SECTION : INTRODUCTION - THE UNIVERSITY SCENE
Expansion of Facilities 1. University education in India has been characterized by large scale expansion of facilities particularly in terms of institutions and enrolments in them. During the last ten years, the number of universities and institutions deemed to be universities increased from 131 in 1981-82 to 176 in 1991-92 and the number of colleges from 4886 to 7121 indicating a 46 percent increase in their number. Enrolment in universities and colleges has also shown similar increase from 29.52 lakhs in 1981-82 to an estimated 44.25 lakhs in 1991-92(an increase of 50 per cent).This expansion has taken place mainly due to four reasons:the government's attempt to expand facilities for higher education,partly for meeting the manpower requirements of a growing and diversifying economy and partly for promoting equity and social justice; the need felt by students to seek higher education in order to have a competitive edge in the organized job market, which in the light of relatively slow growth in labour requirements, has used university degrees as screening devices for selecting work force; the genuine desire to seek higher education on the part of those segments who had traditionally found it distant for them and who aspired for upward social (and economic) mobility; and the enhanced desire on the part of women to seek higher education.
2. While in a country of India's size, the optimal number of institutions - universities and colleges, and student enrolment in them -will probably remain a matter of continuous debate,", the expansion of facilities has shown a number of aberrations: bulk of the expansion of facilities has been at the first degree stage (BA, B.Sc. and B.Com courses): with resources for education always short of requirements, quality of education offered in many institutions is sub-standard; enrolment has increased primarily in arts, commerce and general science courses which offer few employment opportunities; with few regulatory mechanisms and unwillingness to even enforce that exist, sub-standard institutions have been established; and seeking of higher education has largely been purposeless, more for whiling away time as no worthwhile options are available.
Enrolment by Specialities 3. The growth of enrolment in different specialities is indicated in the table below:
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Speciality Enrolment in Lakhs Percent
1981-82 1991-92 Increase
i) Arts 11.90 18.66 57.0
ii) Science 5.79 9.04 56.1
iii) Commerce 6.28 10.10 60.8
iv) Agriculture 0.39 0.49 25.6
v) Vet. Science 0.08 0.12 50.0
vi) Law 1.74 2.45 40.8
vii) Education 0.71 1.06 49.3
viii) Engg. & Tech. 1.30 2.25 73.1
ix) Medicine 1.13 1.56 38.1
x) Others 0.18 0.38 111.1
Total 29.50 46.11 56.3
Enrolment increases in disciplines, the products of which have relatively much greater possibility of being gainfully employed -Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Medicine-have been low compared to the overall increase and increases in what might be termed as soft and general education courses. Being costly to provide, authorities have tended to expand facilities in these disciplines on the basis of rough estimates of manpower requirements of industry and occupations. In other disciplines open ended policy has been followed, mainly to meet the ever - increasing urge for higher education.
Enrolment by Stages 4. Bulk of the enrolment is, at the first degree level (BA, B.Com and B.Sc.). The table below illustrates:
Stage Enrolment in Lakhs Per Cent PerCent to total
1981-82 1991-92 Increase Enrolment
1981-82 1991-92
i) Graduate 25.89 40.62 56.8 87.6 88.1
ii) Post-graduate 2.86 4.38 53.1 9.5 9.5
iii) Research 0.35 0.51 45.7 1.1 1.1
iv) Diploma/ 0.43 0.60 39.5 1.5 1.3
Certificate
Total 29.53 46.11 56.1 100.00 100.00
5. The pressure for more places has been accommodated in affiliated/constituent colleges, established mostly by private managements. The quality of educational services offered in these institutions is poor, partly because of the resource constraints from which they
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chronicallysuffer. Educational activities carried out in these institutionsare generally not even at a minimum level of effectiveness. In many cases institutions are established for reasons other than educational. The prescribed criteria for affiliation are seldom enforced. Consequently, there are few instances of institutions having been disaffiliated for non-fulfilment of the prescribed norms. The political connections that the managements of these institutions have, deter authorities from enforcing the prescribed criteria. Considering that colleges account for bulk of graduate enrolment, any reform and/or restructuring of first degree education would have to be attempted at the collegiate level. It is estimated that out of 7000 odd. colleges, more than 3000 are economically non-viable and academically ineffective.
