"Govt. spending on education has been decreasing in real terms"

Nipun Goenka, Managing Director, G D Goenka Group, speaks on bottlenecks in the regulatory framework in India...

Q. Every year over a million people are entering into the higher education system, while limited number of jobs are available. How do you look at this challenge?
A. We need a multi- pronged approach to deal with this problem. The skill based education initiative that the government has started, if implemented properly, may ease some pressure. There is also a massive mismatch in the skills and capabilities that the industry needs and what we deliver to our students. We need a body to comprehensively assess the demands of our industry and give a feedback to the education sector in order to bridge this gap.

Q. What changes are needed in the regulatory framework?
A. The regulatory framework in India lacks definition and clarity. The greatest challenge is the policy vacuum that this sector is operating in. Due to this, there is lack of clarity among educators, government and financial institutions. We do not have clear demarcation with various regulatory authorities overlapping in jurisdictions. The policy to regulate partnerships with international institutions is yet to be defined. We are not going to achieve the full potential of our population dividend if a large section of youth in our country remains uneducated or undereducated. To accomplish this, we need to have a clearly defined road map which provides avenues for both conventional and vocational education. There are changes happening but we need a more cohesive approach, where progression from K12 to vocational education to higher education is clearly mapped.

Q. Does the government gives step-motherly treatment to private sector and shy away from helping private institutions through funding for research or other things?
A. Private institutions especially in the higher education are still a nascent phenomenon. The entire government grant mechanism is geared towards government run or administered institutions. There is also a lack of due process in grants to private education. In any case, government spending on education has been decreasing in real terms for a long time. So, there is a bias towards government institutions due to the small size in number.

Q. Attracting quality teachers is a major challenge for most of the universities, what would be your suggestion in this regard?
A. Faculty development and capacity building has been a neglected area in our education ecosystem. This coupled with gaps in education results in deficiency in the quality of teachers. Teaching is still not a career of choice. Although, the entrance of private sector has increased compensation and thus the quality. We need to encourage secondary school students to take up the teaching profession by showing them good compensation and clear career paths. Also, if we encourage research and more students go for it the quality and quantity of teachers will increase.