Page 38 - EducationWorld May 2022

Cover Story

INDIA’S TOP-RANKED

PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES

Currently, 403 private universities and 126 deemed India’s youth in higher education are
(private) universities licensed by the Central government in private HEIs.
Therefore since the EWIHER were
are on the 1,027-strong list of Indian universities approved
introduced in 2013, your editors have
by the Delhi-based University Grants Commission. been rating and ranking private and
According to some estimates, more than 70 percent of government/public universities sepa-
rately on the reasoning that they tend
India’s youth in higher education are in private HEIs
to have totally different institutional
cultures, tuition fee and accountability
Dilip Thakore structures. In particular, with tuition
fees frozen for decades in government
HEIs, the modest tuition and other
ontrary to popular belief, been that the country’s population has fees levied by private universities —
privately-promoted high- tripled to over 1 billion, because central albeit very modest by international
er education institutions planners were unaware that universal standards — have drawn continuous
C(HEIs) — undergrad col- education is the best contraceptive. criticism from academics and media
leges and universities — have made The original sin of under-investment pundits who foolishly expect and de-
a substantial contribution to post- in public education was compounded mand that all education institutions
independence India’s nation-building by conspicuous failure to supervise the must be run as charities, a chorus
effort. Although with India having quality of education dispensed in gov- sanctified by the Supreme Court and
foolishly adopted the Soviet-inspired ernment schools and higher education the upper judiciary. Nevertheless de-
“socialistic pattern of development” institutions. As repeatedly highlighted spite harassment and red-tape, the
and central planning immediately af- in the Annual Status of Education Re- number of private universities has
ter attaining political independence port (ASER) of the Pratham Education steadily increased and they have made
from British rule, it became fashion- Foundation, over 55 percent of class V a significant contribution to the steady
able to vilify private education pro- children in government rural prima- growth of the Indian economy and
viders as capitalist exploiters, despite ries can’t read class II textbooks. emergence of the country’s contem-
official discouragement, there’s been In higher education, 85 percent of porary 250-300 million middle class.
a steady growth in the number of pri- the country’s arts, science and com- Although in EWIHER 2022-23,
vate HEIs. For the simple reason that merce graduates — especially of HEIs we have maintained our tradition of
neither the Central nor state govern- promoted by state governments — are evaluating and ranking private and
ments have sufficiently invested in not sufficiently qualified for induction government universities separately, in
education. into Indian and foreign multination- the cause of continuous improvement,
Way back in 1967, the high-pow- als, according to Aspiring Minds, a we have further classified public and
ered Kothari Commission recom- Delhi-based human resources recruit- private universities into multi-disci-
mended that the government (Centre ment company. plinary; liberal arts and humanities;
plus states) should invest “at least” 6 Currently, 403 private universities engineering & technology; medical
percent of GDP in public education, (the majority licensed by state govern- and life sciences and ranked the Top
but that target has never been at- ments) and 126 deemed (private) uni- 100 private B-schools. We believe this
tained. For the past 75 years, govern- versities licensed by the Central gov- filtering and refinement of govern-
ment investment in public education ernment are on the 1,027-strong list ment/public and private universities
has averaged 3.25-3.5 percent per an- of Indian universities approved by the into streams will make it easier for
num. Delhi-based University Grants Com- students and scholars to choose HEIs
A direct consequence of taking the mission (UGC). According to some most suited to their aptitudes and as-
populist socialist road to perdition has estimates, more than 70 percent of pirations.

38 EDUCATIONWORLD MAY 2022