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EDUCATION
- THE CHALLENGES AHEAD
Dr. M Anandakrishnan, Vice-Chairman, Tamil Nadu State
Council for Higher Education, on the challenges faced by one
of the largest Education systems in the world.
Growth (1947-2000)
- The University level institutions have grown from 20 to 250.
- The number of colleges has increased from 591 to nearly 11,000.
- The enrollment of students at the tertiary level has grown from
2 lakh to nearly 7 million.
In Tamil Nadu
 Last
year, there were about 6 million children in the age group of 6-11
in Primary Schools from Class I – V and about 3.3 million children
of 11-14 years of age in the middle Schools (Class VI - VIII).
The enforcement of the Universal Primary Education policy will increase
the enrollment in the middle school from 3.3 million to about 6
million in about three years time. Assuming that the existing trends
in the dropout rates will continue, the enrollment of 14 – 16 year
olds in High School - Classes IX and X will jump from the present
level of 1.6 million to about 3 million and at the Higher Secondary
level – Classes XI and XII of the age group 16 – 18 from the present
strength of 0.7 million to 1.5 million. All this will happen in
the course of the next five to seven years.
Consequently, the enrollment at the College level in Tamil Nadu
will also nearly double from about 4.5 million at present, to about
10 million around 2007. The all-India trend will also be the same
resulting in an enrollment of about 15 million students in the Colleges
and Universities.
Implications of Growth
 There
are many serious implications of the anticipated growth of the Higher
Education system in India. There are also several interesting possibilities
to successfully manage this growth. There will be issues of shortage
of physical facilities and teachers, to satisfy new demands. The
changing market scenario for College graduates and the rapid transformation
in the knowledge and skill contents at the Higher Education stage
will further impose additional concerns in maintaining the relevance
and quality of the degrees and diplomas. Though there are various
approaches to manage the emerging academic challenges, there are
two aspects, which deserve immediate attention – Academic flexibility
and International comparability.
Flexibility
The need for flexibility in the Higher Education system arises
on account of increasing demand, private sector participation, introduction
of revolutionary technologies in the teaching and learning processes,
the changing pattern of job markets and the wide range of institutional
models for obtaining degrees and diplomas. The revolutions in the
Information Technology, easy access to Computers and Internet, ability
to handle very large groups of learners simultaneously have increased
the options for growth needs of higher education system.
All this requires a change in the conventional wisdom on the organization
of educational activities and overcoming constraints of outdated
academic statutes, regulations and procedures. The manifestations
of academic flexibility may occur in one or more of the following
ways.
- Increased
flexibility for cross-disciplinary learning among arts, humanities,
sciences and engineering.
- Greater scope for developing the inner talents and skills of
individuals beyond the rigid requirements of degrees and diplomas.
- Acceptability
of new combinations of classroom-based contact lessons and off-campus
remote and virtual courses for fulfilling academic requirements
of degrees and diplomas.
- Improved
content to stimulate the creative and innovative talents of learners.
- New forms
of academic credits and their transferability between disciplines
and institutions.
- Modular and
decentralized learning and opportunities to learn at different
paces for the same curriculum.
- Consortia
approaches to offering degree and diploma programmes.
International Comparability
 The
process of internationalization of higher education is inevitable.
It is shaping up the educational experiences in ways that were unknown
only a few years back. There are many new models that are being
tried out through international educational collaborations. The
various approaches to internationalization include tertiary programmes,
off-campus distance learning, virtual Universities, franchised courses
and so on.
The need for new forms of accreditation procedures and standards
is becoming an urgent necessity not only for our Educational institutions
in the formal system, but also for various other informal and flexible
systems. The occasions for international comparison between institutions,
between degrees from different institutions and the expectations
on performance of these institutions are vastly growing. Our academicians,
Educational administrators and managements would do well to participate
and influence these new approaches to maintain international comparability.
Continuity of Learning
Students should be alert to the necessity for constantly refurbishing
their knowledge and training, which they acquired for their degree.
The process of renewal and fortification of knowledge will at times
require the ability to embark on new domains and disciplines unheard
of before.
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