Page 36 - EW December 2025

Expert Comment

Higher education challenge

& response

PRAMATH SINHA DIPANITA MALIK

An editorial in the 26th Anniversary issue of this publi- India’s most transformative ideas in
cation lamented that despite contemporary India hosting
52,081 junior and undergrad colleges and 1,338 universi- higher education have come from in-
ties with an aggregate enrolment of 45 million students, stitutions that dare to start differently.
they have not ideated a single globally transformative in- They take time to show outcomes but
novation or disruptive technology in 78 years since inde-
pendence. Pramath Raj Sinha, Founder & Chairperson they offer what doesn’t exist
of the Board of Trustees, Ashoka University & Dipanita
Malik of Jetri, an education-focused strategic advisory
and implementation firm, comment in this context. ones. India’s most transformative ideas in higher education
ISCOVERY IS ABOUT FINALLY FINDING WHAT have come from institutions that dared to start differently.
already exists, while innovation is about creating They take time to show outcomes, but they certainly offer
what never existed before. India’s higher educa- what does not yet exist in the landscape of education. That
Dtion institutions (HEIs) need work at both. Thanks creation is a mark of innovation.
to globalisation, the discovery of new models of research, ISB (estb.2001) is one example where innovation meant
ideation and innovation is speedier today than ever before. setting up a management institution (that was not an IIM)
There are two verities that make innovation in existing of global quality. It was spared strict regulatory control, ten-
institutions appealing to the public interest, but challeng- ure, or permanent faculty, and sustained through collective
ing to initiate. philanthropy and shared governance. Ashoka University
Change is not constant. First is ability to change. Edu- introduced liberal arts and sciences education in which stu-
cation is a deeply human enterprise. Students, parents, dents can explore, choose, and curate their interdisciplinary
faculty, administrators, boards, regulators, recruiters, and learning pathways after they enter college — a rare possibil-
wider society all have a stake in what education means and ity in a system that follows linear student progression and
delivers. Every stakeholder carries distinct expectation and rigid disciplinary specialisations. Anant National Univer-
imagination of success, forming a web of caution for HEIs sity, Ahmedabad (estb.2016) has established a reputation
to manage. as a design-first institution that consciously chose not to
For example, students schooled in systems that priori- repeat traditional curricula. Each institution began with the
tise memorisation over exploration, find it overwhelming same intent: to build what was not seen before.
to adjust to the freedom and self-direction that new holistic The India moment. India needs more institutions that
higher education demands. Parents, with older reference do more. While the number of HEIs (58,643) and the gross
points of institutional repute (such as the IITs and IIMs), enrolment ratio (28.4 percent) have been improving over
tend to view new models of education as risky departures the years, the goal before us is far bigger: to raise GER to
from proven precedents. Faculty accustomed to be driven 50 percent by 2035, and to compete globally.
by incentives and motivation that privilege research output Our higher education system ranks high in size, but not
and hierarchy over teaching innovation and collaboration, in the distinctiveness of our institutions. The first reason
are also likely to resist transformation as are administrators behind this is lack of adequate, high-quality and collabora-
and boards accustomed to balancing academic ideals with tive research. While research certainly signals academic
resource constraints. So any shake-up around established maturity, we must equally reflect on a more zoomed out
norms becomes a delicate affair, making institutions hesi- environment within which the focus on research output,
tant and slow to embrace change, even when necessary. traditionally through published work, is found and nur-
Regulation induces an additional layer of inertia. India’s tured. All institutions live and grow in an ecosystem, com-
regulatory frameworks have in the past focused more on prising processes, practices, structural legacies as well as
preventing misconduct by worst offenders rather than en- contemporary mindsets.
couraging innovation and diversification. Compliance rules Twenty-first century India is witnessing an extraordi-
differ by degree, body, and state, slowing transformation. nary entrepreneurship movement. The spirit of conceptu-
Institutional focus ends up shifting toward checks and bal- alising new ideas and implementing them at speed, and a
ances rather than pioneering new ideas. solution-building culture is transforming sectors. Higher
Outcomes. Second is essential need to show proof. For education too needs to match that spirit: to wonder, at-
instance, Ashoka University (estb.2014) has established a tempt, and create.
national reputation for innovative education because of the We need to build many more universities that expand
success of its students, faculty, and global partnerships. access and achieve a global competitive edge. Our young
Game-changing solution. While innovation is hard to population, one of the largest and still growing, is reason
push through existing structures, it can be built into new to move faster.

36 EDUCATIONWORLD DECEMBER 2025