higher education serving a geographically, culturally and politically diverse country like ours.
  • Even in the matter of privatisation, there is enormous diversity of players and practices.
  • Historically too, private participation in the running of colleges has not followed a single pattern.
  • To imagine that a uniform structure called Board of Governors can serve all different kinds of institutions across the country is flawed.
  • Such a vision calls for better appreciation of what exists, no matter how worrisome a condition it is in.

Consider the question “What are the challenges in the regulation of higher education in the country? What are the concerns with the idea of single regulator for the regualtion of higher education in country?”

Conclusion

Before proceeding with the single regulator, the government need to pay attention to the issue of diversity in various aspects in the country.

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Scheduled Castes Post-matric Scholarship Plan

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not Much

Mains level: Welfare schemes for various vulnerable sections of population

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved changes to the post-matric scholarship scheme for students from the Scheduled Castes (SCs), including a new funding pattern of 60-40 for the Centre and States.

Note:

Equality enshrined in the Constitution is not mathematical equality and does not mean all citizens will be treated alike without any distinction.

To this effect, the Constitution underlines two distinct aspects which together form the essence of equality law:

1) Non-discrimination among equals, and

2) Affirmative action to equalize the unequal

About the Scholarship

  • It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme and implemented through State Government and UT administration.
  • Under the scheme, the government provides financial assistance to students from SCs for higher education at post-matriculation and post-senior-secondary stages, which means Class XI onwards.
  • It can be availed by those, whose household incomes are less than Rs 2.5 lakh annually.

What are the new changes?

  • States would carry out verification of the students’ eligibility and caste status and collect their Aadhaar and bank account details.
  • Transfer of financial assistance to the students under the scheme shall be on DBT [direct benefit transfer] mode, and preferably using the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System.
  • Starting from 2021-22, the Central share [60%] in the scheme would be released on DBT mode directly into the bank accounts of the students as per a fixed time schedule.

Why such changes now?

  • The changes were aimed at enabling four crore students to access higher education over the next five years.
  • Switching from the existing “committed liability” formula, the new funding pattern would increase the Centre’s involvement in the scheme.

Benefits of the scheme

  • The changes approved by the Cabinet were aimed at enrolling the poorest students, ensuring timely payments, and maintaining accountability.
  • An estimated 1.36 crore students who would otherwise drop out after Class 10 would be brought into the higher education system under the scheme in five years.

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‘Myths of Online Education’ Report

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2-

The Azim Premji University has published the report titled “Myths of Online Education”, on the efficacy and accessibility of e-learning.

We have studied the Impacts of COVID-19 on Education. https://www.civilsdaily.com/burning-issue-education-in-times-of-covid-19/
This report provides decent data about the woes of online education and is easy to remember.

About the study

  • The study was undertaken in five States across 26 districts and covered 1,522 schools. More than 80,000 students study in these government schools.
  • It examined the experience of children and teachers with online education.

Highlights of the study

  • More than 60% of the respondents who are enrolled in government schools could not access online education.
  • Children with disabilities in fact found it more difficult to participate in online sessions.
  • 90% of the teachers who work with children with disabilities found their students unable to participate online.
  • Almost 70% of the parents surveyed were of the opinion that online classes were not effective and did not help in their child’s learnings.
  • 90% of parents of government school students surveyed were willing to send their children back to school.
  • The survey also revealed that around 75% of the teachers spent, on an average, less than an hour a day on online classes for any grade.

Online classes are less effective

  • Teachers as well as students their expressed frustration with online classes.
  • More than 80% surveyed said they were unable to maintain emotional connect with students during online classes, while 90% of teachers felt that no meaningful assessment of children’s learning was possible.
  • Another hurdle that teachers found during the online classes was the one-way communication, which made it difficult for them to gauge whether students understood what was being taught.
  • Teachers also reported that they were ill-prepared for online learning platforms.

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Equity in education matters

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2- Equity in education and impact of digital education on it

Fairness and inclusiveness are two important aspects of education system. Growing shift toward digital education in India has implications for these two aspects. The article suggests ways to make the education system fair and inclusive.

Knowledge economy in India

  • The new National Education Policy (NEP) as well as other factors have lately brightened up education landscape in India..
  • The rise of education technology (ed-tech) incorporating VR, AR, ‘gamification’, 3D immersive learning, etc, is contributing to the knowledge economy’s potential for large market size, calling for requisite policy support.

Barriers to equity in education

  • The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) defines two dimensions of equity in education.
  • First is “fairness”, which means ensuring that personal and social circumstances do not prevent students from achieving their academic potential.
  • The second is “inclusion”, which means setting a basic minimum standard for education that is shared by all students regardless of their background.
  • The barriers that make equity difficult to foster in India are varied and complex.

Loss of learning during Covid pandemic

  • The latest Annual State of Education Report (ASER) reveals that 20% of rural students lacked textbooks.
  • Only one in ten students had access to online classes during the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • The Survey provides a glimpse into the levels of learning loss that students in rural India, particularly in states like Bihar, West Bengal, UP, and Rajasthan, are suffering, resulting in sharp digital divides in education.
  • Unless remedied with urgency, the digital split may disrupt learning, and jeopardise our hard-won gains resulting in large scale school drop-outs, particularly of adolescent girls.

How to remove barriers to equity?

  • To remove these barriers we need to look at several aspects like monetary resources, academic standards, academic content and support.
  • Apart from inequality in internet access and access to devices, even the quality of connection and related services and subscription fees exacerbate the digital divide.
  • For education to be availed as a social good, access at an affordable cost and reasonable quality is a precondition.
  • The availability of content in vernacular languages is yet another issue.
  • In digital education along with demand-side issues, supply-side issues need fixing, such as training of teachers in ICT, new learning devices and handling the evolved curriculum.
  • Teachers and academic institutions need to ensure that the content they are using is lucid, appropriate, fact-based and relevant.
  • Access to education loans from banks and financial institutions are a great support in the cause of education, particularly higher education.
  • Education is on the Concurrent List. A cooperative and collaborative spirit will thus be critical to realise the goals.
  • The Centre has a task well cut for building consensus on NEP2020.

Consider the question “Fainess and inclusiveness are two important dimensions of equity that should be pursued by any education system. However, push towards digital educations threatens these two dimensions of the education system in India. Comment” 

Conclusion

With strong corporate commitment, states’ support, backed by strong policy push and intent by the Centre, and value addition by other stakeholders, the roadblocks on the path of equity and inclusiveness in education, though daunting, could be addressed.


Source-

https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/equity-in-education-matters/2121998/

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The NEP 2020 must look beyond just data science and AI

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NEP 2020

Mains level: Paper 2- NEP 2020's focus on mathematical and computational thinking

The article deals with the issues with the emphasis on the coding instead of understanding the basic algorithmic process.

Issues with focusing on coding in NEP 2020

  • The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) envisages putting greater emphasis on mathematical and computational thinking throughout the school years.
  • The framing in the NEP appears to put it at the same level of distinction as the more instrumental ‘coding’, and almost as a mere tool towards the utilitarian goals of artificial intelligence (AI) and data science.
  • An overemphasis on learning the nitty-gritty of specific programming languages prematurely — even from middle school — may distract from focusing on the development of algorithmic creativity.

What is coding?

Coding is basically the computer language used to develop apps, websites, and software. Without it, we’d have none of the most popular technology we’ve come to rely on such as Facebook, our smartphones, the browser we choose to view our favorite blogs, or even the blogs themselves. It all runs on code.

About computation and algorithms

  • Algorithmics is the abstract process of arriving at a post-condition through a sequential process of state changes.
  • It is among the earliest human intellectual endeavours that has become imperative for almost all organised thinking.
  • All early learning of counting and arithmetic is method-based, and hence algorithmic in nature, and all calculations involve computational processes encoded in algorithms.
  • The core algorithmic ideas of modern AI and machine learning are based on some seminal algorithmic ideas of Newton and Gauss, which date back a few hundred years.
  • Though the form of expressions of algorithms — the coding — have been different, the fundamental principles of classical algorithm design have remained invariant.

Algorithms in modern world

  • In the modern world, the use of algorithmic ideas is not limited only to computations with numbers, or even to digitisation, communication or AI and data science.
  • They play a crucial role in modelling and expressing ideas in diverse areas of human thinking, including the basic sciences of biology, physics and chemistry, all branches of engineering, in understanding disease spread, in modelling social interactions and social graphs, in transportation networks, supply chains, commerce, banking and other business processes, and even in economic and political strategies and design of social processes.
  • Hence, learning algorithmic thinking early in the education process is indeed crucial.

So, how coding is different from arithmetics?

  • Coding is merely the act of encoding an algorithmic method in a particular programming language which provides an interface.
  • AS computational process can be invoked in a modern digital computer.
  • Thus, it is less fundamental.
  • While coding certainly can provide excellent opportunities for experimentation with algorithmic ideas, they are not central or indispensable to algorithmic thinking.
  • After all, coding is merely one vehicle to achieve experiential learning of a computational process.

Way forward

  • Instead of focusing on the intricacies of specific programming languages, it is more important at an early stage of education to develop an understanding of the basic algorithmic processes behind manipulating geometric figures.
  • Indeed, this is a common outcome of the overly utilitarian skills training-based approaches evidenced throughout the country.

Conclusion

The NEP guideline of introducing algorithmic thinking early is a welcome step, it must be ensured that it does not degenerate and get bogged down with mundane coding tricks at a budding stage in the education process.

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Issues with E-learning in India

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2- Online education and issues with it

Pandemic has forced learning to the online mode. But there are several concerns with the online leaning. The article discusses the same.

