QUALITATIVE REFORMS IN HIGHER-EDUCATION

"There is an urgent need for replacement of bureaucratic controls in education by professional regulators along with private-public partnership to ensure universal primary education. Competition in tertiary and secondary education is also equally essential." (July 20-09-02 : TIMES OF INDIA) New reforms have already found place in HRD ministry's 100 day agenda. Instead of complete government control, the survey talks of rating the quality of educational institutions and all education service providers, both private and public. Government's higher education funds should be focused on promoting scientific and technical education and encouraging R&D in all subject Higher Education in India is seriously challenged. It is confronted with globalization even as it struggles to overcome the inadequacies created by colonial rule and to meet the demands of development. India acquired freedom from British colonial rule in 1947. In British India, access to school and university education was restricted. In contrast, the constitution of independent India promises schooling to all children up to the age of 14 and opportunities for further education to all. To honor this commitment, the university system inherited from the British is continuously being diversified and expanded. Reserved admissions and other facilities are provided to advance the education of castes and tribes, traditionally excluded from education. The British were indifferent to industrialization in India, and did not provide facilities for technical education at Indian universities. To support the country’s planned program of economic development through industrialization, technical education is now firmly promoted at Indian universities.
In addition, special national-level centers of excellence have been established to provide world-class education in engineering, technology, management, medicine, law, and other fields. This is complemented with a range of research institutions. Several bodies have been set up to monitor standards. As the government of a welfare state, the government of independent India takes responsibility for these provisions. The government’s share accounts for 90 percent of the total expenditure on higher education, up from an estimated 50 percent in British India.

There were three expectations from this investment:
1. Ample access
2. The manpower
3. The forefront of knowledge

1. Access
When India achieved independence, only a few thousand students were enrolled in higher education. Today, with 250 universities and approximately 8 million students, India has the world’s second-largest system of higher education.
Unfortunately, the students enrolled account for barely 6 percent of the population of the relevant age group. This figure is disturbingly low as compared to the countries of North America (60 to 70 percent) and Europe (40 to 60 percent), or the recently developed Asian Tigers (33 to 55 percent), with which India needs to compete as globalization advances. Despite the massive increase in student numbers, the fact that enrollment (as a percentage of the population of the relevant age group) remains poor in India illustrates how development is defeated by the phenomenal increase in the population of the country since independence—one billion according to the latest (2001) census, up from about 33 million in 1947. At the same time, it is important to recognize that enrollments in higher education suffer because of the slow progress in primary and secondary schooling. With great effort, the country recently achieved 100 percent school enrollment, but 40 percent of the children drop out before they complete primary school and only an estimated 20 percent complete high school. Although enrollment is inadequate by comparative standards, the growth in the demand for higher education has been unmanageably large, rapid, and pressing. The centers of excellence have been protected. But the universities that constitute the backbone of the system have been stretched, their standards of teaching and of evaluation compromised in order to accommodate demand. As a consequence, education at Indian universities has deteriorated into an examination-driven, certificate-oriented exercise. The faculties of the arts and the humanities, which account for 60 percent of the total enrollments in higher education in the country, have fared the worst. This is a cause for concern. While the demand keeps mounting, the government has recently admitted its inability to provide financial support on the scale required. At the same time, it is reluctant to accept privatization for fear that it will lead to commercialization and put students with limited means at a serious disadvantage. This is understandable, but it could well be that the government is unwilling to relinquish, or even share, the power that financial control over higher education brings.
As the government dithers, disorder grows. “Unrecognized” private institutions spring up and flourish. By using political leverage, they eventually get themselves recognized. As a consequence of the globalization of higher education, North American, European, and Australian universities provide degree courses through websites, distance education programs, or conventional instruction.
Some of these courses are of dubious quality. But nothing can be done as they lie outside the jurisdiction of regulatory bodies set up by the government. In any case, they do a brisk business, because dissatisfaction with universities runs high, because institutions that provide quality education are unable to meet the demand for admissions, and because there is blind faith in education coming from the developed nations.

