1.
INTRODUCTION
Privatization
is basically transferring of authority under public sector (government
ownership) to private sector. So why do we need Privatization in Education
sector? A well Developed and equitable
system of higher education promotes quality learning as a consequences of both
teaching and research, which is centre for success in the emerging economy like
India. Two observations have to be made on education in India: First,
education, in general, and higher education, in particular, plays a key role in
the realization of India’s extraordinary potential and aspirations for economic
and technological development. Secondly, precisely because of this potential
and its implications for individual advancement, there is an extraordinary
demand for higher education among India’s young. So, our government is responsible for providing higher education
accessible to all. But Indian higher education system is facing several
challenges. The challenge of global competitiveness has been added to other
demanding tasks such as equity, relevance, quality, access to all in the face
of a resource crunch. To cope up with these problems, the government has to
resort to privatization of higher education. This essay gives an overview of
state of higher education system in India and highlights the need for private
sector to step up in the field of higher education. I have made a sincere
effort to discuss the impacts of privatization whether it would be beneficial
& harmful for the economy and society. I personally believe that
privatization of higher education can be used to improve the education system.
2. THE STATS OF
THE PRESENT SYSTEM
India's education system is the world's
third largest in terms of students, next to China and the United States. Unlike
China, however, India has the advantage of English being the primary language
of education and research. India educates approximately 11 per cent of its
youth in higher education as compared to 20 per cent in China. Universities and
its constituent colleges are the main institutes of education in India. As of
2012, there are 316 state Universities in India. Out of which 152 are central
universities, 191 are private universities and rest are Open Universities.
Distance learning is also a feature of the Indian higher education system.
These stats clearly show how private institutes have become the main root in
our education system.
3.
ADVANTAGES (Or The Need For The Privatization Of The
Education System)
i.
IMPROVED EFFICIENCY: the
main argument for privatization is that private institutes have a profit
incentive to cut costs and be more efficient, if the management of the
institute is effective in reinforcing the plans and objectives(vision and
mission) of the institute then the institutes would be effective and efficient.
ii.
LACK OF POLITICAL INTERFERENCE:
there
are many instances in state govt universities where the politicians have
recommended people for the award of PH.D. e.g. recently in Bangalore
University, Mylarappa was in controversy for giving PH.D for an unfit
non-deservable candidate.
iii.
INCREASED COMPETITION: increase
in competition among private institutes has led to increase in quality of
education among them. Since there is a demand for students to join the top most
institutes, the institutes will be looking to implement all the new technologies
so that, the facilities and opportunities given are not available in any other institutes.
4.
DIS-ADVANTAGES (Or The Problems Associated With The
Privatization Of The Education System)
i.
PUBLIC INTEREST: The government has put in measures
of hike in student fees, student loans and privatization in justification of
availability and mobilization of resources to expand higher education. These
measures have made higher education a profitable business for industrialists
due to which a large number of private institutions are there at present. E.g. recently
in Karnataka, the govt was about to implement the provisions of 2006
act(Regulation of Admission and fixation of fee), which would have given
freedom for professional colleges(engineering and management) to fix the fee
which many meritorious but poor students could not have afforded.
ii.
PROBLEM OF REGULATING PRIVATE INSTITUTES: it is difficult
for the govt to intervene in the running of a private organization; there is a
need for proper regulating rules to keep the private institutes under control.
iii.
NATURAL MONOPOLY: natural monopoly occurs when the
most number of universities related to that particular subject/branch is one.
5. CONCLUSION
The
private initiative in education, especially higher education is not new to
India. One of the leading universities of India, Sikkim Manipal University was
the first government private initiative in that region (North Eastern Parts of
India) and is now offering scholarships of 100% to students for distance
education which is tremendous and very advantageous for the talented and poor
students to utilize such an opportunity, if several other universities come up
with similar motive then India would march ahead of US and China in quality
education.
So even though the privatization is
a must for education in India, the govt’s role becomes very crucial, it has to
check if the private institutes have a common public interest and the cost of
education in these institutes are less. The govt has to set up proper rules for
the regulation of these private institutes or some
regulating agencies have to be formed which assure quality and transparency and
prevent profiteering. There is an emergence need to regulate quality but not
growth of supply.
To ensure access to higher education by weaker section of
society, government has to increase public expenditure on higher education. On
the whole, an improvement in the standards of education could be achieved
through a balanced relationship between public and private sector.
Although
there are many drawbacks of privatization of higher education, it is sure to
improve the present educational system.
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