Providing learning opportunity in pandemic

  • The main thrust of providing learning opportunities while schools are shut is online teaching.
  • There are several sets of guidelines and plans issues by the government, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for this purpose.
  • The Internet space is teeming with learning schemes, teaching videos, sites and portals for learning opportunities.

3 issues with online learning

1) Increasing inequality

  • Calamities, be they natural or man-made, affect the underprivileged the hardest,  COVID-19 is no exception.
  •  The COVID-19 shutdown has affected opportunity for the poor even harder than their counterparts from well-to-do sections of society.
  • The government began plans for students with no online access only by the end of August.
  • But online or digital education is available is for students with only online access.
  • Thus, digital India may become even more unequal and divided than it already is.

2) Pedagogical issues leading to bad quality education

  • The quality of online teaching-learning leaves much to be desired.
  • Listening to lectures on the mobile phone, copying from the board where the teacher is writing, frequent disconnections can hardly and organically connect the child’s present understanding with the logically organised bodies of human knowledge.
  • The secondary students are in a better position still because of their relative independence in learning and possible self-discipline.
  • The beginners in the lower primary can get nothing at all from this mode of teaching.

3)  An unwarranted thrust on online education, post-COVID-19

  • All reliable studies seem to indicate that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the classroom helps in already well-functioning systems, and either has no benefits or negative impact in poorly performing systems.
  • That does not indicate much hope from IT in our education system.
  • Transformation of schools in the current understanding of pedagogy, suitability of learning material and quality of learning provided through IT will further devastate the already inadequate system of school education in the country.
  • Of course, IT can be used in a balanced manner where it can help; but it should not be seen as a silver bullet to remedy all ills in the education system.

Importance of institutional environment

  • The institutional environment plays an important role online teaching.
  • Even when the institutions function sub-optimally, students themselves create an environment that supports their growth morally, socially and intellectually in conversations and interactions with each other.
  • The online mode of teaching completely forecloses this opportunity.

Conclusion

Our democracy and public education system should try to address the issues raised here while promoting the online mode of education.

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Crisis in education in rural India and NEP

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2-National Education Policy

The article analyses the missing focus on the rural youth in the National Education Policy 2020 and its implications.

Education in rural India and NEP

  • Poor quality education marks and mars the lives of rural citizens.
  • The NEP fails to address the growing school differentiation in which government schools are now primarily attended by children of disadvantaged castes and Adivasi groups.
  • The mushrooming of private schools caters to the aspirations of the more advantaged castes and classes.
  • The NEP overlooks the complexity of contemporary rural India, which is marked by a sharp deceleration of its economy, extant forms of distress, and widespread poverty.
  • Rural candidates are finding it increasingly difficult to gain entry into professional education.
  • The lack of fit between their degrees and the job market means that several lakhs of them find themselves both “unemployable” and unemployed.

What the NEP misses

  • NEP overlooks the general adverse integration of the rural into the larger macroeconomy and into poor quality mass higher education.
  • The report calls for the “establishment of large, multi-discipline universities and colleges” and places emphasis on online and distance learning (ODL).
  • However, correspondence courses and distance education degrees have become a source of revenue generation for universities.
  • The possibility of forging and promoting environmental studies for local ecological restoration and conservation are missing.
  • Emphasis on local health and healing traditions from the vast repertoire of medical knowledge is missing.
  • Vernacular architectural traditions and craftsmanship to use local resources find no mention at all in the NEP.

Neoliberal ideas in NEP

  • The NEP moots the possibility of establishing “Special Education Zones” in disadvantaged areas and in “aspirational districts”.
  • But the report provides no details as to how such SEZs will function and who will be the beneficiaries of such institutions.

Conclusion

The NEP fails to cater to the needs of rural India’s marginalised majority, who in so many ways are rendered into being subjects rather than citizens.

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Economics of education

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2- Financial challenges education sector faces in India

The article delineates the challenges academic institutions in India faces in the wake of Covid disruption and suggests some measures to deal with the challenges.

Context

Disruption in the wake of pandemic raised the spectre of educational institutions shuttering their doors completely or taking unprecedented steps that have invariably affected jobs and livelihoods.

Economics of the academics

  • Economics has always been a part of academics; it is only in the present circumstances that it has become all the more apparent.
  • Management in private institutions, is going to meet demands on the one hand and availability of resources on the other.
  • One may call this new phenomenon “acadonomics”.
  • “Acadonomics” would imply a careful allocation of resources keeping in mind the transient nature of the issue of how long it is going to take to come back to the steady state of affairs that it once was.
  • ‘Acadonomics’ will also involve seeing the economics of moving on to an online mode of the teaching-learning process.

Comparison with the West

  • The academic choices are not the same for all countries across the world.
  • In the United States the elite private and state subsidised universities have endowments that can be used for a range of academic activities.
  • Top 10 of the U.S. have a cushion of anywhere between $10 billion to $40 billion.
  • By contrast, private academic institutions in India do not have any such buffers.
  • None of the institutions in India possesses big corpuses from alumni or industry.
  • Their survival, for the most part, is on the annual income that comes from tuition and the assortment of other fees collected.

Private education in India

  • Private institutions in India are hardly in a position to meet an eventuality such as COVID-19.
  •  In an educational set-up in India, nothing can be reduced — the norms cannot be lowered nor can the infrastructure be dismantled.
  •  For the most part, the fixed and operational costs remain the same, and infrastructure once created cannot be shrunk.
  • The downside to self-financed institutions is that in the time of the pandemic and loss of jobs, students plead inability to pay the requisite fee.
  • Which places additional burden on the management which feels already stretched because of existing commitments.

Dual mode of learning and issues

  • 1) Cost for persisting with a dual mode of the teaching-learning process is going to be quite prohibitive for the next few years.
  • The scaling of operations that would include the dual modes of online and offline is going to be expensive.
  • 2) The online teaching mode brings with it increased costs of IT infrastructure such as network bandwidth, servers, cloud resources and software licensing fees.
  • 3) Online teaching means new hiring in the IT sector and increased costs due to engagements with Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, and other online platforms.
  • 4) Online teaching means setting up multiple studios and educational technology centres which translate into investments in high technology.
  • 5) Creation of virtual laboratories across all domains of studies and examination centres, etc. would add to the woes in terms of already depleted finances.
  • 6) Additional funds have to be allocated to train faculty for online teaching.

Way forward

  • The Centre and State governments should provide soft loans to students to stay with the educational course.
  • Students looking at online instruction would be disinclined to pay the same fee charged for offline instruction.
  • It would seem prudent for the government and regulatory bodies to not interfere in the fee structure, and, for the future, even consider a measure of higher degree of financial autonomy.
  • It is high time institutions in India are allowed to create coffers or corpuses for a rainy day.
  • Educational institutions could come to be treated like any other corporate body, with an allowable small margin of profit.

Consider the question “What are the challenges faced by the education system in the aftermath of the pandemic. Suggest ways to mitigate the impact.”

Conclusion

‘Acadonomics’ of the future will not only decide the fate of the academic sector in India but also its quality, ranking, research, innovation potential and its collective impact on our country’s economy.

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Issues with the graded autonomy

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2- Issues with autonomy and graded autonomy

The article analyses the issues the graded with the graded autonomy to the Higher Education Institutes.

Background

  • NEP 2020 provided for phasing out of the system of affiliated colleges and the grant of greater autonomy in academic, administrative and financial matters to premium colleges.

Concerns with the autonomy

  • The move has raised concerns about the politico-bureaucratic interference in the internal functioning of universities.
  • It has also raised concerns about the substantial burden on universities which have to regulate admissions, set curricula and conduct examinations for a large number of undergraduate colleges.
  • Concerns have long existed about over-centralisation, due to constraints imposed on the potential for premium affiliated colleges to innovate and evolve.
  • These apprehensions about the autonomy came to be used by successive governments to build a case for the model of graded autonomy.

The push towards graded autonomy

  • Successive governments have pushed through measures that have largely allowed for greater penetration of private capital in higher education.
  • Recommendations of recent education commissions have promoted the unequal structure of funding for higher education.
  • Under this, hierarchy in higher education was created: Central government-funded universities, provincial Central government-funded universities, regional universities and colleges funded by State governments, etc.
  • The National Knowledge Commission (2005) stated that good undergraduate colleges are constrained by their affiliated status… the problem is particularly acute for undergraduate colleges which are subjected to the ‘convoy problem’ as they are forced to move at the speed of the slowest.
  • In turn, the dominant policy discourse vocally propagates “graded autonomy” for better performing Higher Educational Institutions.
  • Under which academic excellence can be supported through a grant of special funds and allowing greater power to such institutions.
  • This basis has been gradually enforced with the UGC in 2018 granting public-funded universities the right to apply for autonomy based on whether they are ranked among top 500 of reputed world rankings or have National Assessment and Accreditation (NAAC) scores above 3.26.

NEP 2020: Centralisation and autonomy

  • NEP 2020  is a combination of enhanced centralising features and specific features of autonomy.
  • Deeper centralisation is indicative in the constitution of the government nominated umbrella institution, Higher Education Council of India (HECI); Board of Governors, the National Education Commission etc.

Concerns

  • The model of graded autonomy will encourage hierarchy that exists between different colleges within a public-funded university, and between different universities across the country.
  • While the best colleges gain the autonomy to bring in their own rules and regulations, affiliated colleges with lower rankings and less than 3,000 students face the threat of mergers and even closure.
  • A shrinking of the number of public-funded colleges will only further push out marginalised sections.
  • Autonomy could lead to more inaccessibility as the independent rules and regulations of autonomous colleges and universities shall curtail transparent admission procedures.
  • Graded autonomy can be expected to trigger a massive spurt in expensive self-financed courses as premium colleges, which will lead to exclusion.