2. The Manpower
In 1857, the British established in India the first three universities for European education. Simultaneously, as part of their policy of cultural colonization, they withdrew their support for indigenous learning and cut the colony off from traditions of higher learning dating back to the Brahmanical universities (1000 B.C.).
Subsequently, India depended on Europe and North America for knowledge and expertise in every field. Today, India has the world’s third-largest stock of technically and professionally trained manpower. The country has achieved impressive industrialization and modernization and even developed nuclear power. Professionals and technologists educated in India are respected and in demand all over the world.
There are other successes, too. But there is a measure of mismatch between the manpower produced and the country’s needs. The economy is unable to absorb all of this sophisticated work force, which has led many highly qualified Indians to emigrate. At the same time, positions in different fields remain unoccupied due to lack of suitably qualified personnel.
The system has been spectacularly successful in contributing to the industrialization and the modernization of the country, but it is unable to produce the manpower required to advance the traditional occupations, which account for the employment of nearly 80 percent of the population of the country. These occupations, deeply anchored in indigenous knowledge, range from forestry, fishing, agriculture, and related occupations to the manufacture of textiles, jewelry, and other handcrafted goods, the practice of medicine, the fine and performing arts, and a host of services.
It was hoped that these occupations would modernize as industrialization advanced, but this did not happen. Economists now warn that the growth of the Indian economy hinges on the advance of this sector, and higher education is challenged to pay special heed to its needs.

3. The forefront of knowledge
New Dilemma Meanwhile, globalization has generated a new dilemma. With the resources now available, the country must choose between two options.
It can promote advanced technical and professional education and research to be self-sufficient and to remain in the forefront of knowledge. Alternately, it can concentrate on providing a variety of vocational and technical courses to equip the population to take advantage of the employment opportunities that are generated as multinationals locate labor-intensive production processes in India.
The second alternative may create dependence, but it will enable many Indians to earn well. The challenge is to combine government funding with privatization, to build the resources required to accomplish both options, and optimize the country’s gains from globalization

