Invest in intellect
In this column, we invite experts to describe what they think is the most pressing issue in higher education in India
PROBLEM: A skewed economic eco-system, with not enough focus on the growth of intellectual capital.
ABUNDANT NATURAL RESOURCES
INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL POLICES SOUND ECONOMIC
It is important to develop a focussed plan to balance intellectual capital in the country’s growth tripod.
As an industry professional who consciously moved into academics several
years ago, I would like to give a different perspective to the higher
education conundrum in this country.
For any country to progress, the eco system must have three basic ingredients: (1) Intellectual capital (2) Abundant natural resources (3) An economy founded on sound economic principles and policies of supply and demand. As a country, India has been in a transient mode on these parameters, right from 1949. These parameters are like the legs of a tripod for a nation.
Our planners have been focusing on the economy, since 1949, with the belief that natural resources will keep growing and the intellectual capital will take care of itself to suit the growing demands of progress. This has resulted in a skewed situation for the key inputs required for growth.
This is the main reason that we have slipped in our higher educational system. What we need now is to focus on this leg of the economy and bring it on par with the other two factors, to come to a state of acceptance and stability.
This is a project by itself and no amount of operational tinkering will make this stable and acceptable.
Bringing in foreign universities or introducing esoteric subjects in unprepared academic institutions will not find solutions to the challenges faced by the economy.
SOLUTIONS: The involvement of all the stake-holders, including the government, students, society, academicians and industrialists, and altering the higher education landscape through a six-stage process.
This means that we need to define the three fundamental elements of this project: scope, time and cost.
A project of this nature requires enormous support in terms of resources. So, by bringing the private sector into education is not the only solution to face this challenge. In reality, by bringing the private sector, you bring in the element of short-term gains that are next to impossible in a project of this magnitude and scale. This is the reason that even though we have several private universities and autonomous institutions the quality of the output is not of an acceptable standard.
For any country to progress, the eco system must have three basic ingredients: (1) Intellectual capital (2) Abundant natural resources (3) An economy founded on sound economic principles and policies of supply and demand. As a country, India has been in a transient mode on these parameters, right from 1949. These parameters are like the legs of a tripod for a nation.
Our planners have been focusing on the economy, since 1949, with the belief that natural resources will keep growing and the intellectual capital will take care of itself to suit the growing demands of progress. This has resulted in a skewed situation for the key inputs required for growth.
This is the main reason that we have slipped in our higher educational system. What we need now is to focus on this leg of the economy and bring it on par with the other two factors, to come to a state of acceptance and stability.
This is a project by itself and no amount of operational tinkering will make this stable and acceptable.
Bringing in foreign universities or introducing esoteric subjects in unprepared academic institutions will not find solutions to the challenges faced by the economy.
SOLUTIONS: The involvement of all the stake-holders, including the government, students, society, academicians and industrialists, and altering the higher education landscape through a six-stage process.
This means that we need to define the three fundamental elements of this project: scope, time and cost.
A project of this nature requires enormous support in terms of resources. So, by bringing the private sector into education is not the only solution to face this challenge. In reality, by bringing the private sector, you bring in the element of short-term gains that are next to impossible in a project of this magnitude and scale. This is the reason that even though we have several private universities and autonomous institutions the quality of the output is not of an acceptable standard.
A project of this magnitude will require passion for creating
national intellectual wealth through continuous development of the
people at a cost that will be supported by the society.
1. Create a national contributory corpus for funding higher education initiatives: We cannot depend on only the government for funding; this should be managed by an independent body of academicians and planners for judicious funding of national academic initiatives of national importance.
2. Define long-term
goals: What is needed by the IT industry cannot be the reason for creating universities. These are short term off shoots of a progressive growth that is happening across the economy. One needs to look at the long term and create technological universities that leapfrog the horizons for a better future.
3. Micro-plan: In the absence of a focused plan the project will pulled in all direction and the real intent and directions would get completely watered down. This is in fact happening today with several opposition groups in different directions.
4. Create an eco system of passionate stake holders: This will comprise academicians, international universities, research institutions, industrial houses, students, faculty and others who matter in education.
5. Integrate: Create a plan that will look at seamless integration of education, right from the kindergarten stage to the terminal degrees like PhD in different disciplines and prioritise them, based on our plan for the next 20 years. Select only a limited number of disciplines for the first phase for implementation. This would be based on the need for employability and also the population demography.
6. Implement this plan with professional monitoring and control with due accountability. For this to happen create a team of hard core implementers who can roll up their sleeves and implement the project based on the defined project charter.
We can create several IITs, and IIMs, but the key ingredient of future of domain focus will not happen We will only create multiple teaching locations for today’s needs with varying quality and inadequate opportunities for gainful employment for the end product. To balance the intellectual capital for the growth tripod, we need a better plan.
Professor Krishna Moorthy is a member of the Academic Advisory Group of
Project Management Institute India and dean of the Institute of Project
Management established by Larsen &Toubro. A PhD scholar at the
University of Twente, Enchede, The Netherlands, his research area
includes digital age models for product development, risk in projects
and bidding models for projects. He is a project management evangelist
with various published articles in the field.
1. Create a national contributory corpus for funding higher education initiatives: We cannot depend on only the government for funding; this should be managed by an independent body of academicians and planners for judicious funding of national academic initiatives of national importance.
2. Define long-term
goals: What is needed by the IT industry cannot be the reason for creating universities. These are short term off shoots of a progressive growth that is happening across the economy. One needs to look at the long term and create technological universities that leapfrog the horizons for a better future.
3. Micro-plan: In the absence of a focused plan the project will pulled in all direction and the real intent and directions would get completely watered down. This is in fact happening today with several opposition groups in different directions.
4. Create an eco system of passionate stake holders: This will comprise academicians, international universities, research institutions, industrial houses, students, faculty and others who matter in education.
5. Integrate: Create a plan that will look at seamless integration of education, right from the kindergarten stage to the terminal degrees like PhD in different disciplines and prioritise them, based on our plan for the next 20 years. Select only a limited number of disciplines for the first phase for implementation. This would be based on the need for employability and also the population demography.
6. Implement this plan with professional monitoring and control with due accountability. For this to happen create a team of hard core implementers who can roll up their sleeves and implement the project based on the defined project charter.
We can create several IITs, and IIMs, but the key ingredient of future of domain focus will not happen We will only create multiple teaching locations for today’s needs with varying quality and inadequate opportunities for gainful employment for the end product. To balance the intellectual capital for the growth tripod, we need a better plan.
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