Conclusion “Examine the issues with the autonomy of Higher Education Institutes in the NEP 2020.”

Conclusion

More than deliverance, autonomy represents the via media for greater privatisation and enhanced hierarchization in higher education.

Sources: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/privatisation-via-graded-autonomy/article32396753.ece

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[pib] Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2020

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: ARIIA 2020

Mains level: Not Much

The Vice-President has released the Atal ranking ‘ARIIA 2020’.

Note the indicators on which the ARIIA ranking is based.  Also try this PYQ:

Q. Which one of the following is not a sub-index of the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business Index’? (CSP 2019)

(a) Maintenance of law and order

(b) Paying taxes

(c) Registering property

(d) Dealing with construction permits

Highlights of the ARIIA 2020

  • The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has topped the ARIIA 2020 under the ‘Best Centrally Funded Institution’ category.
  • Last year too, the institute emerged as the top innovative institution in the country.
  • IIT Bombay and Delhi have secured the second and third spots, respectively.

About ARIIA

  • ARIIA is an initiative of erstwhile Ministry of HRD, implemented by AICTE and Ministry’s Innovation Cell.
  • It systematically ranks all major higher educational institutions and universities in India on indicators related to “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development” amongst students and faculties.
  • ARIIA 2020 will have six categories which also includes special category for women only higher educational institutions to encourage women and bringing gender parity in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship.
  • The other five categories are 1) Centrally Funded Institutions 2) State-funded universities 3) State-funded autonomous institutions 4) Private/Deemed Universities and 5) Private Institutions.

Major Indicators for consideration

  • Budget & Funding Support.
  • Infrastructure & Facilities.
  • Awareness, Promotions & support for Idea Generation & Innovation.
  • Promotion & Support for Entrepreneurship Development.
  • Innovative Learning Methods & Courses.
  • Intellectual Property Generation, Technology Transfer & Commercialization.
  • Innovation in Governance of the Institution.

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National Education Policy and current status of education

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2- National Education Policy

The article contrasts the targets set in the National Education Polity with the present state of education in the country.

Key recommendations

  • Redesigning the school curriculum to accommodate early childhood care and education.
  • Ensuring universal access to education.
  • Increasing gross enrolment in higher education to 50% by 2035.
  • Improving research in higher education institutes by setting up a Research Foundation.

Let’s take stock of the current situation on the above-suggested parameters.

1) Universal Access to Education

  • Despite the Right to Education Act-2009 retaining children remains a challenge for the schooling system.
  • As of 2015-16, Gross Enrolment Ratio was 56.2% at senior secondary level as compared to 99.2% at primary level.
  • Data for all groups indicates a decline in GER as we move from primary to senior secondary for all groups.
  • This decline is particularly high in case of Scheduled Tribes.

NEP 2020 recommendations

  • The NEP recommends strengthening of existing schemes and policies which are targeted for such socio-economically disadvantaged groups.
  • Further, it recommends setting up special education zones in areas with a significant proportion of such disadvantaged groups.
  • A gender inclusion fund should also be setup to assist female and transgender students in getting access to education.

2) GER to 50% in higher education

  • The NEP aims to increase the GER in higher education to 50% by 2035.  
  • As of 2018-19, the GER in higher education in the country stood at 26.3%.
  • The annual growth rate of GER in higher education in the last few years has been around 2%.

NEP 2020 recommendations

  • The NEP recommends increasing capacity of existing higher education institutes by restructuring and expanding existing institutes.
  • It recommends that all institutes should aim to be large multidisciplinary institutes, and there should be one such institution in or near every district by 2030.
  • Further, institutions should have the option to run open distance learning and online programmes to improve access to higher education.

3) Restructuring of Higher Education Institutes

  • The NEP notes that the higher education ecosystem in the country is severely fragmented.
  • At present, there is complex nomenclature of higher education institutes (HEIs) in the country such as ‘deemed to be university’, ‘affiliating university’, ‘affiliating technical university’, ‘unitary university’.
  • These shall be replaced simply by ‘university’.

NEP 2020 recommendations

  • The NEP recommends that all HEIs should be restructured into three categories:
  • 1)  research universities focusing equally on research and teaching.
  • 2)  teaching universities focusing primarily on teaching.
  • 3) degree-granting colleges primarily focused on undergraduate teaching.
  •  All such institutions will gradually move towards full autonomy – academic, administrative, and financial.

4) National research foundation to boost research

  • The NEP states that investment on research and innovation in India, at only 0.69% of GDP, lags behind several other countries.
  • The total investment on R&D in India as a proportion of GDP has been stagnant at around 0.7% of GDP.
  • Of which 58% of expenditure was by government, and the remaining 42% was by private industry.

NEP 2020 recommendation

  • To boost research, the NEP recommends setting up an independent National Research Foundation (NRF).
  • The Foundation will act as a liaison between researchers and relevant branches of government as well as industry.
  • Specialised institutions which currently fund research, such as the Department of Science and Technology, and the Indian Council of Medical Research, will continue to fund independent projects.
  • The Foundation will collaborate with such agencies to avoid duplication.

5) Digital Education

  • The NEP states that alternative modes of quality education should be developed when in-person education is not possible.
  • But let’s look into the accessibility of such mode.
  • As of 2017-18, only 4.4% of rural households have access to a computer (excludes smartphones).
  • Nearly 15% have access to internet facility.  Amongst urban households, 42% have access to the internet.

NEP 2020 recommendations

  • Several interventions are recommended-
  • (i) developing two-way audio and video interfaces for holding online classes.
  • (ii) use of other channels such as television, radio, mass media in multiple languages to ensure the reach of digital content where digital infrastructure is lacking.

6) Increasing public spending on education to 6% of GDP

  • Public spending of 6% of GDP was first made by the National Policy on Education 1968 and reiterated by the 1986 Policy.
  • NEP 2020 reaffirms the recommendation of increasing public spending on education to 6% of GDP.
  •  In 2017-18, the public spending on education-includes spending by centre and states-was budgeted at 4.43% of GDP.
  •  In 2020-21, states in India have allocated 15.7% of their budgeted expenditure towards education.
  • States such as Delhi, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra have allocated more than 18% of their expenditure on Education for the year 2020-21.
  • On the other hand, Telangana (7.4%), Andhra Pradesh (12.1%) and Punjab (12.3%) lack in spending on education, as compared to the average of states.

Consider the question “Examine the provision with regard to increasing research in the country in the National Education Policy 2020.”

Conclusion

The National Education Policy is an ambitious document with the potential to transform. What is required is the zeal to implement and assess the progress by analysing the outcomes.


Source-

https://www.prsindia.org/theprsblog/national-education-policy-recommendations-and-current-scenario

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Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA)

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: HEFA

Mains level: Higher education infra development

The JNU has got approval for a fund from the Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) for the construction of new infrastructure.

Try this PYQ:

What is the aim of the programme ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’? (CSP 2017)

(a) Achieving 100% literacy by promoting collaboration between voluntary organizations and government’s education system and local communities.

(b) Connecting institutions of higher education with local communities to address development challenges through appropriate technologies.

(c) Strengthening India’s scientific research institutions in order to make India a scientific and technological power.

(d) Developing human capital by allocating special funds for health care and education of rural and urban poor, and organizing skill development programmes and vocational training for them.

About HEFA

  • HEFA is a joint venture company of Canara Bank and Ministry of Human Resource Development.
  • It provides financial assistance for the creation of educational infrastructure and R&D in India’s premier educational institutions.
  • All the Centrally Funded Higher Educational Institutions will be eligible to join as members of the HEFA.
  • For joining as members, the educational institution must agree to escrow a specific amount from their internal accruals for a period of 10 years to the HEFA.

Funding pattern of HEFA

  • HEFA will have an authorized capital of 2,000 crore rupees and the government equity would be 1,000 crore
  • It also mobilizes CSR funds from Corporates/PSUs which will, in turn, be released for promoting research and innovation in these institutions on a grant basis.
  • The principal portion of the loan will be repaid through the ‘internal accruals’ of the institutions earned through the fee receipts, research earnings etc.

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Understanding text and context of National Education Policy

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2- Issues in National Education Policy

The article critically examines the various aspects of the National Education Policy 2020 and the issue of flexibility and exams has been analysed closely.

Context of scepticism

  • The New Education Policy is a forward-looking framework for transforming Indian education.
  • But the past record on implementation of polity raises the concern that the New Education Policy should not turn out to be just “another document”.
  • Also, the emphasis in the document on critical thinking and free inquiry is entirely well placed.
  • But universities are being intimidated into political and cultural conformity.
  • The document lays down objectives; the strategy has yet to come.

Walking the tightrope

  • On the language issue it prefers the long-standing recommendation of primary education in the mother tongue.
  • But does not categorically recommend curb English.
  • On the basic architecture of delivery, policy does not show an inclination towards public or private education both in school and higher education.

School education: Most promising part

  • The policy focus on early child development, learning outcomes, different forms of assessment, holistic education, and,  recognises the centrality of teacher and teacher education.
  • The document recognises that “the very highest priority of the education system will be to achieve universal foundational numeracy and literacy.”
  • The suggestions for school education are ambitious, centred on the students, cater to their pedagogical diversity, and take on board the world of knowledge as it is now emerging.