Figure-1- EXAMPLE OF FISH-BONE DIGRAMME

Economic Survey 2008-09: Major reforms likely in education sector give first time clear direction about the kind of players who can enter the education sector. They range from non-profit registered societies to publicly listed education companies in all fields of education, subject to the regulatory framework which ensures quality and reasonable pricing.
The survey does not forget to emphasize the welfare side of the State by making it clear that education societies acquiring land at concessional rates or other assistance from the government should pass on the benefits to the student.
The survey also talks of streamlining the admission procedure to institutes of higher learning like IITs/IIMs without compromising the quality. "Intake should be based on entrance examination which tests the aptitude to grasp knowledge and not the knowledge itself," it says.
As for qualitative change, the survey says enrolment in various courses at all levels in universities/colleges was 11.61 million in 2006-07. Out of this, women students constituted 40.55%
Minister of UrbaDevelopment S Jaipal Reddy, at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2007, organized jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs and the Delhi Government, in New Delhi. He said,” India is a land of contradictions nd dichotomies and this extends to the area of education of Overseas We have the IITs and IIMs at one of the scale, and teacher-less schools at the other."
To correct these imbalances, India needs to strengthen linkages with its Diaspora. After independence, India emphasized developing centers of higher learning. The first IIT was started in Kharagpur in 1950 on the MIT model. India also retained English as a medium of instruction; this has contributed greatly to its economic growth, India's youth, comprising over 50 percent of its population, is referred to as its demographic dividend, the Minister said. To realize its potential, it needs to improve the quality of existing colleges, universities and technical institutes.
There are 367 universities and 18000 colleges with 11.2 million students on their rolls, and half a million teachers. India has to ensure that the children of NRIs, especially of those working in the Gulf, get a quality education. The Government has provided CBSE affiliation to 140 schools outside India, the National Institute of Distance Education has many study centers abroad and there are many schools in India affiliated to foreign boards. The government has also reserved 15 percent of seats in all technical colleges for NRIs' children. India needs to improve the quality of education so young people do not need to travel abroad to study. India has a large need for technical manpower, for which the education system needs to be expanded I propose to form a consortium to develop an Indian Humanities Foundation. Foreign Institutions, when they set up in India, should be complementary with the Indian education system and not compete with it, to strengthen what already exists in the country. The private sector is guided by social and philanthropic concerns in the education arena. We need more such ventures to provide affordable education. This would promote the study of humanities and social sciences that form the basis of sophisticated and enlightened leadership. Improving higher education means increasing the gross enrolment ratio from 10 percent to at least the world average of 23 percent, said Chairman of the University Grants Commission Sukhadeo Thorat.
Equity and inclusion to give access to higher education to deserving students regardless of their socio-economic status is another imperative. Colleges and universities need better funding to improve the quality of education because demand for higher education outstrips supply. He emphasized the role of the private sector .The Confederation of Indian Industry works to develop public-private partnerships on education through its network of corporate members. It’s Social and Development Council oversees these activities. Fund Specialist, Foundation and Community Funds Tertiary Education Commission, New Zealand, Pushpa Wood, said commitment from all stakeholders is critical to improving the quality of primary and secondary education. "We need to focus on learners' needs and constantly upgrade the skills of teachers." Further, she said research scholarships should be given at the primary and secondary levels and analytical skills should be taught at these levels. The government, Ms. Wood said, should profile all Indians abroad in education to involve them, conduct research, and evolve a risk management strategy. It should engage NRIs rather than just looking that them as money-bags. The government of India should create a mechanism to canalize the contributions of the Diaspora, said Secretary, Executive Board, UNESCO, A Parsuramen. "We need a task force that will develop and action plan set up a coordinating cell in the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs and finally, share the action plan with others to get a wider buy-in." Chancellor of the Velour Institute of Technologies G Vishwanathan, said, "We need to provide more and better higher education to reap the demographic dividend. For this, India needs to improve the availability, affordability and quality of high education. This can be achieved through liberalizing the education system, encouraging the migration of students from one state to another and providing more scholarships and loans to students from the poor and middle class."

