HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA: PROS, CONS AND SUGGESTIONS

Dr. Jitendra Jayantilal Kothari

Associate Professor
Sri M. P. Shah Muni. College of Commerce, Jamnagar

1. Abstract
Higher education is one of the most vital phases in the life of an individual as it not only
plays a crucial role in shaping up their career, but also is the time when a youngster matures
into an adult. It is very different from the controlled school life, one gets to feel the freedom
and yet responsibilities only increase. It is a good experience if an individual gets the right
kind of situation to learn by exploring more and more. As with every education system,
Indian higher education system too has both a brighter as well as a darker side to it. This
paper tries to focus on the challenges before education area and also suggests actions to be
taken to make India a true ‘knowledge hub’ of the world.
2. Introduction
Higher education is education provided by universities and other institutions that award
academic degrees, such as university colleges. Higher education is very important for a
developing country like India and it is encouraging to increasing human development.
Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are
globally acclaimed. But somehow India is unable to produce the world class universities.
Current scenario of Indian higher education contains merits as well as limitations also.
Globalization needs to improve quality of education.
3. Higher education scenario in India
India's higher education system is the third largest in the world, next to the United
States and China. [1] The main governing body at the tertiary level is the University Grants
Commission, which enforces its standards, advises the government, and helps coordinate
between the centre and the state.[2] The functions of the Department of Higher Education are
executed through a number of different autonomous bodies such as the UGC, CABE,
AICTE, and so on. There are four types of universities: Central, State, Private and deemed.
The emphasis on higher education in India can be understood by the number of universities
currently present in India and the quality of education they provide.
Other institutions include 33,000 colleges as Government Degree Colleges and Private
Degree Colleges, including 1800 exclusive women's colleges, functioning under these
universities and institutions as reported by the UGC in 2016.
 Universities Total No.
State Universities 350
Deemed to be Universities 123
Central Universities 47
Private Universities 239
Total 759

Table 1: Total No. of Universities in the Country.

As per UGC report Total No. of Universities in the Country as on 05.07.2016 is 759. [3]
The chart shown below depicts the growth of universities in India from 1970 to 2016. The
number of universities has grown more than six times in last four decades.

Figure 1: growth of universities in India from 1970 to 2016

The emphasis in the tertiary level of education lies on science and technology.[4] Indian
educational institutions by 2004 consisted of a large number of technology institutes.
[5] Distance learning and open education is also a feature of the Indian higher education
system, and is looked after by the Distance Education Council.[5] Indira Gandhi National
Open University is the largest university in the world by number of students, having
approximately 3.5 million students across the globe.[6][7][8]
4. Pros of the higher education in India
With the advancement of education, India has seen a great development in the field of
economy. People are less unemployed and some of them are even self-employed. One of the
best positive things is that the child labour has gone down to a great extent. Following are the
main advantages of Indian higher education.
4.1 Growth of technical institutions: Post liberalization, India increased its student intake
by 18 times. So this led to opening of more technical institutions. More colleges indicate
more opportunities. It’s still not enough to cater the middle-class youth's aspirations. But it’s
a start. About 20 million people turn 18 every year, so naturally we need more institutions.
4.2 Thorough Knowledge Building: The higher education system in India constantly
evaluates the students in terms of basic theoretical knowledge, so the basic conceptualization
only gets stronger leading to an in-depth knowledge of whatever the students learn, which
they later can incorporate in their real world. It's no surprise that 3 of the world's most
competitive exams (UPSC, JEE, and CAT) are from India.
4.3 Multi- cultural aspect: Since the globalization, the Universities have been going global
with the increasing intake of foreign students as well as providing international exposure to
Indian students. This also facilitates the intermingling of different cultures as you get to meet
new people with different cultural backgrounds, sharing a part of your college life.
4.4 Incorporation of Newer Teaching and Learning Methods: Over the years, we have
developed different methods of teaching, which have proved more efficient to us. There is a
greater use of technology in teaching as well as learning and education has now moved
beyond the confines of a classroom. 
5. Cons of the higher education in India
Apart from the pros, there are many cons involved in the Indian education system. There are
many political heads which form a great gap between Indian government and the common
people. Some of them take money from the government but don’t utilize for the good of the
common people. Also you will find many socially forward people taking the advantages of
the reservation system. The problem lies in the large percentage of illiteracy and population.
These two things need to be focused much before making any development. Following are
other main disadvantages of Indian higher education.
5.1 Limited job opportunities:  Although, they say your life is set once you graduate or
complete your higher education, it is merely the truth for IITs and IIMs pass outs. What
about the rest? Majorly, our education system lacks the courses that are career-oriented.
There is a dearth of specializations, due to which the students, even after attaining higher
education, are not at all self-reliant or at the worst clueless about their future. And that really
needs to be changed.
5.2 Over crowding: Access students in class room are one of disadvantage in higher
education. The ratio of teachers as compared to students is very low and the teachers don't
have any personal feelings with the students. And thus higher education is examination
ridden. Easy and shortcut methods are being adopted to achieve success. The students are
getting fascinated to all things except books. The dependence on the Examinations only is the
main cause of deterioration in our education system. No real or practical knowledge is gained
by the students. There is a big gap between the practical life and education in colleges.
5.3 Over centralization and unfair funding policies: Although many Indian universities
have considerable autonomy in matters of curriculum and administration, the central
government (directly or indirectly) controls virtually all the supply of money. Severe
restrictions are placed on the ability of universities to rationalize fee structures and reward
superior performance by faculty. 
5.4 Lack of research funding: Another area of disappointment for our students. Getting a
license for a new invention or a patent itself is a highly bureaucratic process. Not much funds
go in scientific research.
5.5 Lack of skilled teacher: The main problem behind this is the fact that many teachers lack
the skill of attracting the interest of students in the class room. They continue presenting their
knowledge through monotonous lectures which only ‘kill’ the interest of the students. Hence,
the few who participate with genuine interest are also disappointed. The inability of
generating interest is also evident during usual classroom lectures in higher educational
institutes and hence students end up sitting in their departments only for the sake of
attendance. The result is the lack of curiosity mentioned by Sen. [9]
6. Suggestion to improve the higher education system