Multidisciplinary education

  • The document mentions the word multidisciplinary a bit too much, without explicating what it means.
  • One way of thinking about this is not in terms of multiple subjects.
  • It is reorienting education from disciplinary content to modes of inquiry that allow students to access a wide variety of disciplines.

Two concerns

1) Flexibility issue

  • Under the policy, students might need different exit options.
  • But it is unclear if the diploma or early exit options all be made available within a single institution, or different institutions.
  • If it is within single institutions, this will be a disaster.
  • Because structuring a curriculum for a classroom that has both one-year diploma and four-year degree students takes away from the identity of the institution.
  • There is also a risk that without adequate financial support, the exercising of exit options will be determined by the financial circumstances of the student.
  • The flexibility offered through multidisciplinary education is against the principle that different institutions have a different characters and strengths.
  • A healthy education system will comprise of a diversity of institutions, not a forced multi-disciplinarity.

2) Issue of exams conundrum

  • The document rightly emphasises that focus needs to shift from exams to learning. But it contradicts itself.
  • Exams are burdon because of competition and cost in terms of opportunities.
  • So the answer to the exam conundrum lies in the structure of opportunity.
  • This will require a less unequal society both in terms of access to quality institutions.
  • Exams are also necessary because in a low trust system people want objective measures of commensuration.
  • So the policy reintroduces exams back into the picture by recommending a national aptitude test.
  • But the idea that this will reduce coaching is wishful thinking, as all the evidence from the US and China is showing.

Consider the question “The National Education Policy 2020 moves away from rigidity and offers flexibility in many ways. In light of this examine the flexible dimensions offered in the policy and issues with it.”

Conclusion

The policy is commendable for focussing on the right questions. But the hope is that with this our education policy can be transformed into a treat, not another trick.

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National Education Policy needs scrutiny

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Provisions in the National Education Policy

Mains level: Paper 2- National Education Policy

National Education Policy, while comprehensive in its approach misses out on some crucial issues. These issues are discussed here.

Following are the issues with the National Education Policy-

1) Implications for SEDGs

  •  Implications of the policy for SEDGs-Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups-needs to be considered.
  • The term “caste” is absent from the document apart from a fleeting reference to Scheduled Castes.
  • Also absent is any mention of reservation in academic institutions, whether for students, teachers, or other employees.
  • Reservation is the bare minimum required in terms of affirmative action in the highly differentiated socio-economic milieu in which we exist.

2) Education in tribal areas

  • There is the passing reference to educational institutions in tribal areas, designated as ashramshalas.
  • While there are sections of the document that describe ways in which SEDGs are supposed to gain access to higher education institutions, there is no time-frame that is specified.
  • In a situation of growing privatisation how these policies will be implemented is a matter of concern.

3) Multi-disciplinarity misses some disciplines

  • Multi-disciplinarity is an attractive and flexible proposition, allowing learners to experiment with a variety of options.
  • While the list of the disciplines in which multi-disciplinary approach is allowed is unexceptionable, it is worth flagging what is missed out.
  • Fields of studies such as Women’s Studies or Gender Studies, Cultural Studies, Media Studies, Dalit Studies, Studies of Discrimination and Exclusion, Environmental Studies and Development Studies are missing.
  • Many of these have engaged with multi-disciplinarity/inter-disciplinarity in exciting and disturbing ways, bringing to the fore issues of diversity, difference and identity.

4) Problem of autonomy

  • While the documents mention autonomy and choice in the document, but there are limits.
  • For instance, the selection of vocational subjects in middle school is described as a fun choice.
  • At the same time, it is to be exercised “as decided by States and local communities and as mapped by local skilling needs”.
  • National Testing Agency, will be a centralised agency to conduct exams will be against the autonomy proposed in the policy.
  • HEIs will now be run by a Board of Governors backed by legislative changes where required.
  •  Further centralisation is envisaged through the setting up of “the National Higher Education Regulatory Authority (NHERA).

5) Depriving the HEI democratic functioning

  • Several universities and HEIs have evolved and sustained democratic mechanisms, including academic and executive councils.
  • What has made them vibrant institutions is the presence of faculty and students, elected, as well as on the basis of seniority and rotation.
  • Abandoning them will deprive members of HEIs of an opportunity to engage with the challenges of democratic functioning.

6) No mention of Fundamental Rights

  • Several values are identified as constitutional and there is an occasional mention of fundamental duties.
  • But there is no mention of fundamental rights.

Consider the question “Examine the provision for governance of education in the National Education Policy. Also, examine the issues with the policy.”

Conclusion

The Education Policy has many novel ideas with the potential to transform the education system in the country, however, the issues discussed here highlights the need to revisit it, before it is actually implemented.

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Overview of National Education Policy

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Education Policy 2020

Mains level: Paper 2- Proposals in Education Policy 2020

The Education Policy 2020 comes with many changes in education in the country. Key aspects of the policy are discussed in the article.

Context

  •  National Education Policy 2020 is the fourth major policy initiative in education since Independence.
  • The last one was undertaken a good 34 years ago and modified in 1992.
  • NEP 2020 seeks to address the entire gamut of education from preschool to doctoral studies.

Challenges India faces in education

  • Lack of resources and capacity.
  • Dozens of mother tongues, a link language that despite being the global language of choice is alien to most.
  • A persistent mismatch between the knowledge and skills imparted and the jobs available.

Follwing are the key aspects of the policy-

1) 5+3+3+4 Model

  • A 5+3+3+4 model recognises the primacy of the formative years from ages 3 to 8 in shaping the child’s future.
  • It also recognises the importance of learning in the child’s mother tongue till at least Class 5.
  • As picking up languages is easy between ages 3 and 8, children will learn English and mother tongue together.
  • Multilingual felicity could become the USP of the educated Indian.
  • The policy envisages 100% Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in school education by 2030.

2) Flexibility in choosing subjects and vocational education

  • Another key aspect of new policy is the breaking of the compartments of arts, commerce and science streams in high school.
  • Policy also aims at introducing vocational courses with internship.
  • The ‘blue-collarisation’ of vocations in our society is also a hurdle to be overcome.
  • NEP 2020 proposes a multi-disciplinary higher education framework with portable credits.
  • An ambitious GER of 50% in higher education is envisaged by 2035.
  • At the apex will be Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities, where research will be supported by a new National Research Foundation.

3) Question of regualtion

  • NEP 2020 aims to free our schools, colleges and universities from periodic “inspections” and place them on the path of self-assessment and voluntary declaration.
  • Transparency, maintaining quality standards and a favourable public perception will become a goal for the institutions.
  • This will lead to all-round improvement in their standard.
  • A single, lean body with four verticals for standards-setting, funding, accreditation and regulation is proposed to provide “light but tight” oversight.

4) Addressing deprivation

  • Inequality and challenges faced by the disadvantaged and disabled have been considered in NEP.
  • The NEP lays particular emphasis on providing adequate support to ensure that no child is deprived of education, and every challenged child is provided the special support she needs.

5) Ancient knowledge

  • The long-neglected ancient Indian languages and Indic knowledge systems are also identified for immediate attention.

Resource challenge

  •  An ambitious target of public spending on education at 6% of GDP has been set.
  • This is certainly a tall order, given the current tax-to-GDP ratio and competing claims on the national exchequer by other key sectors.
  •  If public and political will can be mustered, resources will find their way from both public and private sources.

Consider the question “What are the measures proposed in the Education Policy 2020 for higher education.”

Conclusion

Resources are never the main roadblock to success in education. NEP 2020 provides the ingredients and the right recipe. What we make of it depends entirely on us.

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[pib] Highlights of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: National Education Policy

Mains level: Need for imbibing competitiveness in Indian education system

The Union Cabinet has approved the National Education Policy 2020, making way for large scale, transformational reforms in both school and higher education sectors.

Practice question for mains:

Q.What are the key features of the National Education Policy, 2020? Discuss how it will facilitate the universalization of education in India.

School Education   

  • New Policy aims for universalization of education from pre-school to secondary level with 100 % Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in school education by 2030.
  • NEP 2020 will bring 2 crores out of school children back into the mainstream through the open schooling system.
  • The current 10+2 system to be replaced by a new 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years respectively.
  • This will bring the hitherto uncovered age group of 3-6 years under the school curriculum, which has been recognized globally as the crucial stage for the development of mental faculties of a child.
  • The new system will have 12 years of schooling with three years of Anganwadi/ pre-schooling.
  • Emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, no rigid separation between academic streams, extracurricular, vocational streams in schools; Vocational Education to start  from Class 6 with Internships
  • Teaching up to at least Grade 5 to be in mother tongue/ regional language. No language will be imposed on any student.
  • Assessment reforms with 360-degree Holistic Progress Card, tracking Student Progress for achieving Learning Outcomes
  • A new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education, NCFTE 2021, will be formulated by the NCTE in consultation with NCERT.
  • By 2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated B.Ed. degree.

Higher Education

  • Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education to be raised to 50 % by 2035;  3.5 crore seats to be added in higher education.
  • The policy envisages broad-based, multi-disciplinary, holistic Under Graduate Program with flexible curricula, creative combinations of subjects, integration of vocational education and multiple entries and exit points with appropriate certification.
  • Academic Bank of Credits to be established to facilitate  Transfer of Credits
  • Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs), at par with IITs, IIMs, to be set up as models of best multidisciplinary education of global standards in the country.
  • The National Research Foundation will be created as an apex body for fostering a strong research culture and building research capacity across higher education.
  • Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) will be set up as a single overarching umbrella body for entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education. HECI to have four independent verticals  – National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC) for regulation, General Education Council (GEC ) for standard-setting, Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) for funding,  and National Accreditation Council( NAC) for accreditation.
  • Public and private higher education institutions will be governed by the same set of norms for regulation, accreditation and academic standards.
  • Affiliation of colleges is to be phased out in 15 years and a stage-wise mechanism is to be established for granting graded autonomy to colleges.
  • Over a period of time, it is envisaged that every college would develop into either an Autonomous degree-granting College or a constituent college of a university.