rural women

Scientific breakthroughs and technological innovations in the 20th century fueled substantial gains in agricultural productivity in many developed
and developing countries. In each country, the successful local development of technologies or the transfer and adaptation of innovations from other countries will depend on incentives and barriers faced by investors and producers. Countries with
strong research, health, and education capacity will offer a supportive environment for technology investment science and technology can play a critical role in helping to prevent famine, improve nutrition, and move countries closer toward a goal of ending
world hunger. Education is important at all levels to support the development and transfer of science and technology.in research, there is a need for trained individuals to develop and implement regulations that affect technology use. Qualified people are also needed to represent their country’s interests in international negotiations. Decision-makers need the expertise to understand the positive and negative implications of their actions within the complex human and ecological environment
In extension activities the women is now the centre point and activities are being planned keeping her in view. Her enlightenment will change the face of rural India. Several programmes started at the National Centre for Women in Agriculture and Krishi Vigyan Kendras, are the right steps in this direction. This paper consider some important study and project and focus them perfectly.
Self help groups were made and took up income generating steps in home made products, dairy products, bakery products, tailoring/embroidery, goat/buffalo rearing and vermicomposting Innovative marketing outlets developed for Self help groups. Five components of AICRP on Home Science moved towards empowerment of rural women. There main achievements were Mobilization of self help groups and creation of learning environment Strengthening empowerment process Empowerment gains for women were assessed Cafeteria for women in agriculture was developed and offered to states to guide the development of new programmes for women in agriculture DARE/ICAR ANNUAL REPORT 2003–2004 174 harvest activities and livestock management were assessed. Under the project Identification and evaluation of interactive learning modules for dissemination of homestead technologies ergonomic assessment was carried out on the traditional and improved method of paddy parboiling procedures. During paddy parboiling using improved technology (paddy par boiling unit) the heart beat rate and energy expenditure were significantly reduced and the out put also increased from 35 kg per batch to 75kg per batch. The time duration of carrying out this activity also reduced from 2 days to 6 hours. Considering the significant utility of paddy parboiling unit, an interactive learning module is being developed on paddy parboiling unit, which will be useful for trainers in disseminating the technology. The project on Improvement in storage practices of seeds and grains of important crops with women perspective highlighted that begunia leaf (Vitex negundo) treatment of mung seeds is effective.
The research project of the National Research Centre for Women in Agriculture (NRCWA)
The conducted project has been functioning at Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, for developing methodologies, for identification of gender implications in farming systems approach and to develop women specific technologies under different production systems. There are 16 ongoing research projects in the areas of gender study on agriculture and household economy, management of coastal agro-eco system, extension methods for farm women, standardization of women specific field practices, occupational health hazards, reducing drudgery of women in agricultural operations, improvement of farming system suited to farm women, eco-friendly pest management technologies for vegetables among farm women, evaluation of interactive learning modules, technological needs in empowering women in rural aquaculture, and improvement in storage practices of seeds and grains. Under project on Development and testing of extension methods for farmwomen in eastern India, the extent of participation of farm women in different farming systems and farm enterprises and the role of change agents in that context, were studied. Contrary to the situation at coastal tract the male extension agents maintained higher contacts with farmwomen than the lady extension agent. The studies under Identification and improvement of farming systems suited to farmwomen in Eastern India project revealed that there is intense involvement of farmwomen in vegetable cultivation necessitating to take follow up supportive activities and interventions in the area of vermin composting, natural plant pesticides, biological control and IPM. Under the project Standardization of women specific field practices in rice in Orissa data were collected from women heads of 50 farm families on participation of women in relation to varying operations in rice cultivation. Women of family contributed highest hours per season (61.66) in harvesting and post harvesting operations and participated lowest in land preparation. Same pattern was observed from the paid women and total women (family + paid labor). Under project on Occupational health hazards of farm women in coastal Orissa the health hazards faced by women in household activities, farm activities, post Women in Agriculture The women is the backbone of agricultural workforce but worldwide her hard work has mostly been unpaid. She does the most tedious and back-breaking tasks in agriculture, animal husbandry and homes. The research efforts at the ICAR institutes have been tried to relieve her of the drudgery by providing time and labor saving tools. Vocational trainings are also being conducted, to impart skills to undertake different avocations. In extension activities the women is now the centre point and activities are being planned keeping her in view. Her enlightenment will change the face of rural India. Several programmes started at the National Centre for Women in Agriculture and Krishi Vigyan Kendras, are the right steps in this direction.

