Economic Highlights

New Delhi, 17 October 2022

A Rating Surpasses IISc!

BILLIONS AT STAKE IN EDUCATION

By Shivaji Sarkar 

A ranking by the university accreditation system has raised critical questions about higher education in India and its ranking system. Could a private deemed university surpass the internationally acclaimed Indian Institute of Science? It has foxed the Indian educators.

There are seven glaring instances where the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has seemingly given scores of universities, which the assessors themselves feel impractical as it appears. This has raised questions on the process and functioning of the assessors. It impacts just not education but the future of youth, may encourage an economics that promotes mediocrity and possibly siphoning of unaccounted billions.

Despite 403 private universities, 42,000 private colleges and huge private finances involved, hardly any higher education institution enjoys the trust and quality of the terms of quality and deliverance, despite technically putting in equivalent man-hours per day. Chairman of NAAC executive committee B Patnaik has said that now assessment will be based on quality and not quantity.

Overall private quality very rarely matches that of a government institution, may be with some exceptions, though many have more glitz and high fees. The National Knowledge Commission assessed that education expansion till 2020 would have needed $356 billion, with needing Rs 2.2 trillion private funding. An Aspire Circle report estimates India’s education market to double from $180 billion to $313 billion in 2030 for 429 million learners and cater to five million jobs.

The KPMG estimates that the operating revenue generated by higher education institutions in India is estimated to be upwards of Rs 1 lakh crore. This would constitute around 20 per cent of the overall size of charitable institutions, in which the total operating expenditure is estimated to be around Rs 5 lakh crore as of 2017-18. Clearly, there is a significant surplus being generated in the higher education system annually. It amounts to around Rs 15,000 crore a year. The FICCI is advocating retention of the surplus generated (profits) by the investors against the government stipulation of reinvesting the surplus in the institution itself.

There is difference in general, engineering and medical educations costs. The general category varies from Rs 45,000 to 1.50 lakh, engineering from Rs 1.5 to 10 lakh and medical Rs 25 lakh to 40 lakh a year.

The surplus is the highest in medical education and a beeline of investors await entry to it. According to The Financial Literates, an investor company, estimates that in about a decade higher education would need a corpus of Rs 1 crore or more. Funds are siphoned off is known. In medical education, still there is high unregistered capitation fee and with the shortage of medical seats, unofficial capitation is likely to remain high.

The vacant seats are high in most private institutions, even in the national capital Delhi and around. Despite that it is around four crore students and private sponsors vying to invest. There is a catch, students even rural, prefer quality institutions. So many institutions go abegging. The fee structure is also tampered with as per demand. Scholarships world over are not real.

The shortfall in earnings is adjusted against cuts in salaries, infrastructure, amenities and facility costs. They also compromise in the quality of the staff. A major difference that has been observed is the critical observation and presentation by the faculty of private universities and those of the public institutions. Public institutions have a long tradition despite gradual reduction in funding even of central and state universities. Despite a total budgetary allocation of Rs 40,828 crore or about 13 per cent more than the last final estimates the actual allocations of either Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi University, Aligarh Muslim University, Banaras Hindu University or any other have been drastically cut. The delivery of public institutions still is better. Allahabad University is witnessing a protest against 400 per cent rise in tuition fees for four months.

In these circumstances a deemed university in Bhubaneshwar being awarded the highest NAAC score has raised many eyebrows as it surpasses the world ranking of IISc. Next is an engineering college of Bengaluru. Then another deemed university of Coimbatore that has jumped five grades in five years in two NAAC assessments. There are other anomalies raising the demand for an audit by the Union Human Resource Development Ministry.  

The pointer is obvious. Higher the NAAC grade, higher fees are levied apart from getting lucrative sponsors, better autonomy, access to UGC funds and collaborations with foreign universities. It’s a long chain. A record number of institutions have got A++ this year. The grade hike is astounding almost matching with the inflation.

The review is rightly demanded. None of the institutions’ infrastructure, research or projects match that of IISC, which some have surpassed and many are vying for. The major query – is it an academic evaluation or a marketing gimmick! Each of the marks awarded by NAAC ensures financial return and esteem. Do the institutions qualify for it? Would it satisfy the youth? The young generation is more discerning, have clear assessment of their institutions, and realise more than the NAAC and know their worth. The grave issue at stake is credibility of NAAC itself and promotion of mediocrity. Should the nation do away with NAAC?

Allegations of corruption are easily raised. It may or may not be systemic erosion of NAAC but it definitely needs a check. This does not call for Vedic revalidation of the ethical quotient. It needs clarification as to why the best academicians supposedly faltered. It is hoped it was not more than that.

They say it was against fixed asset, self-assessed institutional scores and the other their own assessments. Perfect. Does it mean that those who assessed IISC under-rated it? Nobody has raised a finger at IISC assessor. So NAAC may have budged from its standards. There is an urgency to restore visibly honest, transparent and responsible functioning of the organisation.

It is sine qua non for a fledgling National Education Policy, in which too the clarity is yet to set in. It would set the course for the next 30 years. The NAAC functioning has raised questions for that too. Let the audit be done fast and people told if there was a mistake and how it can be corrected. The youth should feel reassured and not shaken amid economic and other problems they are facing. May this be treated with utmost priority for confidence in the system.---INFA

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