Others

  • An autonomous body, the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), will be created to provide a platform for the free exchange of ideas on the use of technology to enhance learning, assessment, planning, administration.
  • NEP 2020 emphasizes setting up of Gender Inclusion Fund, Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups
  • New Policy promotes Multilingualism in both schools and higher education. National Institute for Pali, Persian and Prakrit, Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation to be set up
  • The Centre and the States will work together to increase the public investment in the Education sector to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest.

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HRD Ministry to be renamed as ‘Education Ministry’

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: HRD Ministry revamp, National Education Policy 2020

Mains level: National Education Policy 2020

The Union Cabinet has approved the renaming of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) to the Ministry of Education to more clearly define its work and focus.

Before reading this newscard, try this PYQ from CSP 2019:

Q.The Ninth Schedule was introduced in the Constitution of India during the Prime Ministership of:

(a) Jawaharlal Nehru

(b) Lal Bahadur Shastri

(c) Indira Gandhi

(d) Morarji Desai

A flip-back

  • With the renaming, the Ministry got back the name that it had started out with after Independence, but which was changed 35 years ago when Rajiv Gandhi was Prime Minister.

Who were some of India’s early Education Ministers?

  • The Ministry which was focussed on education from the primary classes to the level of the university was headed by some of the stalwarts of Indian politics in its early years.
  • For more than a decade after Independence, the Ministry was led by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
  • He was followed by Kalulal Shrimali and the eminent jurist M C Chagla, with the poet-educationist Humayun Kabir holding the portfolio for a short while in between.
  • Later Education Ministers of India included Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, who went on to become President.
  • The last Education Minister of India was KC Pant, who served in the post in 1984-85, after which the name of the Ministry was changed.

Under what circumstances did the Ministry of Education become HRD?

  • Upon becoming PM in 1984, Rajiv Gandhi, who had surrounded himself with a new crop of advisers, showed restlessness for change and innovation in a number of areas.
  • He accepted a suggestion that all departments related to education should be brought under one roof.
  • There was some opposition from academic circles who complained that the country no longer had a Department with ‘education’ in its name. Some newspapers wrote editorials criticizing the change of name.
  • But the decision had been made, and subsequently, in 1986, the government cleared a new education policy – the second in the country’s history, and one that was to survive until now.

Under HRD roof

  • On September 26, 1985, the Ministry of Education was renamed as the Ministry of Human Resource Development, and P V Narasimha Rao was appointed Minister.
  • Related Departments such as those of Culture and Youth & Sports were brought under the Ministry of HRD, and Ministers of State were appointed.
  • Even the Department of Women and Child Development – which became a separate Ministry with effect from January 30, 2006 – was a Department under the Union HRD Ministry.

Were changes made in the Ministry even afterwards?

  • Yes, changes were made from time to time. After Atal Bihari Vajpayee became PM in 1998, the government decided to separate the Department of Culture from the Ministry of HRD.
  • In October 1999, a new Ministry of Culture came into being, with the late Ananth Kumar in charge.
  • The Department of Youth too was separated from the Ministry of HRD, and Ananth Kumar was given charge of this new Ministry as well.
  • With these decisions of the Vajpayee government, the HRD Ministry remained ‘HRD’ only in name – for all practical purposes, it was back to being a ministry for education.

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[pib] INDSAT exam under ‘Study in India’ Programme

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: IndSAT

Mains level: Study in India Program

The Ministry of HRD conducted the first-ever Indian Scholastic Assessment (IND-SAT) Test 2020 under its ‘Study in India’ programme.

Try this MCQ:

Q.The INDSAT recently seen in news is a:

a) Free-to-air educational TV channels for school education

b) A satellite for educational purposes

c) IMD weather forecasting system

d) Online examination for foreign students in India

INDSAT Exam

  • The Indian Scholastic Assessment or IND-SAT is a standardized online proctored test for students seeking scholarships with Study in India (SII).
  • This exam is to gauge the capability and tenacity of students applying to study in India.
  • The scores will serve as a criterion to shortlist the meritorious students for the allocation of scholarships for undergraduate as well as postgraduate programmes under ‘Study in India’ programme.
  • The exam is conducted in the proctored internet mode by the National Testing Agency.

What makes it special?

  • Nearly five thousand candidates from Nepal, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Sri-Lanka, Kenya, Zambia, Indonesia and Mauritius appeared for the exam.

About Study in India

  • The Study in India is a programme of MHRD under which foreign students come to study in 116 select higher education institutions in India for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
  • The selection of the students is based on their merit in class 12 / school-leaving exam.
  • About top 2000 students are given scholarships, while some others are given fee discounts by the institutions.

 

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Transforming higher education

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2- Issues with higher education

The issues of quality of higher education explain the lack of employability of Indian youth. This article examines the issue and suggests the approach to deal with the issue.

Three learning outcomes

  • The first is to provide knowledge in the relevant discipline to the students.
  • Second, imparting students with the skills needed for their jobs/enterprises.
  • Third, students are expected to play a constructive role in shaping the society and the world at large, the values and ideals of a modern, progressive society.
  • The teaching-learning process is expected to mould their character accordingly.

Issues with the education system

  • Apart from a handful of institutions in the technology, management and liberal arts streams a vast majority of other students just meander through college and acquire a degree.
  • There is a huge gulf between the curriculum taught in the colleges and actual job requirements.
  • It is common to hear even the brightest of students mention that they learnt more on the job than through their curriculum in college.

Focus more on training

  • If most of the students learn so much on the job, it raises several questions.
  • Why should we bestow so much importance on a syllabus?
  • And why do we take such massive efforts to evaluate students’ knowledge of that syllabus through exams?
  • What we can do is completely re-evaluate the syllabus frequently considering the changing needs of the time.
  • We can have substantive industrial internships while retaining only a very basic outline of essential concepts.
  • The evaluation too can be a mix of regular assignments, performance in the internship.

Consider the question “The lack of employability in the youth of India could be a huge hurdle in India’s aim to reap the benefits of demographic dividend. Examine the reasons for and suggest the measures to deal with the issue.”

Conclusion

The higher education sector has multiple stakeholders and multiple vested interests. In normal times, maintaining the status quo or implementing incremental and marginal reforms was all one could hope for. The pandemic has opened the doors for ushering in massive, bold and transformational reforms. As John Lewis said, “If not now, then when?”

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Centralisation in decision making in education

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2- Centralisation in Education

The article tracks the evolution of the India education system after Independence. While the decentralisation and active encouragement underscores the initial years, recent trends shows a growing emphasis on centralisation.

How Government support contributed to rise of educational institutions

  • In the initial decades after Independence, the government was conscious of various social, economic and financial challenges.
  • So, the government strongly supported universities, encouraging them to further develop an academic .
  • The IITs and IIM along with institutions of academic excellence like the IISc, Indian Statistical Institute, and JNU emerged as model institutions.
  • The institutional and academic autonomy offered was central to their emerging as premier institutions.
  • Other universities revised curricula and set about the task of reforming the university as a space for healthy academic engagement.

Rise of decentralisation in collective decision making

  • The above changes were marked by the growing importance of various large representative institutional bodies.
  • For example, institutional bodies like faculty committees, committees of courses, board of studies, university senates, academic councils and executive councils grew in importance.
  • These bodies oversaw the administrative and academic functioning of the university and ensured collective decision-making.
  • Debate over ideological positions, scholarly beliefs shaped the process of nation-building in independent India.

Policy changes and its impact (2005-15)

  • The constitution of the National Knowledge Commission and privatisation of education undermined the deliberative and independent character of these institutions of higher education.
  • Administrative and academic decisions were imposed from above.
  • Discussions within various academic bodies were discouraged.
  • The imposition of the semester system and a four-year undergraduate programme in many public and private universities were hallmarks of this new era of bureaucratic centralisation.
  • The academic achievements of scholars from Indian universities were undermined.
  • Those in positions of authority within the universities were encouraged to undermine academic bodies and limit their role.

New government intervention after 2015

  • Futher changes were introduced starting from 2015.
  • Choice Based Credit System was introduced and there were renewed attempts to privatise higher education linked to an emphasis on rankings.
  • The government started to look into minute details pertaining to academic curricula, the teaching-learning process and the parameters that governed academic research within the university.

Centralisation in Covid-19 pandemic

  • The centralisation trend intensified with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The Central government and the University Grants Commission have imposed themselves on the daily functioning of all higher educational institutions.
  • This represents a new government-oriented bureaucratic centralisation.
  • Decisions about the conclusion of academic term, the modalities for evaluation and the conduct of the teaching-learning process have become exclusive government prerogatives.
  • The various academic bodies that had original jurisdiction over these matters have been made redundant.
  • How and whether examinations are to be conducted has become an issue of contention between State and Central governments.

Consider the question “Centralisation of the decision making instead of at institutional level in educational institutions and universities lies at many woes of the higher education in India. Comment.”

Conclusion

The time has come for institutions of higher education in India to recover their lost voice and restore the fertile academic space where ideas are discussed and debated rather than suppressed and dismissed.