A step towards sustainable agriculture

To provide enough food and gainful; employment to increasing population is a big challenge before agricultural scientist. To feed such a large population we have to produce at least 205 mt extra food grains and have to double our present day milk, vegetables, fruits, eggs, meat production besides meeting their requirement for fuel, fiber, timber etc for clothing and housing. To primitive know-how of crop cultivation has been transformed into modern agriculture, through ages and it is still changing. And evolving according to the economics, social and environmental needs. It was aptly uttered by Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru ‘everything can wait but not the agriculture’. In the post green revolution era, imbalanced fertilization, excessive irrigation and indiscriminate use of pesticides have undermined the sustainability.
This step can be carry forwarded by equal participation of both the gender through timely and proper extension services. It is just because Development is biased in favor of areas having proximity to the urban corridors, which also attract the largest magnitude of investment flows. The remote hilly areas in the east and to the south have witnessed little growth of per capita income or employment matching the growing workforce. Regional imbalances are glaring and growing. The development gains have trickled down unevenly among rural and urban areas, developed and backward pockets and among scheduled and non scheduled sections of population. Some aspects of the phenomena of social retrogression are quite visible as can be seen from the discrepancies in some key demographic variables. Education and health care facilities face problems of delivery and access. The selective path of development being followed is bound to pose major impediments for the overall growth of the economy, so far as distributive justice is concerned. Under these circumstances, the optimal use of resources for realizing full potential of the economy requires a careful analysis of the economic structure in the long run perspective. The present paper highlights the need to usher in a development process that is equitable, sustainable, participative, stable and efficient- in divergence to the selective growth paradigm that has become the hallmark of the state’s development so far other forms of inequalities are manifest in the state. The development path followed by the state so far has led to reversal of the equalization process. The coefficient of variation in the incidence of rural poverty in 1993-94 between the geographical sub regions of Gujarat was 0.225; for urban poverty it was 0.157. The coefficient rose in 1999-00 to 0.258 (rural) and 0.245 (urban)
POST GREEN REVOLUTION PERIOD IN INDIA
India’s agriculture has been in decline in recent years and growing at a far slower pace than the overall economy. In 2006, it was forced to import grain for the first time in years, ringing alarm bells about food security. Some two-thirds of its population still live off agriculture, which grows about 3% a year. That is less than half the 8% economic expansion forecast by the government for the financial year to March2009.India needs a second Green Revolution to boost food supplies, or its 1.1 billion people will face huge social turmoil, the country’s top farm scientist has warned. Memories were still fresh of the Great Bengal Famine, the world’s worst-recorded food disaster, which occurred in 1943, when Britain governed India and an estimated four million people died of hunger.

Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, Rajya Sabha member and architect of the Green Revolution of the 1960s, which quadrupled food production and made India self-sufficient said
“What we need is political action — we need politicians to ‘walk the talk’,If we don’t succeed, we will face tremendous social problems, The government has identified agriculture as a key area for economic reform and called for changes to boost output of staples such as wheat, rice, pulses and vegetables and bring down soaring food prices there has been “no sign of major steps to make that happen”,
Swaminathan, a plant geneticist whose ideas helped transform India from a starving nation into a food exporter, runs the Chennai-based M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, which looks for ways to create new farm technologies. Policymakers globally now are grappling with how to tackle fast-rising food prices and dwindling stocks, with food riots erupting in some countries. Swaminathan won his doctorate in genetics from Britain’s Cambridge University, but turned down a US professorship when he realized he had studied to “produce enough food” in post-independence India and “serve the nation”.
Now a burgeoning population, a growing middle class with more purchasing power, and erratic weather are among factors creating food scarcity, thus pushing prices up and requiring a new agricultural leap forward, We need to take advantage of the existing technology bank. There’s a large amount of technology out there not being used — in efficient water use, efficient fertilizer use, in extension of farmer-to-farmer knowledge, For instance, nearly 70% of India’s farmers still depend on rain because of a lack of proper irrigation. Storage of food supplies is (still) a big issue, with many crops being devoured by rats before humans can eat them.
India faced a much tougher challenge in producing a second Green Revolution than it did in the 1960s, when too many hungry bellies forced it to live a “ship-to-mouth” existence, depending on US foodgrain imports to stave off famine. Gandhi gave Swaminathan free rein to implement a new agricultural programme, believing it vital for India to be able to feed itself.
“Politics is much more complicated these days There are referring to the unruly national coalition governments that are often at odds with state administrations The prime minister, who was then Indira Gandhi, had authority over the entire country to make sure decisions were implemented,.
“I’ve been trying for a pan-political approach to produce a second Green Revolution—after all we all have to eat first, “Crisis is a mother of invention. We faced a crisis in the 1960s and we succeeded.” Swaminathan said, adding he was optimistic India could achieve the goal.