Major Issues Pertaining to State Public Universities (SPUs)
- Crisis of Quality
- SPUs constitute 80% of higher education in India, but they rather lag in academic standard as compared to premier institutions such as IITs and IIMs.
- Funding Issues
- The problems are not just due to lack of funds but also poor utilization of those funds in higher education.
- Spending Disparities
- High literacy states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana spend more per student on higher education.
- Some of the highest education spenders (Bihar, J&K, Manipur) are not particularly known for academic excellence, calling into question the efficiency of fund utilization.
- Decreasing Education Expenditure
- State spending on education as a percentage of GSDP has fallen down over the last decade.
- The total Centre+State spending on education is below the NEP target of 6% GDP.
Important Policy Recommendations of the NITI Aayog
- Governance & Autonomy
- Fee autonomy thus providing financial independence to universities.
- Framing of a National Research Policy that will significantly affect improving research outcome.
- Establishment of truly multidisciplinary education and research universities, which by their very nature tend to integrate research with teaching.
- Funding & Infrastructure
- Setting up of a dedicated infrastructure finance agency for the development of universities.
- Granting tax exemptions and CSR funding for SPUs.
- Policy & Implementation Roadmap
- 80 policy prescriptions and more, classified into short , medium , and long time goals.
- More than 125 performance indicators to track success.
- Recommendations draw from consultations with stakeholders across 20+ states and 50+ SPUs.
Challenges Towards Implementation
- Capacity and Resource of State
- The states may not match the financial and institutional capacities to carry out large scaling reforms.
- Industries and universities should move away from mere teaching, to meaningful research.
- Possibility of Increasing Fees
- Fee autonomy may improve finances but could at the same time exclude weaker economic students.
- Need for Support from the Centre
- Given the financial constraints imposed on the states, the Centre ought to take the lead in funding higher education reforms initiated.
- Lay Implications on the Broader Context
- Higher education quality constitutes India’s demographic dividend and global competitiveness.
- In the absence of reforms, there is a danger that SPUs might plunge further down the lane in terms of research and academic standards.