Original article:

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-lost-voice-of-the-indian-university/article32105945.ece

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Online education in India

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: MOOC

Mains level: Paper 2- Adopting online mode for education amid pandemic

What are the benefits of Online Learning in distress situations?

  • In pandemic situation like today’s, where due to nationwide lockdown, all schools, colleges, universities were shut down, online learning comes as a savior to students and provided them with an opportunity to continue learning even while at home.
  • There was anxiety, particularly about the graduating batches of students, lest the ongoing session should be declared a ‘zero semester’. There were attempts from individual teachers to keep their students engaged. A few universities made arrangements for teachers to hold their classes virtually through video conferencing services such as Zoom. These are well-meaning attempts to keep the core educational processes going through this period.
  • Many private and government colleges in the country had been conducting online classes. Very small aperture terminals (VSATs) are still used by top Business schools in the country to create a closed user group (CUGs), which offers online classes globally. However, COVID-19 has hastened
  • Online education, a result of the digital world has brought a lot to the learning table at all levels of education, beginning from preschool up to higher level institutions. The move to remote learning has been enabled by several online tech stacks such as Google Classroom, Blackboard, Big Blue Button, Zoom and Microsoft Teams, all of which play an important role in this transformation.
  • With the development of ICT in education, online video-based micro-courses, e-books, simulations, models, graphics, animations, quizzes, games, and e-notes are making learning more accessible, engaging, and contextualized.
  • To ensure that learning never stops, the online education sector, and mobile networks have become the preferred platform. Teachers are preparing lessons using distance learning tools, and parents are learning new teaching techniques at home. Providing aid are the entrepreneurs offering online learning apps like BYJU’s, Adda24x7, Duolingo, Khan Academy, Witkali and several others.
  • Universities like World University of Design, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Amity, IP University, Lovely Professional University and Mumbai University are offering online classes across different subjects.
  • Schools in 165 countries around the world have closed due to the Corona virus outbreak, according to UNESCO. And, according to the International Telecommunication Union(ITU), more than 1.5 billion school children around the world are using online education, following the global lockdown.
  • Online learning is not for everyone. Schools located in remote areas of the country with limited availability of electricity and internet is making restricted use of WhatsApp to stay connected with their classrooms.

    3.) Less intimidating

    Many students in classroom environments aren’t comfortable speaking in public. In an online environment, it can be much easier to share thoughts with others

    5.) Focus on ideas

    With an estimated 93 percent of communication being non-verbal, online students don’t have to worry about body language interfering with their message. While body language can be effective sometimes, academics are more about ideas, and online education eliminates physical judgments that can cloud rational discussion.

    5.) Focus on ideas

    With an estimated 93 percent of communication being non-verbal, online students don’t have to worry about body language interfering with their message. While body language can be effective sometimes, academics are more about ideas, and online education eliminates physical judgments that can cloud rational discussion.

    8.) Cost

    Although the cost of an online course can be as much or more than a traditional course, students can save money by avoiding many fees typical of campus-based education, including lab fees, commuting costs, parking, hostels, etc. Imagine living in Dhule but going to college in Mumbai.

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MOOC can’t be the substitute for learning in the classroom

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: MOOC

Mains level: Paper 2- Adoption of MOOC and issues with it.

Massive open online courses (MOOC) could not be panacea for the problems education faces. It can’t be the replacement for the learning in the classrooms. This article highlights the issues with adoption of MOOC and why it can’t be the replacement for learning in the classrooms.

UGC circular to adopt MOOC

  • In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University Grants Commission had issued a circular to universities.
  • Through this circular, it encouraged them to adopt massive open online courses (MOOCs) offered on its SWAYAM platform for credit transfers in the coming semesters.
  • But the move poses a great danger.
  • But why it’s danger? Because it is also being seen as an instrument to achieve the country’s target Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education.
  • GER in higher education is envisioned to be 30% by 2021; it was 25.8% in 2017–18.

Issues with MOOC and what classrooms offers

  • MOOC-based e-learning platforms tend to reinforce a top-down teacher-to-student directionality of learning.
  • This misses the point that teaching and learning are skills that are always in the making.
  • The teacher is after all “an intellectual midwife” who facilitates in the birth of students’ ideas and insights through engaging in critical dialogue.
  • In a conducive classroom environment, this role is often switched and the student plays intellectual midwife to the teacher’s ideas.
  • Moving to a MOOC-based degree system would rob young teachers and students of these essential lessons in teaching and learning from each other.
  • Policymakers behind the SWAYAM platform have left out courses in engineering, medicine, dental, pharmacy, nursing, architecture, agriculture, and physiotherapy on the grounds that they involve laboratory and practical work.
  • This move makes sense.
  • But it seems to suggest that the pure sciences, the arts, the social sciences, and humanities curricula are largely lecture- and theory-based, and, therefore, readily adaptable to the online platform.
  • Nothing can be farther from such a misconception.
  • Implicit in every curriculum is the tacit assumption that the classroom is a laboratory for hands-on testing of ideas, opinions, interpretations, and counterarguments.
  • A diverse and inclusive classroom is the best litmus test for any theory or insight.
  • Multidisciplinarity happens more through serendipity — when learners across disciplines bump into each other and engage in conversations.
  • Classroom and campus spaces offer the potential for solidarity in the face of discrimination, social anxiety, and stage fear, paving the way for a proliferation of voluntary associations that lie outside the realm of family, economy, and state.
  • In the absence of this physical space, teaching and learning would give way to mere content and its consumption.
  • Without a shared space to discuss and contest ideas, learning dilutes to just gathering more information.
  • This could also dilute norms of evaluation, whereby a “good lecture” might mean merely a lecture which “streams seamlessly, without buffering”. 

Online mode: add more value to the classroom education

  • One could think of greater value-sensitive and socially just architectures and technologies that further foster classroom engagement.
  • It also makes it accessible for students of various disabilities and challenges, thereby adding more value to the existing meaning of education.
  • But public education modelled on social distancing is a functional reduction and dilution of the meaning of education.
  • It could add value only as an addendum to the classroom. 

Consider the question “Examine the issues with wide adoption of the MOOC to address the problems education  sector in India faces.”

Conclusion

Such platforms must be seen only as stop-gap variants that help us get by under lockdown situations and complement classroom lectures.

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Sahakar Mitra Scheme

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Sahakar Mitra Scheme

Mains level: Not Much

The Union Ministry for Agriculture has launched Sahakar Mitra: Scheme on Internship Programme (SIP).

Note: Article 19 states that the Right to form co-operative societies is a Fundamental Right and DPSP Article 43-B provides for the promotion of co-operative societies.

Sahakar Mitra Scheme

  • The scheme is an initiative by the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), the cooperative sector development finance organization.
  • It aims to help cooperative institutions access innovative ideas of young professionals while the interns will gain experience of working in the field to be self-reliant.
  • The scheme is expected to assist cooperative institutions to access new and innovative ideas of young professionals while the interns gain experience of working in the field giving the confidence to be self-reliant.
  • Professional graduates in disciplines such as Agriculture and allied areas, IT etc. will be eligible for an internship.
  • Professionals who are pursuing or have completed their MBA degrees in Agri-business, Cooperation, Finance, International Trade, Forestry, Rural Development, Project Management etc. will also be eligible.
  • Each intern will get financial support over a 4 months internship period.

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National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ‘India Rankings 2020’

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NIRF

Mains level: Not Much

The National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranking list has been released by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).

Practice question for mains:

Q. What is NIRF? Discuss the parameters and methodology used in the ranking. Also, discuss its key features and limitations.

About NIRF

  • The NIRF is a methodology adopted by the Ministry of HRD to rank institutions of higher education in India.
  • The Framework was approved and on 29 September 2015.
  • There are separate rankings for different types of institutions depending on their areas of operation like universities and colleges, engineering institutions, management institutions, pharmacy institutions and architecture institutions.
  • The ranking framework evaluates institutions on five broad generic groups of parameters, i.e. Teaching, Learning and Resources (TLR), Research and Professional Practice (RP), Graduation Outcomes (GO), Outreach and Inclusivity (OI) and Perception (PR).

Why need such rankings?

  • Rankings help universities to improve their performance on various ranking parameters and identify gaps in research and areas of improvement.
  • The ranking is necessary for transparency and healthy competition.

Highlights of the 2020 rankings

  • IIT Madras retains 1st Position in Overall Ranking as well as in Engineering,
  • Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru tops the University list.
  • IIM Ahmedabad tops in Management Category and AIIMS occupies the top slot in Medical category for a third consecutive year.
  • Miranda College retains 1st position amongst colleges for a third consecutive year.
  • Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences, Delhi secures 1st position in “Dental” category, dental institutions included for the first time in India Rankings 2020.

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Nature Index, 2020

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Nature Index

Mains level: NA

India has ranked twelfth, globally in science research output as per the recently-released Nature Index table 2020. The top five positions have gone to the United States of America, China, Germany, United Kingdom and Japan.

Note: This nature index has nothing to do with nature conservation. It has only mentioned the rankings of research institutes in natural and physical sciences.

What is the Nature Index?

  • The Nature Index is a database of author affiliation information collated from research articles published in an independently selected group of 82 high-quality science journals.
  • It serves as an indicator of high-quality research in the Natural and Physical Sciences.
  • The database is compiled by Nature Research, a division of the international scientific publishing company Springer Nature that publishes academic journals.
  • The index provides a close to the real-time proxy of high-quality research output and collaboration at the institutional, national and regional level.

