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Unfettering Higher Education

EVEN FOUR MONTHS after the Supreme Court pronounced its landmark order elucidating the rights of the unaided minority and non-minority educational institutions, the nationwide ripples created by the verdict are yet to die down. State Governments seem reluctant to give up their traditional control in the name of ensuring justice in education, but are faced with the imperative of respecting the rights of the managements of unaided institutions as enunciated in the Supreme Court's judgment. They want to spell out the percentage of seats to be filled by the Government through the common pool and those to be filled by the managements, a fee structure which students can afford and also meet the increasing input costs for the managements. And such a policy has to be announced early to enable students and parents to get prepared. It is in this perspective that the Tamil Nadu Government's policy announcement on professional education admissions ought to be viewed. The policy spells out the number of seats to be filled by the management and through the common pool. The State's rationale is, though the Supreme Court has stated the right to admit students is an essential facet of the right to administer educational institutions and that the States' instrumentalities should not interfere with that right, the judgment had provided a check against unfair treatment of the less influential classes when it held that the States can make regulatory measures for ensuring educational standards and protecting the interests of meritorious students. Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, which too have a large number of engineering, medical and pharmacy colleges, are trying similar policy options, but are facing stiff opposition from the private stakeholders, who insist on non-interference by the state in admission or fee fixation.

While the Supreme Court has recognised the role of unaided institutions, as also the sanctity of protecting the minority-run institutions, there are still issues that should not be lost in the legalese. With Governments withdrawing gradually from the higher education scenario, the private players have shown a phenomenal interest and commitment in providing professional education to thousands of youngsters, many of them making a commercial success of it too. Two decades ago, India hardly had a few dozen engineering, architecture, medical and paramedical institutions. Today, more than 3.6 lakh students enter 1,208 engineering colleges, most of them in the self-financing sector. Five States — Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Maharashtra — account for 806 engineering colleges and are also leaders in pharmacy and architecture education. More than 160 medical colleges produce 20,000 medical professionals each year across the States.

An acute shortage of qualified teachers, regional imbalances in the distribution of engineering colleges (the Northeast has hardly any institutions), the difficulty in maintaining educational standards, and the dwindling importance for pure science and liberal arts education are problems which planners have to face squarely. Governments need to find ways to ensure transparency and quality in education, even while safeguarding the rights of unaided institutions, as explained by the Supreme Court. However, India's experiment in democratising education also needs a system of checks and balances. The private professional educators should not be fettered by unnecessary governmental regulations, but they must infuse greater transparency and integrity in admission and administrative systems. The interests of students from poorer classes, whose capacity to pay for quality education is woefully inadequate, could be protected by the state-run institutions supplemented by schemes of direct subsidies or low interest loans for those in the private institutions. Private managements need also to come forward to offer scholarships and fee concessions to deserving students. If the new order calls for State Governments giving up their traditional control mentality, it also underlines the need for private managements adopting a more enlightened approach.

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