Page 71 - EducationWorld September 2020
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HIGHER EDUCATION REGULATORY SYSTEM
Atul Khosla
on paper and commercial in intent,
where left pocket-right pocket mon-
etary transfers and doubtful transac-
n alum of IIT-Kanpur and tions are the norm. So why not make
the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute for-profit HEIs legal? It would encour-
Aof Management Studies, age private capital to flow in and In-
Mumbai, with work experience in dian education to blossom.
high-end consultancy firms including
McKinsey & Co, New York, Atul Kho- What do you see as the major roadblocks
sla is the founder pro-vice chancel- in implementing the proposed higher ed
lor of Shoolini University, Himachal regulatory structure?
Pradesh (estb.2009) ranked #1 in the There is always chance of slip between
state in the EW India Private Univer- cup and lip. While NEP 2020 is path-
sity Rankings 2020-21. breaking, the real challenge will be its
implementation in letter and spirit. A
How satisfied are you with NEP 2020’s lot of determination and effort will be
proposals for higher education? needed to eliminate existing holy cows
I am excited by several higher educa- of higher education and make the sys-
tion reforms proposed by NEP 2020. tem dynamic and relevant. I hope the
A great university should be on the 2020. This requires massive resource new ministry of education is not just
cutting edge of research and innova- mobilisation by government. How- a change of name, but will also change
tion, flexible and agile, working for ever good its intentions are, govern- its mind-set and operational style.
the upliftment of the community and ment will never succeed in raising the Moreover the implementation
continuously challenging the status amount of funding required. There- milestones are too distant. We need
quo. NEP 2020 endorses these beliefs. fore, a large proportion of investment a detailed follow-up plan involving
The most satisfying proposals of in higher education will have to come strong partnerships between the Cen-
NEP 2020 are its intent to integrate from the private sector. tre and states to make implementation
liberal arts learning into all study Of course, it’s undeniable that too seamless and effective. The spirit and
programmes in higher education; set much regulation kills any initiative. essence of NEP 2020 should not be
up a unified regulator for higher edu- When there is ease of doing business, lost in bureaucracy and details.
cation; encourage establishment of private capital flows in, there’s com-
large globally competitive multi-dis- petition and product quality improves. Is there any important area of higher edu-
ciplinary universities; permit foreign So what we need in Indian higher ed- cation reform which NEP 2020 has failed
universities to establish campuses in ucation is less rather than additional to address?
India; establish a National Research regulation. While the NEP scores on NEP 2020 should have paid greater
Fund and Academic Credits Bank. most points, I have reservations about attention to incremental digital tech-
This could be the start of a new India the regulatory framework proposed. nology usage in higher education and
— an India respected for its knowledge Admittedly, there is the danger co-opted the country’s most innova-
economy. that too many regulatory bodies will tive online education providers.
create regulatory complexity. I hope India has a great opportunity to
NEP 2020 has proposed the separation the separation of functions and a new leverage the digital revolution to
of functions of regulation, accreditation, Higher Education Commission with improve productivity and national
funding and academic standard setting its four proposed verticals does not wealth. In Industrial Revolution 4.0,
& establishment of the Higher Education lead to over-bureaucratisation and knowledge, research and innovation
Commission of India which will have four over-regulation of HEIs. are crucial for success. Countries with
verticals — NHERC, NAC, HECI & GEC – to In the final analysis, profits and strong education systems will be at a
regulate HEIs (higher education institu- free pricing are critical for attracting huge advantage. The US with trillion
tions). Isn’t this over-bureaucratisation of large investments into higher educa- dollar companies such as Amazon,
higher education? tion. The tragedy is that the existing Google and Apple is winning this race
According to my calculus, India will not-for-profit private secondary and and China is a close second. India
need to invest US$1 trillion (almost higher education model is a sham. It’s needs to revamp its education archi-
half our GDP in 2019) over the next common knowledge that the majority tecture — from K-12 to university — to
15 years to fulfill the dreams of NEP of HEI trusts are not-for-profit only transform into a global superpower.
SEPTEMBER 2020 EDUCATIONWORLD 71