India’s achievements

  • Globally the top-rated Indian institutions in this list are CSIR, a group of 39 institutions at the 160th position and IISc Bangalore at the 184th
  • Three of the autonomous institutions of the DST have found their place among the top 30 Indian Institutions.
  • Keeping out CSIR, which is a cluster of institutions, IACS Kolkata is among the top three institutions in quality Chemistry Research in India.
  • NCASR Banglore ranks 4th among academic institutions in life sciences, 10th in Chemistry and Physical Sciences, 10th among Indian academic institutions, and 469th in the global ranking.

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Need for re-orientation

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much.

Mains level: Paper 2- Improving the standard and status of State universities and problems faced by them?

Context

State universities will have to deliver more to the State where they are located

Status of the state universities in India

  • Significance of state universities: Out of about a thousand higher education institutions (HEIs) that are authorised to award degrees in India, about 400 are state public universities.
    • These state universities produce over 90% of our graduates (including those from the colleges affiliated to them) and contribute to about one-third of the research publications from this country.
  • Poor quality: That their quality and performance is poor in most cases is accepted as a given today.
    • It is evidenced by their poor performance in institutional rankings,
    • the poor employment status of their students,
    • rather poor quality of their publications,
    • negligible presence in national-level policy/decision-making bodies,
    • poor track record in receiving national awards and recognition, poor share in research funding and so on.
  • Stated reasons for poor performance– Commonly stated reasons for these observations include government/political interference in the management of the university, lack of autonomy, poor governance structures, corruption, poor quality of teachers, outdated curricula, plagiarism, poor infrastructure and facilities, overcrowding, evils of the “affiliation” system and poor linkages with alumni and industry.
    • Symptoms of the problem: While many of these observations are no doubt valid, they appear to be only the symptoms and consequences of some deeper malaise and not the underlying cause.

Core causative factors for the poor state of state universities

  • Lack of support: State universities are not supported the way Central universities are supported by the Central government as well as given patronage by the section of society.
    • It is as though State-level players do not have much stake in the stability and performance of the State university system.
    • What could be the reason for lack of support? One reason why State-level players do not feel compelled to back the State university system more strongly could be that the latter does not commit itself to anything that may be of particular interest and value to the State where the university is located.
  • What could be the solution? In order to receive much more funding and support from the State system then, State universities would have to commit to delivering lots more to the State and its people where they are located.
    • New vision and programmes: They must come up with a new vision and programmes specifically addressing the needs of the State, its industry, economy and society, and on the basis of it make the State-level players commit to providing full ownership and support to them.

Conclusion

The initiative to start a larger dialogue on the future of our State universities would have to be taken primarily by the academic community of these institutions.

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[pib] Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0

Mains level: Various initiaitves for rural transformation

The Union Minister for Human Resource Development has informed Lok Sabha about the progress of the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA).

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0

  • Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0 is the upgraded version of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 1.0.
  • The scheme is extended to all educational institutes; however, under UBA 2.0 Participating institutes are selected based on the fulfilment of certain criteria.

About UBA

  • It is a flagship programme of the Ministry of HRD, which aims to link the Higher Education Institutions with a set of at least 5 villages so that these institutions can contribute to the economic and social betterment of these village communities using their knowledge base.
  • It is a significant initiative where all Higher Learning Institutes have been involved for participation in development activities, particularly in rural areas.
  • It also aims to create a virtuous cycle between the society and an inclusive university system, with the latter providing knowledge base; practices for emerging livelihoods and to upgrade the capabilities of both the public and private sectors.
  • Currently under the scheme UBA, 13072 villages have been adopted by 2474 Institutes.

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World University Rankings by Subject 2020

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Highlights of the report

Mains level: State of higher education in India

 

 

Indian higher-education institutes have improved their performance on the global stage, with a greater number getting ranked in the top-100 programs, according to the latest edition of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject 2020.

Major findings of the report

  • IIT Bombay (44), IIT Delhi (47), IIT Kharagpur (86), IIT Madras (88) and IIT Kanpur (96) found place in top 100 of this category.
  • In the Natural Sciences category, three Indian institutions made it to the top 200: IIT-Bombay at 108th rank closely followed by the IISc, Bangalore at the 111th position, while IIT-Madras scraped in at the 195th rank.
  • Jawaharlal Nehru University remained the country’s top institution in the Arts and Humanities category, with a global ranking of 162, followed at a distance by Delhi University at 231.
  • Delhi University topped the Social Sciences and Management category, with a global ranking of 160, followed by IIT-Delhi at 183.
  • There are no Indian institutions in the world’s top 200 when it comes to Life Sciences and Medicine.
  • The top institution in the country is the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, which had a global ranking of 231.
  • Other top subjects included physics & astronomy with 18 Indian institutes, biological sciences (16), electrical engineering (15), chemical engineering (14) and mechanical engineering (14).
  • MIT, Stanford University and the University of Cambridge has secured top three positions in the Engineering and Technology category.

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A disconnected pedagogy

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much.

Mains level: Paper 2- Aligning national curriculum with the needs of the market and society.

Context

The gap between jobs, needs and knowledge, and the absence of role models, could be turning India’s demographic dividend into a nightmare.

National curriculum and problems with it

  • What is in our national curriculum? It is a fixed set of topics prescribed in all subjects — from physics to geography, and engineering to planning.
    • And it is taught in English at our elite MHRD institutions.
  • Designed by professionals: It has not been designed by politicians but by our elite professors and bureaucrats: It is what they believe the nation really needs to know.
  • Issue of imposition: It is imposed on ordinary students and parents through competitive exams and on colleges and universities through various central regulatory agencies, most egregiously, through the UGC-NET, an objective-type multiple-choice (!) exam that decides who is fit to be a college teacher.

Issues with the engineering curriculum

  • Doesn’t address the regional needs: We already know that the national engineering curriculum fails miserably in meeting regional needs.
    • No regional variation accounted for: Engineering for Himachal Pradesh needs to be different from that in Maharashtra or Kerala.
  • Not in sync with the demands of the industry: It must address the needs of core industries, local enterprises, the provisioning of basic amenities such as water and energy.
    • None of this is in our national curricula or practised at the IITs.
    • Moreover, there is no mechanism for engineering colleges to work with their communities.

Issue with the social science curriculum

  • No interdisciplinary courses: Let us look at the UGC-NET curricula, which is largely what is taught in our elite institutions.
    • At the BA level, it is divided into several disciplines — for instance, political science, sociology and economics.
    • This is unfortunate since much of life in India is interdisciplinary.
    • As a result, many activities such as preparing the balance sheet for a farmer, or analysing public transport needs, and development concerns such as drinking water or even city governance, are given a miss.
  • Example of economics curriculum: The UGC-NET curricula in economics has 10 units, the very last unit is Indian Economics. Unit 8 is on Growth and Development Economics, where the student must know Keynes, Marx, Kaldor, and others.
    • There are various mathematical models, for example, the IS-LM macroeconomic model, whose validity in the Indian scenario is questionable.
    • Absence of important sectors: The study of sectors such as small enterprises or basic economic services such as transportation is absent. The District Economic Survey, an important document prepared regularly by every state for each district, is not even mentioned.

Sociology curriculum and issues involved

  • Absence of certain important items: There is no preamble nor a list of textbooks or case studies.
    • Under “Social Institutions”, we have a list of timeless words such as culture, marriage, family and kinship.
    • Peasant occurs two times, but there is no farmer. Here is a sample question: “Who uses the phrase ‘fetishism of commodities’ while analysing social conditions?” followed by four names.
  • No mention of important data: There is also no mention of important data sets such as the census or developmental programmes including MGNREGA in either curriculum.

Conclusion

  • National curricula divorced from the community: The training at our elite institutions, and consequently, in the national curricula, is not to empower ordinary students to probe their lived reality. Or to contribute professionally and constructively to the development problems around us. Rather, it is to perpetuate a peculiar intellectualism which is divorced from the community in which these institutions are embedded.
  • Need to rethink the one-nation-one curriculum: One-nation-one-curriculum certainly has some advantages in enabling mobility of some jobs, especially in the national bureaucracy and a multinational economy.
    • Cost to the developmental needs: But one-nation-one-curriculum comes at the cost of the developmental needs of the states and the emergence of good jobs there.
  • Turning demographic dividend into a nightmare: The above-stated asymmetry is behind the aspirational dysfunction in higher education. It is this disconnect between jobs, needs and knowledge and the absence of role models, which is slowly turning our demographic dividend into a nightmare on the streets.

 

 

 

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Teaching the teacher

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much.

Mains level: Paper 2- Need to reform the teacher education system in India.

Context

Our teacher education system must be aligned with global standards.

Learning crisis and teacher vacancies in India

  • Teacher education as a status check on schooling education: Comparable to the role of a thermometer in diagnosing fever, an assessment of the quality of teacher education can be a status check on the schooling system.
    • Teachers remain at the heart of the issue, and translating schooling into learning is a critical challenge.
  • The gravity of learning crisis: The learning crisis is evident in the fact that almost half of the children in grade 5 in rural India cannot solve a simple two-digit subtraction problem,
    • While 67 per cent of children in grade 8 in public schools score less than 50 per cent in competency-based assessments in mathematics.
  • Teacher vacancies: India is dealing with a scenario of significant teacher vacancies, which are to the tune of almost 60-70 per cent in some states.
  • In fact, there are over one lakh single-teacher schools present across the country.
  • Excess teachers produced by TEIs: On the other hand, there are 17,000-odd Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) that are responsible for preparing teachers through programmes such as the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed), and Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed).
    • 19 lakh teachers every year: Taking their sanctioned intake into account, at full operation, these TEIs could generate over 19 lakh freshly trained teachers every year as against the estimated annual requirement of 3 lakh teachers.
    • To put things in perspective, currently, there are about 94 lakh teachers across all schools in India.
    • Every year, the teacher education system could, therefore, be producing one-fifth of the total number of school teachers.

