ACCESS AND EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION

Access is the ability of a person to benefit from certain goods and services. It is a
degree of fit between the user and the service. The analysis of a system of service at level of
its access to its intended users is a step above analysing the methods of its delivery and cost
associated with it (Mcintyre, D., Thiede, M., & Birch, S., 2009).

CONSTITUENTS OF ACCESS

Access can have several constituents or dimensions. Penchansky and Thomas (1981)
describe access in connection to health care systems. They argue that the components of
access in a policy are a dynamic concept. Access has to be seen in the context of
communication between the system and an individual. An individual's circumstances define
her ability and willingness towards utilization of a service. As per Penchansky and Thomas
(1981) access comprises of the following:

 Accessibility- This defines the access of a service based on its location of its supply.
An accessible service is that which can be provided to the consumer within a reasonable
distance. It also includes time required in supply of service as one of the factors affecting
access.
 Availability- The provision of service should be such that the supply of service and
its demand are somewhere around equilibrium. The resources required in supply of the
service should be adequate and volume of demand should be sustainable over a period of
time.
 Acceptability- the access to a service depends on consumer's perception. An
acceptable service is calibrated to suit the social and cultural demands of the society.
 Affordability- Access depends on the cost associated with the service. The cost of
supply of service needs to be as low as possible keeping in mind the quality. Further, the cost
incident on consumer should also be as low as possible. This cost will not only include the
cost of service but other costs as well for example the cost of travelling and accessing the
information regarding the service.
  Adequacy- An adequate service is one in which the organisational structure is
optimised to function well. The organisation of service or the institutions associated with it
work in tandem to provide smooth delivery of service.

Each of these above stated components of access are not independent of each other. All
of them work together to bring out a service's effectiveness in terms of access. For example,
in field of medical services, the mobile van clinics address the issue of access. They do so by
addressing the problems of Accessibility by taking essential medical check-up services
directly to a section of people who reside far away from a government hospital. Also, the
mobile van clinics provide services free of cost to address the issue of affordability. Finally,
the issue of Adequacy also gets addressed as the method of delivery takes care of utilisation
of the service of medical check-ups and records of patients examined are updated and synced
with earlier records.

For Penchansky and Thomas (1981), the degree of fit between a system and individuals
forms the very core of access concept. The interaction between individuals and a system
helps in deriving a level and form of access which has maximal efficiency. In this way access
is actively a dynamic concept.

Saurman (2015) weighs the constituents of access given by Penchansky and Thomas
(1977) and adds one of her own. As per Saurman, Awareness is also an integral element.
Awareness is effective communication of the aims, objectives and vision of a service policy
to the consumers and other stakeholders. According to Saurman Awareness has become a
presumed dimension to access. It is the need of the hour to acknowledge that awareness helps
in finding the right fit between the user and the service.

Saurman identifies effective communication about the service as a major component of

Awareness. The importance of this component is reflected, for example, in case of rural and
remote communities. This group of people maybe unaware of a service all the while seeking
the very service which is otherwise available to them due their disconnection from official
channels of communication of the local government. On supply side, service might be
inaccessible due to unawareness within the organisational setup of the suppliers of the
service. They organisation might be facing bureaucratic red-tape, high turnover rate or its
employees might be inadequately trained. The need of establishing targeted and sustainable
communication strategies is reflected at both the demand side and supply side of the service.
 Further, the communication of knowledge of service must be able produce actionable
information. The goal of the communication of service should be raising the level of
understanding in the targeted audience. Since the operational components of policy keep
undergoing change, creating awareness about a service is a perpetual task (Mcintyre, D.,
Thiede, M., & Birch, S., 2009).

ANALYSING EDUCATION IN INDIA IN TERMS OF COMPONENTS OF ACCESS

In India, access to education came to be identified with the Right to Education Act,
2005. It made a case for free and compulsory education till class 10th. Even before the
introductions of the Act, but more so after, education in India has been a public good. A
public good is non-rival and non-excludable. It means that the government provides a service
which private sector does not or even if it does then the government's provisioning of service
is at much lower cost and of high enough quality which makes private sector's service a non-
rival. The non-excludable component of public good means that no person can be barred
from accessing a service. It points towards inclusiveness of a public good. The public good
by being non-excludable aims to be of maximal use to the society.

As a result, the major attention of the governments over the years has been towards
universalising education, particularly the primary level. Yet, education has lagged behind.
India had 37% share in the global illiterate adult population in the year 2014 (Assessing the
impact of Right to Education Act, 2016). It indicates disparity that exists despite the
provision of free and compulsory education. Further, the gross enrolment ratio has been
27.1% in the higher education (All India Survey on Higher Education, 2020). In order to
address these issues, the New Education Policy (NEP) was introduced in 2020. We can see
the NEP 2020 in terms of access.

It addresses the issue of accessibility and availability by providing for online

education. It also has provision of building tools for online learning which makes education
an on-demand service. The aim is basically to transform education from brick and mortar-
based service to majorly online based. It addresses the concerns that arose in the pandemic
times when there was a halt in education. Further, the NEP encourages credit transfers, by
aspiring to establish an academic bank of credits. This will allow students to finish their
degrees more quickly or earn credits for courses that aren't required for their degrees. The
NEP also addresses the acceptability component of access to education by making a case for
medium of instruction at all levels education in local languages (All India Survey on Higher
Education, 2020).

The NEP 2020 aims to overhaul the educational setup. It does so by addressing the
adequacy component of access which relates to organisational setup around the intended
service. In the higher education setup, for example, the policy aims to replace UGC with the
Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) “as a single overarching umbrella body for
the entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education” (Niraja Gopal Jayal,
2020). The HECI shall be made up of four bodies which will handle accreditation, financing,
performance monitoring and regulation.

CONCLUSION

We first analysed the access and tried to define its characteristics by analysing its
various components. We saw various authors trying to understand access and adding layers of
their understanding to its components. Access is determined by the interaction between its
various dimensions, even though each is distinct and concentrates on a specific set of easily
distinguishable issues.

Thereafter, we tried to see the various components of access in terms of higher

education in India. We saw that as a public good, education continues to face a number of
challenges. With NEP 2020, education is set to undergo a major overhaul but the policy
document remains silent on the issue of finance. A major part of any service which
determines it resource availability and supply constraints is the budget available for it. Even
though the NEP 2020’s documents make the utilisation and movement of fund clear, they do
not give as much clarity on their source.

Finally, we must understand that a systemic analysis is necessary to make policy

makers understand the need to reach a “fit” between a provision of service (in this case
education) and its consumption by the intended population. This provides a basis for making
judicious use of resources and create empowerment and development (Mcintyre, D., Thiede,
M., & Birch, S., 2009).

REFERENCES
 MCINTYRE, D., THIEDE, M., & BIRCH, S. (2009). Access as a policy-relevant concept

in low- and middle-income countries. Health Economics, Policy and Law, 4(2), 179-193.

doi:10.1017/S1744133109004836

Penchansky R and Thomas JW. (1981). The concept of access: Definition and

relationship to consumer satisfaction. Med Care

Saurman, Emily. (2015). Improving access: modifying Penchansky and Thomas's

Theory of Access. Journal of Health Services Research & Policy. 21.
10.1177/1355819615600001.

Niraja Gopal Jayal. (2020, September 4). NEP 2020 on higher education. The India
Forum. https://www.theindiaforum.in/article/nep-2020-higher-education

All India Survey on Higher Education. (2020). Ministry of Education, Government of

India. https://aishe.gov.in/aishe/viewDocument.action?documentId=277

Assessing the impact of Right to Education Act. (2016). KPMG and CII.