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Cover Story

INDIA’S TOP-RANKED

PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES

For the first time since independence a substantial number (Indian Institute of Science, Banga-
of the country’s 10 million higher secondary school-leavers lore, BITS-Pilani, Manipal Academy
annually have the option to access high-quality, globally of Higher Education) had been reluc-
tantly permitted several decades ago
comparable undergrad education in well-funded, well- — have transformed India’s higher
administered private universities education landscape. For the first
time since independence, a substan-
tial number of the country’s 10 mil-
lion higher secondary school-leavers
annually have the option to access
high quality, globally comparable lib-
eral arts and humanities undergrad
education, supplemented with pro-
fessional elective study programmes
in well-funded, well-administered
private varsities such as Ashoka, Am-
ity, Jindal Global, Bennett and Krea,
at a fraction of the price of studying
abroad.
This revolution in higher educa-
tion is not restricted to liberal arts and
humanities. High potential, globally
benchmarked privately promoted and
managed universities such as BML
Munjal, Shiv Nadar and VIT univer-
sities, and Plaksha, Mohali, which
will admit its first batch this year, are
poised to rejuvenate engineering and
Manipal Academy of Higher Education snapshot: #1 sixth consecutive year technology education.
Regular readers of this publication
part from doubling the ties countrywide. Evidently enthused are no doubt aware that your editors
rate of annual GDP growth by the 7 percent-plus annual rates of are enthused by private initiatives
which lifted an estimated economic growth and rising business in preschool to Ph D education. We
A300 million citizens above and industry confidence, a new genre believe that academically, adminis-
the poverty line, one of the most so- of education entrepreneurs, aka edu- tratively and financially autonomous
cially beneficial outcomes of liber- preneurs, mobilised men, money and institutions managed by academics
alisation and deregulation of the diri- materials to promote several dozen and organisation management pro-
giste Indian economy from pervasive globally benchmarked private univer- fessionals are better equipped to de-
licence-permit-quota raj in 1991 — a sities modelled on America’s best Ivy liver meaningful learning connected
cause for which your editor raised the league universities. with industry and business require-
banner of revolt four decades ago as Since then India’s new age private ments, than unaccountable generalist
founding editor of Business India and universities, especially liberal arts and bureaucrats in the Central and state
Businessworld — is the sprouting of humanities institutions — because pri- education ministries. Over the past
a large number of private universi- vate science, medical and engineering seven decades the latter have reduced

38 EDUCATIONWORLD JUNE 2021