The quality aspect of the teachers

  • Poor quality teachers: Not only are these TEIs generating a surplus supply of teachers, but they are also producing poor-quality teachers.
  • Pass percentage in eligibility test below 25%: Besides it being reflected in the dismal state of learning across schools, the pass-percentage in central teacher eligibility tests that stipulate eligibility for appointments as teachers has not exceeded 25 per cent in recent years.
    • This begs a pertinent question — how did we get here?

What are the reasons for such problems?

  • The answers lie in:  The inadequacies of planning, regulation, policy and organisational structures.
  • The role and issues in NCTE: The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and its four regional committees (north, south, east and west), established by statute, are responsible for teacher education in India.
    • Toothless in terms of powers: The Act assigns disproportionate power to the regional committees which grant programme affiliation while the Council has been rendered toothless.
  • Proliferation of sus-standard TEIs: Perverted incentives, widespread corruption and commercialisation have resulted in a massive proliferation of sub-standard TEIs.
    • In fact, while most of these TEIs are financially unviable, some function out of tiny rooms with duplicate addresses, and a few could even be selling degrees at a fixed price.
    • No system to ensure the entry of meritorious: These institutes function in isolation from the rest of the higher education system, and there is no system to assess and accredit them. Consequently, there is no systemic sieve to ensure the entry of only motivated and meritorious individuals into the teacher education space.
  • Disparity regional spread of TEIs: A more granular look reveals disparities across regions and programmes offered.
    • One-third in UP: Almost one-third of the TEIs are concentrated in Uttar Pradesh.
    • In fact, Ghazipur, a district in UP with a population of around one lakh, has a whopping 300 TEIs.
    • Approximately half of the total TEIs are in the northern region with Rajasthan having the second-largest number of institutes.
  • Poor planning: While there are about 17 recognised teacher education programmes, a majority of TEIs offer only B.Ed and D.El.Ed programmes.
    • This reinforces the point of poor planning as the country is actually facing a shortage of subject teachers in secondary schools and teacher-educators for whom a Master of Education (M.Ed) degree is a requisite (offered in less than 10 per cent of the TEIs).
  • Outdated curriculum: Adding to the mix of challenges is an outdated teacher preparation curriculum framework that was last updated over a decade ago.
  • Regulation by multiple agencies: On the governance front, multiple agencies have oversight on teacher education.

Way forward

  • Collect the credible data: Any reform initiative must be built on credible data.
    • No data available: To date, there is no accurate real-time database of the number and details of teacher education institutes, students enrolled and programmes offered.
    • How the data can be helpful? Such data could be used to create a comprehensive plan for the sector, devising the optimal number of TEIs, their regional spread and programme-wise intake.
    • One cannot but underscore the significance of proper planning. The teachers will concur.
  • Develop the system of assessment and accreditation: An accurate system of assessment and accreditation must be developed to ensure high-quality teacher education.
    • The National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC), responsible for quality-standards in higher education, has only covered 30 per cent of all institutes since its establishment back in 1994.
    • Given the extensive landscape of the teacher education sector alone and current capacity constraints, it is necessary that multiple accreditation agencies be empanelled.
    • A common accreditation framework should be designed through a consultative process including all relevant stakeholders to facilitate its wider acceptability.
    • A transparent and credible system of accreditation could form the bedrock for weeding out substandard TEIs and propelling quality improvements in the rest.
  • The curriculum of global quality: Core determinant of quality is the curriculum which must be regularly revamped and revised to ensure that our teacher education system is aligned to global standards.
    • Ideally, given that teacher education requires a good mix of curricular inputs and good-quality pedagogy, experts are rightly advocating for a shift towards integrated four-year subject-specific programmes to be housed in multidisciplinary colleges and universities.
    • In the first phase, these may be initiated in select central and state universities.
    • Potential to outsource teachers: This could also potentially serve as an avenue for India to outsource its surplus high-quality teachers to over 70 countries that face a teacher shortage.
  • Administrative will and execution: Finally, reforms must be driven by administrative will and executed through a well-established governance mechanism, clearly establishing ownership and accountability for set work streams across multiple agencies.
    • The draft National Education Policy presents a ray of hope.
    • Its vision to restore integrity and credibility to the teacher education system needs to be translated into effective action.

Conclusion

India is estimated to have the largest workforce within the next decade. This means that a population bulge is on the cusp of entering the higher education ecosystem now. The pressing need of the hour is to focus on providing the best quality teacher education to those who aspire to build the future of this country.

 

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Worldwide Educating for the Future Index (WEFFI) 2019

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: WEFFI

Mains level: Need for internationalization of Indian education system

 

 

India has jumped five ranks in the Worldwide Educating for the Future Index (WEFFI) 2019.

About WEFFI

  • The report is published by The Economist Intelligence Unit. The report and index were commissioned by the Yidan Prize Foundation.
  • The index ranks countries based on their abilities to equip students with skill-based education.
  • The report analyses the education system from the perspective of skill-based education “in areas such as critical thinking, problem-solving, leadership, collaboration, creativity and entrepreneurship, as well as digital and technical skills.”

Global scenario

  • Among the world’s largest economies, the US, UK, France and Russia all fell back in the index, while China, India and Indonesia took steps forward.
  • Finland was at the apex of the index, with strengths across each category followed by Sweden.

India’s performance

  • India ranked 35th on the overall index in 2019 with a total score of 53, based on three categories – policy environment, teaching environment and overall socio-economic environment.
  • India scored 56.3 in policy environment falling from a 61.5 score in 2018.
  • India’s score of 52.2 in the teaching environment category and 50.1 in the socio-economic environment category increased significantly from 32.2 and 33.3 in 2018 respectively.
  • Earlier, India ranked 40th with an overall score of 41.2 across categories in 2018.

What made India progress?

  • The report attributed India’s growth to the new education policy introduced by the government.
  • India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in the Union Budget 2020, had highlighted a
  • The New Education Policy announced in this year budget under ‘Aspirational India’ will focus on “greater inflow of finance to attract talented teachers, innovate and build better labs.
  • The policy will focus further on skill-based education.

Various shortcomings highlighted

  • The 2018 WEFFI report had highlighted the shortcomings in India’s education system emphasizing upon its inability to utilise the opportunity of internationalizing its higher education system.
  • A decentralized education system is another shortcoming of India’s education policy according to the 2019 report.
  • Well-intentioned policy goals relating to future skills development often do not get filtered downward, a hazard in economies such as the US and India that have large, decentralized education systems, the report said.

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Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2020

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: GTCI 2020

Mains level: Unemployment in India

What is the news: The Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) was recently published.

Performance Analysis

  • India has climbed eight places to 72nd rank in the GTCI which was topped by Switzerland, the US and Singapore.
  • Sweden (4th), Denmark (5th), the Netherlands (6th), Finland (7th), Luxembourg (8th), Norway (9th) and Australia (10th) complete the top 10 league table.
  • In the BRICS grouping, China was ranked 42nd, Russia (48th), South Africa (70th) and Brazil at 80th position.
  • This year’s GTCI report explores how the development of AI is not only changing the nature of work but also forcing a re-evaluation of workplace practices, corporate structures and innovation ecosystems.

About the GTCI report

  • It was started in 2013 and is an annual benchmarking report that measures the ability of countries to compete for talent, their ability to grow, attract and retain talent.
  • Theme for 2020 was ‘Global Talent in the Age of Artificial Intelligence’. It explores how the development of artificial intelligence (AI) is not only changing the nature of work but also forcing a re-evaluation of workplace practices, corporate structures and innovation ecosystems.
  • Inequality: The report noted that the gap between high income, talent-rich nations and the rest of the world is widening. More than half of the population in the developing world lack basic digital skills.
  • About GTCI Report: It is launched by INSEAD, a partner and sponsor of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Davos, Switzerland recently.
  • INSEAD is one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools with locations all over the world and alliances with top institutions.
  • The report, which measures countries based on six pillars:
  1. enable
  2. attract
  3. grow
  4. retain talent
  5. vocation and technical skills
  6. global knowledge skills

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SATCOM technology

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: EDUNET

Mains level: Applications of SATCOM

The Rajasthan government has started using satellite communication technology in a big way to enhance the learning outcome in educational institutions and generate awareness about social welfare schemes while giving priority to the five aspirational districts selected by NITI Aayog in the State.

SATCOM

Rajasthan has taken an initiative to provide the facility of receive only terminals (ROT) and satellite interactive terminals (SIT) for getting the services of subject experts in the government schools and colleges and propagate various schemes in the remote areas with no Internet connectivity.

What are ROT and SIT?

  • Satellite Interactive Terminal (SIT) is one of the six selected user networks used by CEC-UGC.
  • It is operating independently with their user terminals anywhere in the main land of India.
  • It has one main teaching end along with remote SITs and ROTs.
  • At present, there are over hundred SITs and ROTs under CEC EDUSAT network, installed at various colleges, and Universities across the country.

Back2Basics

EDUSAT

  • EDUSAT is the first Indian Satellite built exclusively for serving the educational sector. It was launched in September 2004 by the ISRO.
  • The satellite based distance education system enables virtual classrooms at rural and remote locations across the country.
  • Consortium for Educational Communication (CEC) has started two-way audio-video communication through EDUSAT network from 5th September 2005.
  • ISRO set up a nationwide multi-user educational network in its EDUSAT national Ku – band.

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