Higher education in India
[11] India is one of the countries that have historical evidence of systemic education dating back centuries in the world, though it has suffered destruction, manipulation, and reconstruction multiple times under the attack of foreign powers, power-hungry regimes, and colonization.
Despite the aftereffects of it, it is one of the agile systems that has shown capability of continuously innovating through nation-building and transformative programs like National Education Policy 2020 due to the self-expanding values and socio-cultural flexibility.
[12] Unlike present day universities, these ancient learning centers were primarily concerned with dispersing Vedic education.
[14] The same act also removed restrictions on missionary work in British India, thus leading to the establishment of the evangelist Serampore College in 1818.
[13] Thomas Babbington Macaulay's famously controversial Minute on Education (1835) reflected the growing support of a Western approach to knowledge over an Oriental one.
There are several thousand colleges (affiliated to different universities) that provide undergraduate science, agriculture, commerce and humanities courses in India.
This online university operates on a hub-and-spoke model, offering domestic and international students the opportunity to earn a degree certificate from India.
This includes establishing standalone capability, setting required pass percentages, and identifying necessary prerequisites for successful field engagement.
Additionally, the return on investment (ROI) of each course will be evaluated, with recommendations for post-requisites based on global trends to create an inclusive learning experience.
Following best practices derived from scientific studies, the courses will feature chunked content delivery, progressive examinations, and real-world scenario case projects.
The Learning Management System (LMS) platform is designed with input from top educational institutes and industries, including those with corporate academies.
The government plans to integrate virtual AI assistants to enhance the interactive learning experience, create course-related peer learning chatrooms, host national and international webinars, optimize course pages for mobile devices, and provide extensive opportunities for industries to offer apprenticeships to students who meet their requirements.
These modern degree structures are more aligned with the rapidly evolving needs of the job market, leveraging corporate training formats to address the reduced shelf life of conventional educational approaches.
For example, they allow students to complete a bachelor's degree faster than the traditional four-year timeframe, typically in 2 to 2.5 years, by taking more classes in a shorter period.
At an undergraduate level, internationally accelerated bachelor's degrees are available in subjects such as accounting, business administration, computer science, economics, finance, nursing, and psychology.
They cover the same curriculum as traditional honors programs but in a condensed timeframe, enabling graduates to join the workforce earlier and make impactful contributions during their prime productive years.
[29] The language policy in NEP is a broad guideline and advisory in nature; and it is up to the states, institutions, and schools to decide on the implementation.
[31] NEP's higher education policy proposes a 4-year multi-disciplinary bachelor's degree in an undergraduate programme with multiple exit options.
These will include professional and vocational areas and will be implemented[32] Indian law requires that universities be accredited unless created through an act of Parliament.
Without accreditation, the government notes, "These fake institutions have no legal entity to call themselves as University/Vishwvidyalaya and to award ‘degree’ which are not treated as valid for academic/employment purposes.
Thus, any institution which has not been created by an enactment of Parliament or a State Legislature or has not been granted the status of a Deemed to be University, is not entitled to award a degree.
[35] Accreditation for higher learning is overseen by autonomous institutions established by the University Grants Commission:[36][37] This chart is based on 2014-2015 data from the 2016 national statistics.
Some of the other objectives of the department include: expansion of institutional base, greater inclusion of minorities, removal of regional disparities, infrastructural improvement and increased global participation.
[44] Current government initiatives include: University rankings are used to measure and compare institutional quality based on a range of indicators related to research, reputation and teaching.
[47] Indian government's National Institutional Ranking Framework, or NIRF is the mechanism for measuring quality and also intended to determine funding and world-class university endeavors.
A focus on enforcing both streamlining and holding higher standards of curriculum with the help of international academic publishers for transparency and reducing inequalities characterised by globalisation;[64] making the vocational and doctoral education pipeline value-oriented and innovative; personalisation of the sector for students to gain immediate and valid transferable credentials in their own pace (e.g., Massive open online course, digital learning,[65] etc.
Furthermore, by the end of the four-year degree, much of what students study in the initial years becomes irrelevant or subject to knowledge erosion.
[67] Educationalists, based on evidence-based literature, assert that education should be encapsulated by the "6Cs": critical thinking, content, communication, collaboration, creativity, character, and citizenship.
To broaden students' worldviews and instill values such as creativity, character, and citizenship, experts observe that India needs to focus on introducing elective pathways to liberal arts education.
[69] Higher education in India faces problems ranging from income and gender disparities in enrolment, to poor quality of faculty and teaching and even to a general lack of motivation and interest amongst students.
