Public investment in education

In News :

The Union Minister of Education  said that people should let go of the idea that universities must be funded only by the government. 

• Remarks are  corollary to the General Financial Rules of 2017, which encourage all autonomous bodies to maximise generation of internal resources and attain self-sufficiency .

Present Status 

• The Union government’s expenditure on higher education as a percentage of revenue receipt saw a decline from 2.60% in 2011-12 to 1.85% in 2022-23 (Budget Estimates).
• Higher education in India is already highly privatised. Most private higher education institutions are run on a self-financed basis, a euphemism for full cost-recovering institutions. 
• Besides, private tendencies have also penetrated deeply into public higher education. The thrust for resource mobilisation, internal revenue generation, cross-subsidisation, resource use efficiency, cost reduction, accelerated cost recovery and enhanced user charges may further exacerbate the trend.  

Issues 

•  Consequence of privatisation would be a substantial increase in fees and other charges from students. 
• Education would then become a costly commodity that only the affluent can afford. 
  • Most of the children from downtrodden and marginalised sections would completely be deprived of even primary education making the Right to Education a mockery.
• The idea that higher education could be funded fully by the students or their parents out of their savings or through bank borrowings appears grossly misplaced in the Indian context.
• Other Crisis : a financial crunch at the university level, a deficit in research opportunities for faculty, poor infrastructure and learning outcomes for students
  • Most Indian universities and colleges have overcrowded classrooms, poor ventilation and sanitation, and unsatisfactory hostel accommodation.

Need of Public Funding 

• Appropriate level of public funding is “extremely critical for achieving the high-quality and equitable public education system that is truly needed for India’s future economic, social, cultural, intellectual progress and growth.”
• Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the public education system is the basis of a vibrant democratic society.

Government Policies in this direction 

• The National Education Policy(NEP) 2020: It would “promote increased access, equity, and inclusion through a range of measures, including greater opportunities for outstanding public education.”
  • It also provided an assurance that the autonomy of public institutions would be backed by adequate public funding. 
  • The NEP noted that public expenditure on education in India was nowhere close to the 6% of GDP envisaged by the 1968 policy and reaffirmed in the 1992 review of the policy. Against this backdrop, the 2020 policy endorsed a substantial increase in public investment by the Central and State governments to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest. 
• Kothari Commission: It was the precursor to the 1968 policy, higher education should have been getting at least 2% of GDP.

Suggestions

• There is an urgent need to increase public funding, along with establishing dedicated funding streams for infrastructure grants/loans and financial aid.
• Universities can also be freed up to utilise other revenue streams such as start-up royalties and advertising.
• The education system needs an infusion of resources for multiple years and  also a strengthened focus on the needs of the poor and disadvantaged children. 
• The government, in collaboration with the industrial sector, must invest in continuous skill enhancement and training to bring our teachers on a par with global standards. 

• Higher education must indeed embrace and keep pace with the advancements in technology. Technology can be effectively leveraged as a quality-enhancement tool.