6.1 Introduce innovation in curriculum: The syllabus of Indian Higher Education System

is outdated and not at all innovative. We need a curriculum which is progressive in nature
and not despotic. Students should be allowed to pursue multiple courses in the first year and
should be given an option to choose a specialization after that. More focus should be there on
innovation and projects rather than exams. However, this does not mean that exams should
not be there at all. It’s just that exams should be complimented with incentives for
innovation.
6.2 Rise of industry interaction: Industry interaction with students is one of
the vital pillars in the growth of education. Companies should be sought out
for such interactions, when companies come for placements, there should be a
basic qualification criteria for their eligibility for the placements.
6.3 Realise the power of alumni: One of the major drawbacks of Indian Higher Education is
that we do not realize the power of alumni. Other than the few top institutes, the concept of
alumni networking is non-existent. Alumni networking are really helpful as they understand
the various problems of the students being the part of the same institute once. Also, alumni
are themselves eager of sharing their academic excellence and experience with the students,
it’s just that the system needs to be more transparent.
6.4 Good libraries and laboratories: A great stress needs to be given for establishing good
libraries in our colleges and universities. Students should be encouraged to make free use of
them under the able guidance of teachers free of cost. More discussions and arguments on
varied topics can impart more knowledge and information than more lecturing and
completing the course. Equally important are the laboratories with latest equipments and
items. To test the learning of books, students need to have good laboratories. An experiment
is an unending quest of learning and knowledge on a permanent basis. The institutions
providing higher education should be made temples of the modern age.
7. Conclusion
These are just some of the suggestions of
handling Higher Education System of India in a better way. It’s high
time to think of the solutions to improve higher education in India. If they
are not thought of now and implemented well, the level of education will
deteriorate to a level that it would become very difficult for us to recover in
future. Suggestions for improving higher education in India includes points to concentration
on student-centric education and vibrant methods, continuous assessment, quality
improvement from college to university level, giving attention on personality development
and providing world class education to fulfil needs of major renovation to stand
competitively in this era of globalization.

Sources cited:
1. "India Country Summary of Higher Education" (PDF). World Bank.
2. India 2009: A Reference Annual (53rd edition), 237
3. http://www.ugc.ac.in/oldpdf/alluniversity.pdf
4. "The Institutes of National Importance" (PDF).
5. Blackwell, 95–96
6. Blackwell, 96
7. National Network of Education (2008-10-06). "'Mobile Study Centres have increased
student participation' - IGNOU VC, Universities News - By". Indiaedunews.net.
Retrieved 2011-05-03.
8. "IGNOU :: Education, Careers & Professional News". News.education4india.com.
Retrieved 2011-05-03.
9. Sen, S. K., Curr. Sci., 2015, 108(12), 2151–2155.