Nitasha Nair

Major Problems in the Higher education industry

 Low percentage of people opting for Mtech and PhD courses.

 Students preferring foreign universities to Indian ones for higher studies. Perception
of research opportunities and facilities better abroad like the US

 Students abroad manage well-paying fellowships and are easily absorbed into the
industry unlike in India. PhD is considered time consuming and students prefer to
take up a job right after graduation

 Lack of good colleges which results in low intake of students due to lack of
infrastructure and adequate faculty.

 Faculty not up to mark as profession of teaching not lucrative as the corporate salaries
much higher than college professor salaries

 Quality of faculty and infrastructure not at par with international universities, hence
students unwilling to dedicate their time in a place where the ROI is not satisfactory
especially after working or having a job in hand

 Despite the vast number of people acquiring degrees, employability remains low due
to poor quality of education imparted

Research Question – How to help raise the standard of education in Indian

Universities up to International levels
What Higher Technical Education Institutes in India need to do
The problems existing in this sector cannot be solved by taking one aspect in
isolation. If any sustainable change is to take place a holistic approach needs to
be followed, hence the broad objective for education institutes are as follows -
SHORT TERM MEDIUM TERM LONG TERM
• Improve the quality of • To provide quality technical • To provide quality
education imparted degree to a larger number of education at par with the
people best of institutions
• To increase the internationally
employability index of • Increase access to quality
professionals education through • Be the preferred choice for
technology the students who wish to
• Increase industry pursue higher technical
interaction for both faculty • Deeper focus on Research & degrees
and students development and
entrepreneurial bend

• To be able to provide
monetary benefits to
through fellowships, grants
and scholarship
Broad Areas for Improvement

Student Intake

Generic Skills Faculty

Higher
Technological
Advancements
Education Resource and
Technical Infrastructure

Institute
Client Institute –
requirements Industry
Cooperation
University
curriculum
Short term Goals and Strategies
 Improve the quality of education imparted : Following areas need to be restructured
 Learning methods : Participative learning through self learning,
presentations, group activity. This also helps in development of generic skills
such as communication, leadership and team building
 Faculty : activities such as training through workshops, industry exposure,
increased participation in R&D activities to upgrade their skills. In today’s fast
paced world thought influencers need to be aware of the technological
advancements
 Institute – industry cooperation : Through internships, projects and
workshops
 Improvement in the following areas would have a positive impact on the quality of
the education.

Participative
Learning Wholesome
education
Higher Faculty skills resulting in
Technical up gradation higher
Education student
Institute Industry employability
exposure
(Restructuring)
Medium term goals and strategies
 Increase intake of students by upgrading infrastructure such as library,
laboratory, internet and faculty support
 Leverage technological advancements such as internet, broadband to provide
distance learning programmes
 Provide research grants and facilities to students and faculty alike to give a
deeper focus to R&D
 To increase the number of monetary benefits to prospective students in the
form of scholarships and fellowships
 Upgrade the university curriculum to include more practical content such as
laboratory classes, cooperation with industry to give true understanding of
tools, techniques and concepts covered in the curriculum
Increase Intake +
Improve
Infrastructure
To increase
Higher Reach more people- the base of
Technical Distance Leaning competent,
Education technical
Institute Provide grants, professionals
scholarships

Upgrade curriculum
Enablers
These are factors which play a major part in the environment
 Controlling Agencies : The structure of technical education
system in India consists of several sub-systems such as
 the Central and State Government bodies
 Universities,
 All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)

 The AICTE is vested with functioning of technical and

management education. Although, these bodies regularly keep
necessary control over the performance indices of technical
institutions; the general performance and profile of young
faculty as well as graduating engineers and managers continue to
be deteriorating

 Despite the constraints of controlling agencies, self financed

institutions can introduce additional course modules in
collaboration with industry
Long Term Goals and Strategies
 To become leaders in imparting technical education institutes should be
looking to revamp the education system from grass root level

 Constant up gradation of skills are absolutely crucial in this fast paced field

 To be the preferred choice of students by providing world class quality

education. It the sum total result of all the short term and mid term objectives

Short Term objectives

To be the
Higher preferred
Technical Mid Term objectives
choice among
Education global
Institute competitors
Enablers
 More detailed plan of Faculty skill up gradation program
Current Scenario

 In the world of rapidly advancing knowledge, the intellectual contribution

made by the faculty requires life long learning. Following make up the
current base

Retired
Majority of
Academicians Fresh
Current
and Graduates
faculty base
technocrats

 The middle group, who take up teaching as their career are the real asset to
the institute
 The theory studied in the lecture classes needs to have a close correlation
with practice. This gives true understanding of tools, techniques and
concepts taught in all courses
 Without this practical approach, Engineering and Management education is
highly theoretical and incomplete
Proposed Solution : Faculty Skills Up gradation Program
Faculty skill up gradation program

Faculty Skills up
gradation

Ongoing Skills up
Participation in
gradation Program Short Courses
R&D
(OSUP)

OSUP : In order to provide quality education through the classroom instructions,

faculty must constantly update their knowledge. Through Ongoing skills up
gradation program faculty would be able to get industry immersion for durations
ranging from 6months to a year.
• R&D : The faculty should participate actively in research and development and
publish good quality research paper. This could be done in collaboration with the
industry
•Short Courses : These can be in form of conferences, workshops, short industry
trips to get up to date with the latest developments in the field.
•A bouquet of the above programs should be mandatory for each faculty to
achieve in a year. This could be linked to salary and future promotions. This will
ensure that the above programs are utilized for the benefit of all.
References
 Steps to improve engineering education in India, 2008,
www.expressindia.com
 Engineering education - debt trap for poor students, N.S. Venkataraman
 Bhatia C. M., Khurana Meenakshi S. Malhotra Sanjana (2006)
Participative Learning - A Proactive Approach, Indian Journal of
Technical Education.
 29(1). I-6 An Integrated Approach for Restructuring Higher Technical
Education, C. M. Bhatia, Smita Bhatia, Indian Journal of Technical
Education
Thank You