The University Grants Commission Chairman D P Singh expresses his concern over the lack of funds the higher education system in India is facing, due to less financial assistance provided by the Government and Private organizations.
“As an apex education body, we wish that adequate funds be made available for higher education and research. India spends 0.6-0.7 percent of its GDP on research and development which is very low compared to the US (2.8 percent), China (2.1 percent), Israel (4.3 percent) and Korea (4.2 percent),” said DP Singh, Chairman, UGC.
He also expresses his views over the desperate need of reviewing the courses offered by higher education institutions and make necessary changes, along with the lack of job opportunities that need to be created for children to reach.
“Courses that make students employment-worthy should be introduced,” Singh said.
Speaking about the private universities, Singh shares the international rankings that are released every year, it has been found that none of the private universities are listed among them, Currently, all the Indian universities that are ranked internationally, or makes it to the top, are the government funded universities.
“Now things are changing and private universities are taking initiatives to find a place globally,” he added. “This is because the global rankers prefer multi-interdisciplinary institutions, and in India, they are more stream-based, such as technical and medical universities,” Singh said.
This enables the private universities to start improving their education system, in order to be ranked internationally.
Talking about the efforts made by the government to improve the education standards in the country, Singh said: “Those institutes with a Cumulative Grade Points Average (CGPA) of 3.5 and above have been rewarded with full autonomy.”
He also shared the fact that in order to make Indian Universities reach the global level, ‘Institute of Eminence’ status is provided to a few shortlisted institutes along with the funds to make it reach the global level.