Growing Unemployment 6. The Live Register of Employment Exchanges indicates that the increase in the number of persons seeking assistance for employment has been higher in the case of the educated than unskilled workers in general. The large proportion of persons who are on Live Register are no doubt those who have passed secondary/ higher secondary examinations. The statistics, however, indicate that the incidence of unemployment among university educated persons as reflected in the Live Register Statistics - has been increasing. In their case, it seems that the waiting period before obtaining first employment is also increasing. Although these statistics suffer from severe limitations in determining the true magnitude of unemployment among the educated or particularly for the university educated - for instance, all the unemployed not being registered and some employed continuing their registration with a view to securing more suitable employment - they do suggest a disturbing trend in the supply of educated persons. With oversupply of graduates, competition for jobs earlier performed by less qualified persons, has grown. For graduates and postgraduates of general subjects, there are very limited employment possibilities in their respective areas of specialization.
7. It is true that the kind of education now being offered is not oriented to employment generation. The expectation that education should always equip its products for immediate entry into the employment market is also not justified. Educational institutions are not equipped to visualize precisely, and provide for, training in required skills since skill requirements of occupations change continually in response to technological changes. Students in the pipeline cannot be made to switch over to new courses at short notice. Therefore, no matter how realistic an appraisal of skill requirements, there might always be a mismatch between what educational/training institutions produce and what the job market can absorb gainfully. Nevertheless, educational and training institutions should show an awareness and appreciation of the social and economic changes which make demands on the system to produce persons with knowledge, skills and attitudes for assuming productive and creative roles in society. In the context of the fewer avenues of employment in the organized sector in relation to growing population and increasing availability of the educated - the effort needs to be directed to equipping students for gainful self employment.
8. The mismatch between the supply of and demand for the educated is not only characteristic of the university system alone. The expansion of facilities at first and second levels of education has exerted an inexorable pressure for increasing provisions for third level education. The
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constitutional provision for free, universal and compulsory education for children till they complete the age of 14 has resulted in substantial increases in enrolments at primary and middle stages of education. With nothing gainful to do, the number of secondary level institutions have been increasing to accommodate the products of middle schools. The decision to make second level education free, has also created greater pressure for expansion of facilities.
+ 2 Stage Vocationalization 9. Conscious of the consequences of expanding secondary education on university education in terms of pressures for expanding it to accommodate a majority of those completing the second level - the Education Commission, 1966 recommended vocationalization of secondary stage-both lower and higher. The objective recommended was to institute vocational courses at the secondary stage, particularly at the + 2 stage (higher secondary) to cover at least 50 per cent of the enrolment at that stage. The courses were expected to be largely terminal in character, providing knowledge and skills to students for entry into middle level jobs. The National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) provided technical support to states and schools in introducing vocational courses. It identified and supported the design and development of over 150 vocational courses for introduction at the + 2 stage in Agriculture, Business and Commerce, Engineering and Technology, Health and Para-medical Services, Home Science, Humanities and others.
10. The programme has met with mixed success. The objective of covering 50 per cent of the enrolment at the + 2 stage has, however, remained unfulfilled. Even the targets recommended in the National Policy on Education, 1986 of covering 20 per cent of enrolment at + 2 stage in vocational courses by 1995 and 25 per cent by 2000 - do not appear possible of realization. In a number of states, the programme has either not been introduced or is not large enough to make a dent on making secondary education terminal. The quality of skill training leaves much to be desired. In the name of vertical mobility, terminality of courses has been adversely affected. Vocational courses at the + 2 stage have often been used as alternative modes of entry to professional courses. Above all, data about the extent of absorption of the + 2 stage products in gainful employment, are scanty to allow meaningful conclusions about the efficiency and effectiveness of the programme.
11. While there has been an effort to make secondary education more relevant to skill needs of the employment market-of course with mixed results-university education has generally not shown strong concern with and urgency for restructuring courses in relation to the requirements of skilled manpower. There have no doubt been efforts to re-design courses to make them more suitable for students and community. In these efforts, skill training, although emphasized, has received much less attention. The Programme of Action 1992 drawn up by Ministry of Human Resource Development in relation to the National Policy on Education 1986 has emphasized the need to expose the First Degree level students to the world of work by including application oriented courses in the curriculum. It has also suggested that the model curricula for vocational subjects be developed for the undergraduate level, among others to ensure mobility for students completing the + 2 stage vocational courses.