Higher education in India: should it not fail its population

Abstract

India’s higher education system is one of the largest in the world. But the irony is that it is failing to cater the educational needs of a large portion of the Indian population. That is, with relation to the access, equity and inclusion higher education (HE) in India is facing serious challenges. In this regards, mushrooming of the privitate of the HE institution is more to the disadvantage of the middle and poor sectors of the Indian population, than to providing oppurtunities for the elites in the population and to bridging the gap between industry demands and higher education provision in teaching, research and services. In addition, HE sectors also faces pertinent challenges with regard to the efficiency and excellence as well. The present study first provides some meaningfull insights into these challenges, while also describing on how the HE in India is being managed. Secondly, it summarises various literature on suggested mechanisms to fulfill the vision of higher education of the country in terms of realizing human resources potential to its fullest with equity and inclusion. Special focus would be given on elaborating the mechanism to making the HE sector engage its student population engage in meaningful and relevant learning, especially in the context of internationalisation and the needs of the 21st century. This third aim of the paper, therefore, signifies to the HE sector in the global scenario as well.